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Generative AI is everywhere now. You see it in content, campaigns, customer experiences, and even internal workflows. It promises speed, scale, and efficiency, but there’s a harder question sitting underneath all that progress; Do your audiences actually trust it?

Trust in the Age of AI: What Consumers Really Think About AI Generated Content

Today, PR teams aren’t just tracking media coverage and share of voice. They’re also measuring how their brand shows up in AI-generated answers, search summaries, and large language models (LLMs). This new LLM visibility layer is quickly becoming a critical part of PR performance.

15 Must-Have PR KPIs and How to Track Them

See how one platform can power every decision across PR, communications, and marketing.

The Meltwater Blog

Blog Topics: Generative Engine Optimization, Media Intelligence, Media Relations, Social Listening, Consumer Intelligence, Influencer Marketing

Find out how you can leverage Facebook to boost your brand's online presence and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

Facebook Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage Instagram to boost your brand's visual appeal and gain a competitive edge. Explore our category page today!

Instagram Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage LinkedIN to grow your professional network and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

LinkedIn Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage TikTok to elevate your brand with creative content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

TikTok Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage X / Twitter to engage your audience effectively and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

X / Twitter Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage YouTube to create engaging video content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

YouTube Blog | Meltwater

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is transforming how brands show up in AI-powered search. Explore insights, strategies, and best practices to help your content rank and resonate across conversational engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot.

Explore insights and strategies for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) to help your brand stay visible and discoverable in AI-powered search.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Blog Collection | Meltwater

Every day billions of conversations take place on social media: tweets, posts, comments, blogs, reviews, podcasts, and much more.
Learn how to use social listening to make sense of all of that data.

On our social listening category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around social listening and social media monitoring. Read more.

Social Listening Blogs | Category

Business Reputation Management: What does it take to add reputation management to your marketing strategy? More importantly, how do you keep your reputation sparkly and shiny? Here’s your all-access guide to online reputation management for the long term.

On our reputation management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around business reputation management. Read more.

Reputation Management Blogs | Category

From your brand's logo to your website, your social media presence to your customer support—these elements combined are what constitutes a brand in the minds of customers. But, there are thousands of other businesses that have a logo, website, social media presence, and website. So, how can you position your business on the market and make it stand out from the competition?
The key to success is branding & brand management!

On our brand management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around brand management. Build your strategy and reach your goals!

Brand Management Blogs | Category

Competitive intelligence and the act of collecting competitive data can be seen as growth drivers for a company. Our guide will help you understand the concept of competitive intelligence (CI) by answering questions such as: What is the definition of competitive intelligence? How is competitive intelligence useful to organizations? What is the goal of competitive intelligence? And more.

On our competitive intelligence category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around competitive intelligence. Learn how to stay ahead.

Competitive Intelligence Blogs | Category

Let’s dive into the customer journey framework and how to optimize the process by creating a customer journey map and using metrics that matter when analyzing the customer journey.

On our customer journey category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Customer Journey Blogs | Category

What Is Data Analytics? [Beginner’s Guide 2023]
How can I grow my business? 
How do customers interact with my newly launched product?
How do I increase the productivity of my employees?
How do I know if my marketing efforts are working?
We have just two words for you...Data analytics!

On our data analytics category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around AI and data analytics. Technical and still easy to understand.

AI & Data Analytics Blogs | Category

Public relations and media relations can add impact to any marketing strategy. It’s an opportunity for brands to grow their reach beyond traditional sales messages. PR helps to shape the image you want people to have of your brand.
So, what is PR and how do you use it? This guide shows you everything you need to know to build a strong public relations foundation.

On our public relations (PR) category page, you find all our blogs covering public relations and communications topics. Step up your PR game.

Public Relations (PR) Blogs | Category

We all know exactly what the roles of sales or accounting are in a company, right? We might even have a slight idea of what the IT guys are doing.
But there is another business discipline, that plays a crucial role in organizations, even more so during the pandemic – internal communications!
But what exactly do we mean by that, what purpose does it serve and what steps can you take to ensure you and your employees will communicate effectively?

On our internal communications category page, you find all our blogs about internal comms topics. Learn about the intranet, internal newsletters, and more.

Internal Communications Blogs | Category

As the internet has taken root in more areas of our lives — everything from entertainment to shopping to paying bills and more — traditional marketing is becoming less impactful. As any marketer knows, you need to focus on where your audience is if you want to reach them. Since the average person spends about seven hours a day online, it’s no surprise that content has maintained its hold on marketers.

Here's a closer look at what content marketing is and why it matters more than ever in our digital-first economy.

On our content marketing category page, you find blogs about content marketing topics. Learn about strategies, KPIs, tips, and more. Make your content king!

