What is Digital PR? A definitive guide for 2025

Digital PR is the practice of using creative campaigns, content and outreach to earn online coverage that builds brand authority and improves search visibility (and also drives more awareness with LLMs and AI search). 

This guide is written for marketers who want to grow their brand online, founders looking to make a splash in their industry and in-house SEOs keen to strengthen their off-page strategy. Below you will find a clear framework for building a digital PR strategy, practical tactics you can try straight away, tips on how to measure success, handy templates to save you time and real examples that show what works in practice. We will cover the trends in the industry for 2025, how you can go about creating a digital PR strategy and the tactics and campaign formats that can be part of that strategy.

A digital PR agency is a specialist marketing partner that helps brands build authority, visibility and trust online through creative campaigns and targeted outreach. Unlike traditional PR agencies that focus mainly on print, TV and radio coverage, digital PR agencies concentrate on online publications, news sites, blogs, podcasts, influencers and social media.

A strong digital PR agency will also connect activity directly to measurable business outcomes. That includes improving search rankings through earned links, increasing referral traffic from coverage, and building brand reputation by securing placements in relevant outlets. Many agencies work closely with SEO teams to align campaigns with keyword targets, ensuring digital PR not only builds awareness but also supports long-term organic growth. At Varn, our digital PR and content is backed into the technical and wider SEO strategies we implement for clients, ensuring any messaging and campaigns are aligned to SEO and AI optimisation goals.

As stated the industry is moving beyond just links, with brand mentions online, coverage in high-authority media and brand sentiment becoming more intertwined with digital PR. This creates a melting pot if benefits that many brands proactive in the space are taking advantage of: 

SEO outcomes: rankings, topical authority, E-E-A-T

• Earn high-quality backlinks from trusted publications to improve keyword rankings and expand topical authority.
• Strengthen your site’s Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness by being cited in relevant industry coverage.
• Drive consistent organic traffic growth through increased visibility across long-tail and competitive keywords.

Proof point: Digital PR is the most common modern method of ‘link-building’, being used by 67% of marketers. 

Brand outcomes: awareness, trust, reputation

• Secure media coverage that positions your brand as a credible and recognisable voice within your industry.
• Build audience trust by appearing in respected outlets and sharing data-driven insights rather than promotional claims.
• Amplify positive sentiment through repeated brand mentions across news, blogs and social platforms. 

Proof point: Nearly 4 in 5 marketers say earned media is now more effective than traditional advertising methods when it comes to creating a point of difference.

Commercial outcomes: assisted conversions, pipeline influence, CAC efficiency

• Generate referral traffic from authoritative sites that introduce new audiences into your sales funnel directly. 
• Influence pipeline by nurturing prospects who discover your brand through third-party validation before reaching your website.
• Reduce customer acquisition costs by relying on earned visibility rather than high-spend paid campaigns.
• Track how PR-driven sessions assist conversions and attribute revenue influence through GA4 and CRM integrations. (Not a core KPI, but one worth monitoring, this is not performance marketing 101!). 

Proof point: A typical PR placement can drive 100 to 500 referral visits, while high-performing ones often exceed 1,000 visits, directly contributing to conversions and revenue growth. 

At its core, digital PR is a creative discipline but we find that a combined approach of systems and creative space develops the best ideas for our client. Broadly speaking all of our campaigns tend to follow the below structure with bespoke developments for more creative/off the wall campaigns: 

Set objectives

Decide what you want to achieve, whether that is more backlinks, stronger rankings for a set of keywords, or broader brand visibility.

Define your audience and personas

Understand who you want to reach and build journalist, influencer and customer personas to guide content choices and pitching style.

Generate ideas

Brainstorming (where you use collective minds to ‘storm’ a subject) campaign concepts that are newsworthy, relevant to your industry and engaging enough to spark coverage. This can include seasonal hooks, data studies or creative stunts.

Gather research and data

Back up your idea with credible insights. This might involve running a survey, pulling figures from open datasets, or combining multiple sources into a unique story. Some stories may be more creative, so be mindful that in some instances less is more.

Build campaign content

Turn your research or idea into a tangible asset such as a press release, infographic, video, article or interactive tool that journalists can use.

Outreach and amplify

Pitch your story to the right journalists and influencers, share it across owned channels, and consider repurposing it for social media or other platforms.

