What is digital PR? A comprehensive guide [Framework + examples + free templates]
- Will Tombs
- Mar 17
- 12 min read
Contents
What is digital PR?
Digital PR is an online growth strategy that uses newsworthy content and media outreach to earn high-quality backlinks, brand mentions, and online authority.
It helps brands improve visibility across traditional search engines, AI-powered search experiences, and trusted online publications.
What does “PR” mean in digital PR?
PR stands for Public Relations. It usually involves:
Creating newsworthy stories
Getting featured in trusted publications
Building credibility through independent coverage and expert commentary
Anyone can claim they are brilliant on their own website. It carries a bit more weight when respected publishers say it for them.
What makes it digital PR?
A digital PR campaign is designed to support:
Organic search rankings
AI search visibility
Editorial backlink growth
Brand authority
Online discoverability
That means:
Stories are backed by useful, link-worthy content on your website
Campaigns are shaped using SEO and search insight from the start
Coverage includes editorial links, not just mentions
Content is structured to improve visibility in both search engines and AI-generated answers
This is also what separates a digital PR agency from a traditional PR agency. A digital PR agency focuses on measurable online growth, not just press coverage.
Why digital PR is not link building
Link building and digital PR both earn backlinks, but they go about it in very different ways.
Link building asks, "How do we get a link?"
Digital PR asks, "What story is worth talking about?" The links tend to follow.
When a journalist features your research, quotes your expert, or covers your campaign, they will often include an editorial link.
Editorial links are natural backlinks given by publishers when they reference your content as a trusted source. They are earned through great stories, original data, and useful insights, not paid placements or link requests.
The link is important - but it is the coverage, credibility, and authority behind it that make digital PR so powerful for SEO and GEO.
Link building | Digital PR |
Focuses on earning backlinks | Focuses on earning coverage, editorial links, and brand authority |
Outreach is usually aimed at securing a link | Outreach is centred around a newsworthy story |
Success is measured by the links acquired | Success is measured by coverage, links, visibility, and authority |
Often targets relevant websites | Often targets journalists, publishers, and media outlets |
Links are the primary goal | Links are a valuable outcome of great coverage |
Supports SEO and GEO efforts | Supports SEO, GEO, brand awareness, and trust |
Digital PR vs traditional PR
Traditional PR and digital PR both aim to get people talking about your brand. The difference is how success is measured.
Traditional PR focuses on awareness through newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, and industry publications. The goal is coverage and reputation.
Digital PR focuses on online visibility. Alongside media coverage, it aims to earn editorial links, brand mentions, and authority signals that support SEO and GEO performance.
In short, traditional PR asks, "Did people see the story?" Digital PR asks, "Did people see it, link to it, search for us, and find us online afterwards?"
Why is digital PR important for SEO and GEO success?
If nobody knows your brand exists, Google and AI platforms have very little reason to recommend it. That is where digital PR comes in.
Every time your business is mentioned by a trusted publication, quoted as an expert, or linked to as a source, it sends a strong signal that your brand is credible and worth paying attention to.
This aligns closely with Google's emphasis on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness). Coverage, citations, and editorial links from reputable sources help strengthen the authority and trust signals that search engines look for when evaluating content and brands.
Research also shows that 48.6% of SEO professionals consider digital PR the most effective tactic for earning high-authority links that improve search rankings and visibility.
So, if you thought digital PR was just about getting your name in the press, think again. It also helps build the trust, authority, and online presence needed for both SEO and GEO success.
Types of digital PR campaigns
Press releases
Press releases are used to announce something newsworthy, such as a product launch, company milestone, report, or event.
Example: A fintech company secures £10 million in funding and shares the news with business journalists. The story is picked up by industry publications and national business media.
Data studies
Data-led campaigns use original research, surveys, or industry data to uncover interesting trends. Journalists love statistics they can reference, making data studies one of the most effective digital PR tactics for earning coverage and links.
