PR and Digital: A Modern Love Story

Public relations and digital are in a long-term, committed, and extremely healthy relationship (It’s Facebook official). To put it in perspective, they are a Barack-and-Michelle-level power couple.

It’s a 21st century, extremely modern relationship. You know, the kind where the two are equals and constantly push and support one another? It’s like they actually are better together than they are apart. Best friends and partners, if you will.

Don’t get us wrong. It’s tough work to maintain that relationship, but the outcome is worth it. Here’s why.

Get that Earned Media

Public Relations pros work day in and day out to secure earned media and interview opportunities for their clients. After tireless hours of coordinating, pitching and securing said pieces of media, the result is magical. Yet, without digital, its shine only lasts for a few moments. Yes, digital is PR’s hype man. Cute, we know. 

As you’re probably aware, the news cycle moves quickly. One piece of news may get only a few moments in the spotlight before a bigger and better story takes its place. As soon as that happens, that piece of earned media that took nine months to coordinate and secure (cough, cough, speaking from experience) only gets that prime spot for an hour or so (honestly it’s less but it’s just depressing to say it out loud). That is, unless its digital counterpart helps it stay relevant. How? Keep reading.

Oh, and side note: track the metrics on your earned media. Pull the circulation numbers, impressions, followers, and reach. Public relations efforts are trackable and driven by data. Anyone who tells you otherwise probably voted for Trump.

Leverage Social Media

Earned media has a lifecycle, but it doesn’t have to be as short when combined with digital efforts. See, the great thing about earned media is 99% of the time, it can and SHOULD be repurposed on social media. 

If you take one thing from this blog, share your earned media on your social platforms as well as on your website and in email and in advertising…you get the drift. Often, the publication that featured the piece will also share the coverage on their social. ENGAGE with it! Comment, share, like, repost, send it to your mom. Do it all! The more you can circulate the feature, the more your brand will benefit. 

When you share your earned media on your social platforms that link back to your site (i.e. blogs—side note, you should be blogging), it improves your SEO. Earned media also counts as “backlinks” for your site. The more backlinks you get from notable sources, the more Google sees you as a credible source, which only improves your website and your search rank online. It’s a win-win situation

Communication between the two

PR and digital are constantly doing the tango. 

Like we said before, PR professionals are always looking for the right reporter, beat, and the means of connecting with them. That’s where digital comes into play. These two are really good at the whole communication thing. 

Social media is a great platform for pitching reporters (we personally love Twitter). It’s also a great place to find new opportunities or, in some cases, accidentally create negative press for yourself if you’re careless. Not to throw anyone under the bus or anything, but social media has been known to create disasters, especially around the recent pandemic. Social media is a great tool, but it’s one that should be used with care. Remember, everything your company puts online is subject to scrutiny, and people are often unforgiving. Take from that what you will. 

Look, we could go on and on about the fantastic relationship that PR and digital have, but you really should just contact us for help. Our PR and digital team members are insanely close (for real. Two of them are roommates. It’s kinda weird), and they know how to leverage each other. Trust us. It’s worth it.