Content Marketing Blogs | Category

The rise of the influencer marketing space – today a $10 billion industry, growing 50% per year – is one of the clearest examples of how social media is transforming traditional marketing. These days having a business website, presence on social, PR coverage, and your own content isn’t enough to compete.
We'll dive into the intricacies of influencer marketing to help ensure that you're equipped with the insights needed to be successful in this space.

On our influencer marketing category page, you find blogs about influencer marketing topics. Build your strategy, find influencers, and measure results.

Influencer Marketing Blogs | Category

Have you just launched a new product or service that you want to get the word out about? Maybe you want to share with consumers why it is awesome and how it is so much better than the one your competitors offer.

Well, then, there is one thing you can't do without...Marketing!

On our marketing category page, you find blogs about marketing topics. Learn about all the different angles and types of marketing and improve your results.

Marketing Blogs | Category

In this guide, we want to give you a peek into the definition of social media management, the daily schedule of a social media manager, social media platforms to promote your business, and the do’s & don’ts of social media management.
Are you ready to begin the journey of becoming a social media superstar?

On our social media management category page, you find blogs about social media management topics. Build and manage your online community.

Social Media Management Blogs | Category

Building a following and using social media platforms to reach a wider audience requires a well-planned social media marketing strategy. In this guide, we’ll be looking at why social media marketing is so essential and how you can make it work for your business.

On our social media marketing category page, you find blogs about social media marketing topics. Learn how to get the highest paid social ROI!

Social Media Marketing Blogs | Category

In the fast-evolving realm of digital marketing and public relations, utilizing the right tools is crucial for success. Our interdisciplinary category showcases all the pertinent tools for digital marketing & PR. These tools help in enhancing your online presence and effectively reaching target groups, whether through reputation management, influencer marketing, or social media management.

On our digital marketing and PR tools category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Digital Marketing & PR Tools Blogs | Category

Do business and politics mix? Increasingly, the answer seems to be yes. Here, we cover brands that have taken a political stand and share what we've learned from their varying approaches. With corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives on the rise, and more CEOs taking a socially outspoken stance, brands should be asking themselves if this approach is right for them. And if so, proceed with their eyes wide open. 

Prepping your CEO to be active on social media? Read our eBook on how to do it right, filled with examples from top brands that are harnessing the power of executive influence on social media.

So, Should Brands Take a Political Stance? 

That exact question has been tossed around PR and communication departments for decades with many deciding to shy away from mixing PR and politics because of the overall risk.

However, we’re starting to see a monumental shift in how brands approach highly-political situations. Brands like Nike, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Dove are starting to see political situations as an opportunity to take a stand for what they believe to be right.

And it’s working. According to the 2018 Edelman Earned Brand study, 64% of consumers reported they make purchasing decisions based on a brand’s social or political position.

This is why we’ve collected three of our favorite examples of brands taking a political stance and how powerful it can be in rallying your audience and attracting customers.

Combining PR and politics isn't just for campaign consultants and lobbyists. Big brands have been getting in on the action. Here are examples of bold moves three brands made and the reactions they got. 

In July 2018, WeWork shocked the startup industry by announcing it was going vegetarian (more or less).

In a statement to the 6,000-employee co-working behemoth, Miguel McKelvey (co-founder and chief culture officer) stated that the company will no longer serve meat at company functions, nor will it reimburse employees who want to order a hamburger during a lunch meeting.

According to McKelvey, the decision was driven largely by concerns for the environment, which is a key strategic public relations move in how WeWork chose to frame their announcement. 

Obviously decisions like this don’t come lightly and there will inevitably be both supporters and critics of the decision, but WeWork seemed to draw a positive reaction from their audience and reports alike. Major publications such as The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Washington Post all covered the news in a positive light. 

Key PR Lesson: When making a potentially controversial political decision, it’s important to frame your reasoning in terms of the bigger picture. Make it less “personal” and more about serving the greater good. 

In one of the bigger political brand moves of 2018, Salesforce CEO, Marc Benioff, made a pledge to support Prop C – A measure to tax the biggest businesses in San Francisco to raise as much as $300 million for homeless programs:

What’s most interesting about this particular situation is that Marc Benioff personally led the charge as opposed to Salesforce as a brand overall. However, Salesforce reported nearly $5.9 million in contributions, while Benioff was personally in for $2 million. 

The PR and communication teams at Salesforce successfully navigated what might have been a tricky situation by allowing Benioff to be the “face” of the marketing campaign, rather than tying it back to the brand. 

Key PR Lesson: Mixing PR and politics can garner support from your customers as well as potential backlash. By allowing a key executive to take the lead on an issue, you can help disassociate your brand from any negative press.