Example: An estate agency analyses house price data from 100 UK towns and reveals where first-time buyers get the best value. Property and regional news sites cover the findings.
Newsjacking
Newsjacking involves reacting quickly to breaking news with expert commentary or insights. Done well, it can put your brand into conversations already happening across the media.
Example: Following a major Google algorithm update, an SEO agency shares expert analysis explaining which businesses are most likely to be affected. You can check out how Buried experts reacted to Google’s AI search update.
Influencer marketing
Influencer campaigns partner with trusted creators who already have an engaged audience. While traditionally seen as a brand awareness tactic, influencer marketing can also support digital PR by generating mentions, coverage, and online buzz.
Example: A travel brand partners with a UK travel creator to document a weekend stay. The campaign gains traction on social media and is featured by travel publications.
Thought leadership
Thought leadership positions your team as experts in their field. This could include expert commentary, opinion pieces, predictions, or interviews that help journalists and audiences see your brand as a trusted source of insight.
Example: The CEO of a cybersecurity company shares predictions on emerging online scams for the year ahead. Several technology and business publications quote the insights in their coverage.
Buried’s 3-step digital PR framework | Creating a digital PR campaign step-by-step
Research & discovery
Every successful digital PR campaign starts with understanding the business, its audience, and the problems it solves.
What are customers struggling with?
What makes the business different from its competitors?
Why should people trust its expertise?
It is also worth speaking directly to the people within the business. Subject matter experts often have the best insights because they understand the market, customer challenges, and emerging trends better than anyone else.
At this stage, it is important to understand any limitations too, such as budgets, resources, timelines, or access to data.
Pro tip: Look beyond your own industry. Some of the best campaign ideas come from borrowing formats that have worked elsewhere. A successful property data study, for example, could inspire a healthcare or cybersecurity campaign. Don't just analyse competitors. Analyse great digital PR wherever you find it.
Strategy & ideation
Once the groundwork is done, it's time to build the story.
Most digital PR campaigns should support wider marketing and PR objectives rather than exist in isolation. Start by creating a simple brief outlining what you want to achieve and who you want to reach.
The goal is to create something genuinely useful, interesting, or shareable. This could be:
Original research or data studies
Expert commentary
Interactive tools or calculators
Reactive content
Industry reports or surveys
Bring internal experts into the ideation process. The best campaign ideas often come from people who speak to customers every day.
It also pays to tap into existing trends and headlines. For example, a cybersecurity company could create content around a recent high-profile cyber attack, while a healthcare brand might analyse public interest in Ozempic or other emerging treatments.
Once stakeholders agree on the concept, create the central asset that journalists can reference and link to.
Pro tip: Not every campaign needs months of research or a huge budget. Before investing heavily in an idea, test it with a handful of journalists. Their reaction can quickly tell you whether you're onto a headline or heading down a dead end.
Activation
With the asset live, outreach begins.
Build a media list, create a press release, and prepare author biographies for any experts featured in the campaign. Then start pitching the story to relevant journalists and publications.
If coverage starts appearing, keep the momentum going. New developments can create opportunities to re-engage journalists with fresh insights or commentary.
For example, if a cybersecurity campaign focuses on a major data breach and another breach occurs a few weeks later, you have an opportunity to add new analysis and re-enter the news cycle. That’s newsjacking (explained earlier).
Finally, amplify the campaign through social media, email, and owned channels, while tracking coverage, editorial links, and authority gained for both SEO and GEO success.
Pro tip: Journalists are busy, and inboxes are crowded. A strong subject line can make the difference between opening an email and ignoring it. Focus on the story, statistic, or insight that makes people stop scrolling rather than leading with your company name.
How to measure digital PR performance
The objective of digital PR is to generate media coverage that also earns links back to your website. That means success is measured by more than just headlines.
Key digital PR metrics include:
Number of media placements secured
Editorial links earned
Referral traffic from coverage
Brand awareness and mentions
Leads and enquiries generated
Improvements in SEO and GEO visibility
An important metric is the Domain Rating (DR) of the publication linking to you. DR is a score developed by Ahrefs that estimates the authority of a website on a scale from 0 to 100. A link from a website with a DR of 80 may carry more SEO and GEO value than a link from a website with a DR of 20.