Measure and iterate

Track results such as links earned, referral traffic, rankings and brand mentions. Feed these insights into the next campaign to refine what works best.

Relaunch (Bonus)

We find it is always good to have some campaigns within your editorial calendar that are repeatable over longer periods of time, not only is it quicker to update an older campaign instead of launching an entirely new one, you can also reuse the same (updated) media lists and tactics. A lot of digital PR is about timing, and we have had great results over a 2-3 year period with a campaign or idea that didn’t meet the coverage target in the first iteration, it’s all about thinking long term.

Key tip: When planning ideation sessions or shaping client campaign pitches, bring in a mix of team members but remember that everyone’s brain works differently. Some people prefer doing research in advance, while others thrive on thinking in the moment. One person might come up with their best idea on a walk, another over a coffee or even a pint. The point is, variety matters, so give space for different working styles within the group.

Whilst it is difficult to definitively say a given tactic is better than another there are some that we have had greater success with at Varn and some that have better results in certain industries. 

When to use: Works well for service-led businesses or industries where authority and expertise build trust. Use proactive thought leadership for planned campaigns, and reactive commentary (newsjacking) when timely events arise.

How to pitch: Build a bank of expert quotes that can be quickly tailored to breaking news. Proactively reach out with unique perspectives or data that add value to current debates. Media training ensures spokespeople stay on message.

Link target: Author profile pages, company leadership pages, or service pages that reflect the expertise being highlighted.

Risk watchouts: Commentary must be relevant and aligned with brand positioning. Jumping on the wrong story can appear opportunistic. Always fact-check and align with compliance or legal teams before publication.

When to use: Ideal for squeezing more value from existing assets. Repurposing works when you have research, blogs, or thought leadership that could perform better in a new format or reach new audiences.

How to pitch: Share an updated or reformatted asset with media or on owned platforms, making sure it feels fresh. For example, turn a blog into an infographic for journalists, a LinkedIn carousel for professionals, or a short video for social media. 

Our client BullionVault has had tremendous success with this, updating an infographics page with interactive content on the gold buying habits of the world’s central banks which acts as great content for outreach and is now driving organic links too. 

Link target: Resource hubs, campaign landing pages, or evergreen blog posts that collate formats together.

Risk watchouts: Repurposed content must add value. A simple rehash risks being ignored. Ensure visuals are accessible and branded subtly so they appeal to journalists.

When to use: Strong for campaigns targeting consumer audiences, especially in fashion, lifestyle, food, and fitness. Social content helps amplify earned coverage and can drive additional referral traffic.

How to pitch: Create detailed briefs for influencers and creators that outline the campaign narrative, disclosure requirements, and preferred hashtags. Pair influencer activity with earned coverage for a wider footprint. Use UTM links to measure performance.

Link target: ecommerce collection or lead generation pages. 

Risk watchouts: Always comply with disclosure rules and platform guidelines. Vet influencers for audience authenticity and brand alignment. Track results carefully to avoid inflated metrics from bots or fake engagement.

Top tip: With all of the above campaign formats, be sure to consider timing and seasonality, some campaigns can work really well in the summer whereas others may be more suited to the winter. If you are looking for insights into what the press are writing about and how you can take advantage with a digital PR campaign, get in touch. 

Coming up with campaign ideas that cut through the noise is one of the hardest but most rewarding parts of digital PR. Strong ideas tend to share the same qualities: they are timely, relevant to the brand, easy to explain in a headline, and backed by credible data or insight.

Techniques to spark ideas

• Trends scan: Use tools like Google Trends, Exploding Topics, and TikTok Creative Centre to spot what people are talking about now.
• Gap analysis: Analyse competitor campaigns to see what has landed coverage in your sector and where you can approach from a different angle.
• Seasonal hooks: Tie your story into predictable calendar moments such as Christmas, summer holidays, or industry-specific events.
• Contrarian angles: Challenge accepted wisdom to create debate, provided your data can back it up.
• Proprietary data: Use surveys, first-party analytics, or FOI requests to create original findings.
• “X vs Y” comparisons: Simple head-to-heads (e.g. cost of commuting by train vs car) make for digestible coverage.
• Rankings and maps: Journalists love league tables and local breakdowns that allow for tailored regional angles. 