3. Patagonia Launches “The President Stole Your Land”

Patagonia has long been known for its pro-environment mantra—often speaking out publicly about land conservation and other highly-political issues. 

But perhaps their biggest stand yet was what they called, “The President Stole Your Land.” 

What’s so intriguing about this campaign is how well it fits into the Patagonia narrative. 

Today, many PR and communication teams fall into the trap of commenting on issues that don’t necessarily fit their overall message or brand image. What brands should be doing is carefully assessing whether or not to take a stand on a political issue by determining if the issue is truly a part of their identity.

In other words, does the issue build upon and strengthen the brand reputation we have built?

In this case, it strengthened Patagonia’s ongoing fight for conversation, with the hashtag #BearsEars gathering more than 80,000 mentions across social media (according to our social media monitoring platform).

Key PR Lesson: When mixing PR and politics as a brand, it’s important to strategically evaluate the impact that it will have on your overall reputation. If you’re looking for PR coverage inauthentically, people will see right through it. But if you believe in the cause and taking a stand fits your brand identity, that’s where you can have a major impact.

What Audiences Think About Brands That Speak Out on Social and Political Issues

While traditional CSR campaigns focused on a brand’s philanthropic activities, today’s efforts take on issues including climate change, immigration, race, health, and more.

But not everyone appreciates the idea of brands taking a stand.

“Knee-jerk decisions to engage in an activism campaign can spell disaster if prompted primarily by a CEO’s or marketing department’s political itch, an in-the-moment media spotlight grab, or as precedent-setting relief from a protestor boycott,” said public relations consultant Mary Beth West.

Research conducted by PR firm Sword and the Script says that most consumers think brands should stay silent on political issues.

“Nearly half (49%) of overall respondents said brands should not weigh in on political issues,” says Frank Strong, founder, Sword and the Script. “However, it’s not a majority because about one-third said they believe brands should get involved, while another 22% were unsure. Sentiment analysis around this question suggests context matters.”

PR firm Clutch found that while businesses that speak up on social issues and those that choose to stay silent both risk losing customers, staying silent may have less severe consequences. Their study found that nearly two-thirds of those surveyed (63%) say they’re likely to continue shopping at businesses that stay silent on issues they care about.

Aligning a Brand with the Right Cause Matters

Alignment comes into play when companies build a campaign around a social or political issue. Some brands are clearly aligned with their causes. Take, for example, Patagonia supporting environmental issues.

But when Gillette came out with its controversial “The Best Men Can Be” campaign, there was significant blowback, primarily because some thought the brand was trying to appear “woke”—without it taking any action to back it up.

“We should all be asking Gillette: Where can we find your authentic commitment and action to changing this problem?” says Phillip Haid, co-founder, and CEO of Public, in Fast Company. “If brands are going to lean into a social purpose to sell products, we have to expect them to do so with substance. Raising awareness is not enough. There needs to be a genuine, informed, long-term commitment to the issue with a clear plan to achieve the change the company is seeking to create.”

Brands Must Walk Their Talk to Be Believed

If brands do decide to launch such an effort, they must be mindful. If a campaign is just words—and isn’t backed up by the way the brand does business—a company can find itself in hot water.

“Surely no company is going to launch an advertising campaign if it thinks it will lose money; therefore, by definition, any social justice-orientated marketing is driven primarily by money, not advancing the cause of human progress,” says this piece in The Guardian.

If a brand’s commitment extends just to communicating, rather than considering how it conducts its own business, it’s liable to be called out, says Sophie Lewis, chief strategy officer at VMLY&R London.

“The lack of a real plan of action seems to follow a worrying trend of brands appropriating social purpose for compelling advertising creative and quickly moving on next quarter to another ‘cool’ trend to sell their product. Sprite’s ‘I Love You, Hater,’ Audi’s wage gap ad ‘Daughter,’ Heineken’s ‘World’s Apart’ experiment, and State Street’s ‘Fearless Girl’ all speak to this worrying trend of inauthentic activity that does little to walk the walk on the issues they are addressing,” Haid says.

To Support or Not to Support — Which Is Better?

So, at the end of the day, how should brands proceed down the slippery slope of supporting social issues?

“CEOs’ advocacy rationales of ‘standing up for our company’s values, no matter what’ certainly can have an appropriate and advantageous time and place, but applied to the wrong scenario, they can present a come-back-to-bite-you outcome, aimed directly at their own bottom lines,” says West.

The prevailing advice seems to be that if a brand chooses to go down this path, it should proceed with caution. It should select an issue that’s a fit and be prepared to back up its promotional efforts with REAL actions to support the message it puts forward.