However, we do not recommend chasing scores. A relevant link from a trusted industry publication is often more valuable than a high-DR link from a website your audience never visits. So, relevance matters first!
Ultimately, the best digital PR campaigns deliver a combination of coverage, authority, traffic, and business results.
Digital PR distribution strategy [+ Channels]
Creating a great digital PR campaign is only half the job. If nobody sees it, it is unlikely to earn coverage, links, or brand mentions.
Media outreach
This is the core of most digital PR campaigns. Journalists, publishers, bloggers, and industry publications are contacted with a story, press release, or expert commentary designed to earn coverage and editorial links.
Social media
Share the campaign across LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and other relevant platforms. Social engagement can increase visibility and help stories reach journalists and influencers organically.
Email marketing
Promote the campaign to customers, prospects, partners, and subscribers. The more people who engage with the content, the more likely it is to gain traction.
Industry communities
Relevant forums, communities, newsletters, and professional groups, such as LinkedIn groups, Reddit discussions, industry newsletters, etc., can help put your campaign in front of people who genuinely care about the topic.
Influencers and industry experts
Partnering with respected voices in your sector can amplify reach and add credibility to the campaign.
The best digital PR campaigns rarely rely on a single channel. They combine media outreach, social media, email, and industry networks to build momentum and maximise opportunities for coverage, links, and brand mentions.
Real-world digital PR campaign examples
1. Buried: AI Curiosity Map
To explore how AI adoption varies around the world, Buried created the AI curiosity map, an interactive data-led campaign analysing global interest in artificial intelligence.
The campaign transformed complex search data into an interactive map, giving journalists a simple and visual way to discuss a fast-growing trend.
Why it worked:
Tapped into widespread interest in AI
Used original data journalists could cite
Turned search behaviour into a visual story
Results:
Coverage across marketing, technology, and business publications
High-authority editorial links
Increased visibility around AI-related search topics
2. Buried: AI Girlfriend Adoption Map
When AI companions became a mainstream talking point, Buried analysed global search behaviour to identify where interest in AI girlfriends was growing fastest.
The campaign took a trending topic and backed it with data, creating a story that was both newsworthy and shareable.
Why it worked:
Combined a trending subject with original research
Provided journalists with fresh statistics and regional insights
Generated discussion around the social impact of AI
Results:
Coverage across technology and consumer-interest publications
Editorial backlinks from relevant media outlets
Significant brand exposure through a highly topical story
3. Amtivo: Travelex ransomware newsjacking campaign
Following the high-profile Travelex ransomware attack, Amtivo published expert analysis exploring how the breach could potentially have been prevented through stronger cybersecurity controls and information security management.
By responding to a story already dominating headlines, Amtivo inserted its expertise into an active news cycle and provided journalists with timely commentary on a topic businesses were eager to understand.
Why it worked:
Reacted to a major news story already attracting media attention
Offered expert insight rather than simply reporting the news
Addressed a real concern for businesses worried about cyber threats
Results:
Coverage and backlinks from industry publications
Placement within Clutch's cybersecurity trends content
Increased authority around cybersecurity and ISO 27001 topics
4. Packaging Europe: World Refill Day 2025 campaign
To coincide with World Refill Day 2025, Packaging Europe created an industry year-in-review feature looking at key developments, innovations, and challenges within the refill and reusable packaging sector.
Rather than producing promotional content, the campaign provided a valuable industry resource that journalists and trade publications could reference when covering sustainability and packaging trends.