Pre-pitch testing
Before investing too much time in production, run ideas through a filter:

• Draft 2–3 headline variants. If they don’t sound like something you’d click on, refine.
• Do a newsroom litmus test by asking “would this fit in my target outlet’s newsfeed tomorrow?”
• Apply a kill-criteria checklist: is it too niche, too brand-heavy, or missing credible data? If yes, it is time to cut it. 

At Varn, we find scoring ideas also helpful when it comes to working out which campaigns to run; some may be more ‘linkable’ e.g the BullionVault example worked well because lots of people were after useful content and found it through Google, whereas others may be more ‘newsworthy’ e.g our campaign on the impact of weather forecasts on the hospitality industry with our client Woolacombe Bay Holiday Parks landed with regional journalists due to topical relevance and timing around the bank holidays. 

Idea scorecard

Scoring ideas against these factors helps keep creativity grounded in strategy, ensuring you back the stories most likely to deliver coverage and links.

Even the best ideas fail without effective outreach. Successful campaigns depend on building relationships and pitching stories in ways that respect how journalists work.

Targeting: media lists & beat lists, relevance over domain authority, exclusives and firsts

Start by mapping beat lists (what journalists are covering) for each journalist rather than chasing high Domain Authority sites alone. Relevance is always more valuable than size. Consider offering exclusives to top-tier outlets or a “first look” to a journalist you want to build trust with.

Pitching: subject lines, five-line body, and assets

Subject lines should be clear and concise, ideally under 60 characters, and highlight the hook. Keep the body of the email to five lines:

1. Hook 
2. Why it matters now 
3. A killer data point or angle 
4. The asset you are offering (dataset, infographic, product, quote) 
5. Simple call to action (“Would you like the full dataset?”) 

Always attach or link to high-quality visuals, quotes, or embed codes. Make life easy for the journalist to say yes.

Timing and follow-ups

Factor in time zones if pitching internationally. For big announcements, use embargoes so journalists can prepare. Limit yourself to one or two follow-ups—more than that risks damaging relationships. If you are confident the story is a good fit and haven’t had a reply, a polite phone call can sometimes make the difference.

Publisher guidelines

Every outlet has its own style, image rights policy, and linking rules. Some will add a link as standard, others require you to request attribution. Check house styles before pitching and tailor your submission accordingly.

Digital PR must be measured in a way that reflects its broader impact, not just the number of backlinks gained. A structured approach to reporting helps prove value to stakeholders and improves future campaigns.

Coverage quality

Not all coverage is created equal. Assess:

• Tiering (national press vs niche blogs vs regional sites)
• Topical relevance to your industry or keywords
• Placement and anchor text of the link (body copy > footers)
• Ratio of follow vs nofollow links 

SEO/GEO impact

Look at how coverage influences search performance by tracking:

• Visibility across rank clusters rather than single keywords
• Growth in branded search queries after high-profile coverage
• Referring domains and authority growth over time
• GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) performance 

Traffic and engagement

Measure what the coverage delivers to your site:

• Referral sessions and engaged sessions
• Time on page for visitors from PR placements
• Assisted conversions where PR-driven traffic later leads to sign-ups or purchases 

Commercial impact

Although PR and digital PR are not a direct performance marketing channel, it can support commercial outcomes. Useful approaches include:

• Pipeline influence models that show how PR touches prospects before conversion
• Revenue correlation windows (did revenue spike around campaign launch?)
• ROI assessments that compare PR costs to attributable outcomes such as leads or media value

Dashboarding

Set up dashboards so reporting is consistent and visible:

• GA4 events for referral traffic and conversions
• Google Search Console queries to track keyword movement
• Looker Studio templates for visualising campaign performance
• UTM conventions for tracking influencer and social amplification
• SEMRush or other tools to get backlink and coverage data 

By measuring across these levels you demonstrate the full value of digital PR, from awareness and authority right through to commercial impact.

Has the above got you interested in running a digital PR campaign for your brand? Great. But there is one thing worth noting, it takes time, expertise and persistence to create and then land coverage with a great campaign. If you are looking to work with an expert partner that can earn coverage that supports your business and resulting SEO/GEO goals then contact a member of the varn team today.