In this talk, I compare and contrast my experiences in traditional PR to digital PR for SEO, where coverage is secured for links.

In particular, I focus on the three main areas of the outreach role, and where I believe a PR skillset can best be applied to outreach campaigns

• Story – Crafting the right angles for a story, ensuring your ideas will interest journalists.
• Outreach – Ensuring your pitch stands out to the right journalist with a direct, punchy email.
• Ideation – Deep-dive research of your target industry, knowing what’s out there and where you can contribute.

Throughout the talk, I talk about relevant examples of campaigns I’ve worked on from both roles and specific campaigns, how a PR client with a national reputation can be managed, and how PR and SEO interact in delivering outreach campaigns.

Video

Slides

Key takeaways from Jack:

• Flexibility is a strength of link-building campaigns because you always have the opportunity to change the story if the original idea can’t get links.
• Link-building is different to traditional PR in this sense as you will struggle to change the story when selling a specific business or person’s interest.
• It is possible to treat link-building as a PR exercise, by regularly getting your client top-tier coverage where they are mentioned as the source of the story. It enhances trust in the brand and cements their reputation.
• Get straight to the point when contacting journalists. They won’t take the time to read your email if you don’t!