With a thriving digital PR strategy in place, potentially complemented by a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy, your brand should see much more visibility and enjoy a much better reputation. With the help of a digital PR services firm, it’s relatively easy to get started.
But is it possible to build and manage a digital PR strategy entirely on your own?
What Does a Digital PR Strategy Require?
First, we need to understand what a digital PR strategy requires. While there are many possible approaches to take, and you can technically claim to have a digital PR strategy with even the most minimal approach, the majority of successful digital PR strategies include the following:
- High-level branding strategy. Nearly all digital PR strategies start with some kind of high-level branding strategy. You need to understand what your organization is, what it represents, how it’s different from other organizations, and how it appeals to its target audience.
- Reputation management. Digital PR strategies also need to play offense and defense with reputation management. It’s important to circulate content and engagement opportunities to boost your reputation, while also guarding against reputational blows that might otherwise undermine your brand.
- Press releases and publications. Regular production and distribution of press releases as well as other publications are a staple element of most digital PR strategies.
- Search engine optimization (SEO). Search engine optimization (SEO) allows you to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs), ultimately boosting your visibility. However, this can be time-consuming and expensive.
- Social media marketing. Social media is arguably the heart of most digital PR strategies, since it gives you the broadest possible reach for your posts.
- Influencer marketing. Many modern brands now capitalize on influencer marketing as well, associating their brand with recognizable individuals.
How Does a Digital PR Agency Help?
Services like AgilePR exist to help individuals and businesses master the art of digital PR management. With the help of a digital PR agency or digital PR services from various organizations and freelancers, you can essentially take a hands-off approach.
If you do your due diligence, you can find genuine experts in this field; those experts can help you analyze your current brand position, develop a strategy designed for the best possible results, and ultimately execute the legwork necessary to achieve those results. They can also answer all your questions and collaborate and brainstorm with you on any internal endeavors you pursue relevant to PR.
The only real downside is that you’ll have to pay for these services. But because you’ll typically see better results this way, and because it will save you so much time, it’s usually more than worth it.
Can You Manage a Digital PR Strategy on Your Own?
With this context in mind, is it possible to manage a digital PR strategy entirely on your own?
The short answer is yes. You can absolutely do this. But the reality is that you’ll probably overload yourself with work and see inferior results if you choose this route.
These are just some of the problems associated with independent digital PR strategy management:
- Expertise. Do you feel confident that you understand the dynamics of SEO? Do you know the right way to approach an influencer about a collaborative opportunity? Are you familiar with the intricacies of writing and submitting press releases appropriately? Without expertise, you’re unfortunately likely to fail; if you don’t have a background in PR, doing the work independently might be extremely challenging to impossible.
- Time commitments. Even if you do have that expertise, managing a digital PR campaign takes a lot of time, even for a small, emerging business. Doing research, developing content, practicing outreach, and other responsibilities can take dozens, if not hundreds of hours every week.
- Lost opportunities. You might be able to manage a digital PR strategy and see decent results from it, but are you confident those are the best results you could have seen? Without the help of a digital PR agency, you’ll likely encounter lost opportunities.
- Scalability. As your business grows and your digital PR needs expand, you’ll become less and less likely to retain control over your strategy. Working with an agency or a team of freelancers gives you the scalability you need.
- Analysis. Data is a practical requirement for modern digital PR campaigns. Without the proper tools or analytic capabilities, you’ll essentially be trying to shoot a target in the dark. You’ll also find it very hard to troubleshoot anything that’s going wrong.
While it is possible to manage a digital PR strategy on your own, at least for a small or mid-size business, it’s usually better to work with a team of professionals. It might cost you more money up front, but you’ll generally see a much higher return on investment (ROI) over the long term.
