Broadly speaking, PR falls into two distinct camps: traditional and digital. Whilst, these camps share a roughly similar worldview, both being concerned with building brand awareness.
Unsurprisingly, Traditional PR takes a more ‘back to basics’ approach – akin to a night in Snowdonia under the moonlight, tent canvas flapping. Whereas Digital PR involves more modern trappings and technology, like a weekend of glamping in the Cotwolds.
Ultimately, knowing which approach to go with depends on your goals, target audience, budget and industry, so let’s break down each approach and see which is the right option for you.
Think back to your life before social media; before that embarrassing Myspace profile, before ‘poking’ people on Facebook, before that first DM on LinkedIn offering SEO services – how did you receive news and updates? Print and broadcast outlets, in-person events, magazine features, interviews and sponsorships.
These are Traditional PR outlets.
A notable example would be Coca Cola’s long-standing sponsorship of the Olympics; incredibly reach and coverage, but my presumption is that your marketing budget probably falls short of Coca Cola’s (with apologies to Amazon’s advertising team, if you’re reading this…) and it is true that attempting to buy exposure with traditional PR methods can be expensive.
As a general rule, the greater the reach in traditional PR, the higher the costs. That’s not to say more grassroots sponsorship can’t also have a significant impact. For example, a client of ours received several very generous compliments on match day from other parents after sponsoring the Elswick under 8s Girls football team.
Traditional PR like this can excel at the local level; articles in local news which target very specific geographical areas or niche interests can be cost-effective in both reach and results.
Another benefit of the traditional model is that press coverage -local and national-lends itself a certain authenticity which can really bolster brand legitimacy in people’s eyes. Further to this, there are people who have no engagement whatsoever with Digital PR and receive the majority of their news from traditional ‘legacy’ media outlets. Those fortunate souls have never tweeted a thing and believe ‘going viral’ is something to be actively avoided – they still make up a significant demographic and should not be ignored.
However, there’s a trade-off for this authenticity. Traditional media almost always means a longer lead in time; anything submitted to traditional press outlets is subject to approval from journalists or editors, all this takes time. A company that’s reliant on Traditional PR practices needs to make peace with their deadline for a product launch rarely syncing up with a trade publication or journal’s print deadline.
Digital PR represents the inevitable evolution of public relations in the face of rapidly changing technologies; prioritising online channels websites such as online publications, blogs, influencers and social media sites.
If you need something to reach the public quickly, it can be as easy as typing that exact thing into a social media platform and then hitting ‘post’.
However, because it’s easier for you, sadly, it’s easier for your competitors, too. There are no exclusivity agreements on platforms like LinkedIn so your post about ‘bespoke, customer-centric accountancy software’ could be one of dozens of posts about ‘bespoke, customer-centric accountancy software’ posted that same day by your rivals.
To this end, effective Digital PR like ours closely monitors trends in online social platform; these deep-dives into effective posting habits ensure our client’s content consistently bubbles to the top with greater visibility.
So, for those who can crest the wave (sorry, I’ll drop the water analogy now) one ancillary where Digital PR absolutely excels is in engagement and discussion. Whilst Traditional PR methods are effectively a one-way communication tool, online posts allow customers to respond to you directly.
Sure, you might recognise the Coca Cola logo superimposed on an athletics stadium, but you’d be hard pressed to engage with it in any meaningful way. Conversely, a well written post seen by the right people can spark debate or an acknowledgement of your expertise or even lead to queries about your services. All this helps build legitimacy in the eyes of consumers, an essential part of building a brand.
Without knowing the intricacies of your business, I’d say in most cases it should never be an ‘either-or’ situation when it comes to PR models.
Trust in Traditional PR outlets have remained fairly consistent. However, with the right strategy, Digital PR can form a quality and expansive portfolio of content which potential clients can scroll through, ensuring greater longevity and boosting credibility as opposed to the short-term news-cycles of traditional PR.
Smart use of Digital PR can also provide an outstanding ROI compared to traditional models and has the significant advantage of campaign impacts being directly measurable. Though I will qualify this with an enormous caveat – without knowledge of SEOs, backlinks, shareable assets and a host of other constantly evolving engagement strategies, all this content can be effectively lost at sea (I know… I know, sorry).
So, when it comes to effective management of Digital PR that bring us nicely on to…
Here at PR By Whitney, we tell your story in a way that connects with the right people. Our creatives use proven strategies, using digital PR tools like media outreach, content creation, and influencer partnerships to make sure your brand gets seen and remembered.
Our focus is always on building genuine connections that bring you lasting visibility and trust online. Our media connections ensure you content and your company is seen by the right people and
With years of experience in the industry, we pride ourselves on being more than just an agency. We’re part of your team. We take the time to understand your goals and tailor every campaign to deliver real results.
So, if you’re ready to raise your profile and get your brand noticed where it matters most, get in touch and let’s make it happen together.
If you are interested in hearing more about the services we offer, please do get in touch with one of our team.
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