Why it worked:
Aligned with an established industry awareness day
Combined expert insight with broader market trends
Provided a useful resource for journalists covering sustainability topics
Results:
Placements in industry publications with Domain Ratings up to DR 86
Additional coverage across highly relevant niche publications
Strong backlink profile from authoritative sustainability and packaging websites
5. Burger King: The Whopper Detour
In one of the most famous digital PR and guerrilla marketing campaigns of recent years, Burger King offered customers a Whopper for just 1 cent - but there was a catch. To unlock the deal, people had to be within 600 feet of a McDonald's restaurant and order through the Burger King app.
The campaign turned Burger King's biggest competitor into the trigger for the promotion, generating huge media attention and social buzz.
Why it worked:
Turned a long-running brand rivalry into a newsworthy story
Used technology in an unexpected and shareable way
Generated earned media, social discussion, and widespread press coverage
Results:
More than 1.5 million app downloads in just nine days
3.3 billion impressions
App sales tripled during the campaign
Coverage across marketing, business, and national media publications
Free digital PR templates
Below are two simple templates you can adapt for your own campaigns. The first is designed for launching a newsworthy asset, such as a report, calculator, study, or product. The second is a newsjacking template that helps you react to breaking stories with expert insight and analysis.
Click “File” at the top left corner, go to “Download” and select the preferred format to download the free template.
Common mistakes to avoid with your digital PR
One of the biggest digital PR mistakes is creating content nobody actually cares about. If the story is not interesting, useful, surprising, or timely, journalists are unlikely to cover it.
Another common mistake is pitching the wrong story to the wrong journalist.
In fact, 72% of journalists say receiving irrelevant pitches is the quickest way to get blocked or added to a "don't contact" list.
Other common mistakes include:
Focusing on links instead of the story
Ignoring what is already trending in the news
Creating campaigns without input from subject matter experts
Targeting the wrong publications
Publishing content without a distribution plan
Measuring success purely by the number of links earned
The best digital PR campaigns start with audience insight, solve a genuine problem, and give journalists a story worth sharing.
What is a digital PR agency, and do you need one?
Think of a digital PR agency as the team that gets people talking about your brand in the right places. They help you earn coverage, links, and mentions from trusted publications, making your business more visible across Google, AI search, and the websites your audience already reads.
A digital PR agency typically:
Develops campaign ideas and content assets
Conducts journalist and media outreach
Secures editorial links and brand mentions
Creates data studies, reports, and expert commentary
Supports SEO and GEO growth through earned media
Do you need a digital PR agency?
A good agency knows what journalists are looking for, how to spot opportunities, and how to turn expertise into stories people actually want to share.
If your goal is to increase brand awareness, build authority, and improve SEO and GEO performance, then yes - a digital PR agency is definitely worth it for your business!
FAQs
How long does digital PR take to show results?
Most digital PR campaigns start generating results within 4-12 weeks. Research, ideation, and content creation can take several weeks, particularly for data studies and interactive assets. Once outreach begins, media coverage and editorial links are often secured within the first month.
What types of content work best for digital PR?
The best digital PR campaigns are built around content people genuinely want to share. Popular formats include data studies, surveys, calculators, expert commentary, reactive content, guides, and interactive tools tied to trending topics or industry conversations.
Is digital PR suitable for small businesses?
Absolutely. Small businesses can often achieve impressive results by focusing on niche expertise, local stories, original insights, or industry knowledge. You do not need a huge budget to earn coverage if you have a story that journalists and audiences genuinely care about.
What is the cost of doing digital PR?
Digital PR costs vary depending on the type of campaign and content required. As a guide, businesses typically invest between £1,000 and £10,000 per campaign, including strategy, content creation, outreach, and reporting. Data-led campaigns and interactive tools generally require larger budgets.
Industry-leading digital PR with Buried
At Buried, we combine data, creativity, media outreach, SEO, and GEO strategy to create campaigns that people genuinely want to talk about. From original research and interactive tools to reactive content and thought leadership, every campaign is designed to earn meaningful coverage and long-term authority.
Buried's approach focuses on building trusted citations, quality links, and brand visibility that compound over time and support sustainable growth.
Ready to see what digital PR could do for your brand? Get in touch for a chat today - we’d love to help!
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