5 Common Mistakes in Implementing Digital Public Relations

Speaking of digital PR, these days, what isn’t digital and online? From digital public relations, digital marketing, digital payments, online businesses, online movie streaming, online music streaming, to online loans, online savings, breaking up with a boyfriend or girlfriend online, online dating, and even breaking up online—everything is digital and online.

At first glance, anything “digital” seems easy to grasp. Essentially, “digital” describes processes that were once conducted conventionally but have now shifted to digital platforms.

But in the context of digital PR, the reality is that many people misunderstand what digital PR is all about. It’s true that, like other “digital” fields, digital PR shifts public relations practices into the digital realm through various digital platforms.

To effectively execute digital PR, simply switching to digital platforms isn’t enough. There have been many changes and developments in digital PR practices. Today, PR is no longer just about media placements, brand awareness, or reputation management. Digital PR has a more tangible and measurable business impact.

Here are some common misconceptions about digital PR activities frequently cited by PR agencies, universities with digital PR programs, PR communities, and even national media outlets.

For a more detailed explanation of these misconceptions about digital PR, you can listen to a presentation by Media Buffet CEO Bima Marzuki on the Media Buffet YouTube channel.

Common Misconceptions About Digital Public Relations

Digital Public Relations Is Not About Running Social Media and Conventional PR Simultaneously

Now, here’s a question for you. Does posting content on social media count as digital PR? Does posting clarifications—whether verbal or written—on social media also count as digital PR?

If your answer is yes, congratulations. You’re wrong!

What’s mentioned above are social media activities, not digital PR activities. To this day, many PR practitioners still believe that sharing information on digital platforms constitutes a success in bridging the gap between a brand and the public. In reality, digital PR goes far beyond that.

By definition, digital PR is rooted in SEO, Google’s algorithms, domain authority, backlinks, and a website’s reputation. Meanwhile, Instagram and Twitter content have no direct impact on your brand’s website SEO performance.

Digital PR is the integration of public relations and digital marketing. It’s not about running social media and PR activities side by side. Therefore, a solid understanding of several aspects of digital marketing—especially SEO—is essential. And social media is just one of many disciplines within digital marketing.

Lack of Understanding and Trial-and-Error in Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is a field with many branches. There are 9 types of digital marketing, including content marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), SEM, email marketing, social media marketing, paid advertising, affiliate marketing, mobile marketing, influencer marketing, and many more.

In digital PR, the branches of digital marketing that are primarily integrated with public relations are SEO and content marketing. So, digital PR doesn’t necessarily utilize every aspect of digital marketing.

There are times when many branches of digital marketing are used, but only to support ongoing digital PR activities. Trial and error in digital marketing involves a fairly complex process.

For example, there’s user testing in the process of improving a website’s UI/UX. Then there’s also A/B testing for website improvements, which is similar to user testing in UI/UX. Not to mention keyword research in SEO. There’s a lot of research and trial and error you’ll need to go through when implementing digital marketing.

Stopping at Inbound Traffic

It’s true that one of the effects of digital marketing is an increase in traffic to a brand’s or company’s website. But is simply increasing website traffic enough?

Increased traffic won’t mean anything if you stop there. Traffic equals awareness, and in a funnel strategy, awareness is just the first stage of digital marketing outcomes.

In the concept of digital PR, traffic is just one metric of brand awareness.

In fact, here at Media Buffet PR, we’ve proven that the impact of a digital PR campaign goes far beyond mere awareness—it can also extend to digital reputation and leads. This is exactly what we’ve done, and the results are evident with two of our clients, Shell and IdScore.

Digital PR can have a far-reaching impact, extending to leads and conversion through collaboration. With digital PR, incoming traffic can be guided by product knowledge derived from the content marketing process.

Digital Public Relations That Relies Solely on Organic Efforts

The SEO optimization process takes quite a long time. Therefore, organic efforts may not be enough if your brand operates in a highly competitive industry. If you only create content without making other efforts, it may take several months before you see an increase in traction.

Backlinks are extremely important in digital PR—especially those from media outlets. Why is that?

Media websites tend to have high domain authority (DA). This means media websites are more likely to rank at the top of Google.

Backlinks from websites with high DA will have a greater impact on the DA of the target brand’s website. How can you get backlinks from credible media websites?

One alternative approach is to place advertorials in the form of articles on media websites. Influencer marketing can also be an option, as long as the narrative directs the audience to your brand’s website and includes some product education so that the traffic generated isn’t wasted.

Not Understanding How Google & SEO Work

When discussing digital PR, it’s essential to also discuss SEO. Since the core integration process involves SEO and content marketing, learning SEO is a must for anyone who wants to master digital PR.

If SEO sounds way too technical and IT-heavy, don’t overthink it just yet! These days, there are plenty of free resources all over the internet that can teach you SEO.

I guarantee that once you understand SEO, you’ll start to grasp what digital PR is really all about. Understanding SEO will feel like lifting the veil on the science of digital PR in your mind. That epiphany will ultimately make digital PR strategies make sense.

Why is learning SEO important? Because you’ll gain insights into audience behavior. When someone is looking for something, they’ll Google it first before turning to social media. A brand’s reputation is also visible on Google, whether in the form of reviews or star ratings.

It would be a huge mistake to create a communication strategy—whether it’s public relations, digital marketing, or anything else—without taking audience behavior into account.

To start learning about SEO, there are several resources you can check out. For example, Neil Patel’s YouTube channel (not the actor, by the way), or the Media Buffet blog, where we also share a lot about SEO and digital PR.

Those are some of the common misconceptions about digital public relations that you often hear out there. This brief read is the beginning of your journey to mastering digital PR. So, be sure to keep following the Media Buffet PR blog and social media for even deeper insights into digital PR in the future!