There are many examples of brands that have successfully taken outspoken stances on environmental issues, health, and more, but as we’ve seen here, there are plenty of cautionary tales as well. To prepare yourself, be sure to read our essential guides to working with influencers to expand your reach, prepping CEOs for social media, and taking proactive steps to avoid a brand crisis.

What PRs Should Know Before Their Brand Takes a Political Stand

With the firehose of digital, mainstream media, and social media content; knowing when your audience is engaged on each platform by using a social listening tool of their choice is key to a successful PR content program.  After all, you can't reach the consumers that never see your content. 

Timing is probably the most overlooked factor in decision-making and strategy. It underpins much of how we structure our day and yet we often take it for granted. That's why when you're considering the factors that result in a successful campaign, consider the time you send out a PR pitch and content. 

Pitching stories to the media is a critical component of any PR strategy. And while email is perhaps the primary vehicle to getting your company’s stories out, often it's our greatest enemy. Journalists consistently cite email as their preferred method of contact, which sets you up against hundreds of other pitches, media alerts, and press releases that flood their inboxes every day.

What can you do to cut through the clutter and ensure your pitch is at the top of your contact’s inbox? If you’ve prepared content that’s quick, to the point, relevant, targeted to the journalist, and topped off with a catchy subject line, you’re halfway there.

But before hitting send, take a quick glance at the time – the time you send a PR pitch is one of the key factors that will play into whether your email is even opened. For those who work in PR or email marketing, there are a few best practices you can follow to maximize your open rates.

Send pitches in the morning or early afternoon: 

The best time to send pitches is when the receiver is reviewing their inbox. This tends to be in the morning – many people check email just before or right at the time they arrive at work – or in the early afternoon when some people take downtime around lunch.

For major news, avoid Mondays and Friday afternoons: 

As most of us know all too well, Mondays are typically a scramble to clear out emails and tasks from the weekend or the previous week, while headspace is often occupied with planning for the remainder of the week. Friday afternoons – which arguably, create downtime for certain email recipients – are also a busy time for many others who need to meet end-of-week deadlines. Friday afternoons can be a hit or miss, but to be safe, target the middle of the workweek when people are most likely to engage with their pitches.

Of course, for marketers and PR professionals working with a global network of contacts, time zone differences are another factor to consider. If you’re in the U.S. sending news to a journalist in Europe for instance, the last thing you want to do is share an email during your afternoon, which ends up hitting their inbox at their dinnertime. Make sure to know where each journalist is based before you pitch, and plan accordingly.

If you want your story to be noticed, avoid sharing it around certain holidays. An event like Christmas is a pretty obvious time for people to go silent over email, but keep in mind the other cultural or regional events that your recipient may be experiencing, depending on who they are and where in the world they’re located. It’s not just holidays either, it’s also important to be aware of other industry events that could be saturating the media at a given time. Tech companies, for instance, should steer clear of releasing news at the same time as CES, Apple’s WWDC or Google I/O, unless they have a specific tie-in.

There are a number of things we all know are vital to keeping your pitch from getting deleted: keep it tailored, personal, brief, and catchy. But, what’s just as important is thinking about how to ensure your pitches are even opened in the first place, and this could simply come down to the right timing.

We’re producing A LOT of content these days. But is anyone consuming that content that we work so hard to create? Chances are that unless we’re posting it at optimal times, the answer could be – no.

Research says that each minute, there are:

No wonder we now live in the age of “Content Shock.”

What’s the best time to publish blog posts? CoSchedule says it depends on your goals.

To drive the most traffic, the best publishing day is Monday at 11 am EST. For most comments, the best publishing day is Saturday at 9 am EST. To earn the most inbound links, the best publishing days are Monday and Thursday at 7 am EST.

While this is based on research, it’s important to remember, “Sometimes you will write an amazing post and publish it on a Friday and still see it go viral. Sometimes your posts published at the optimal time will do nothing. Posting at the best times is like giving the article a helping hand, it’s not an actual traffic strategy,” advises BlogTyrant.

“I use Google Analytics to find where my audience is and create custom reports for the best day and time to post on my blog,” Peg Fitzpatrick, co-author of, “The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users” and blogger at Peg Fitzpatrick says. 

Tuesdays are the best day to host a webinar, according to research, followed by Wednesdays and Thursdays. The day to avoid? Friday. 

Timing-wise, 1 or 2 p.m. EST seems to work best for a U.S.-based audience.

But, consider your audience when choosing a day and time to host your webinar. What’s the best timing for them?

Ah, Twitter – great for real-time engagement, but the life of a tweet is fleeting. To be exact, it’s 18 minutes. That means you probably need to post A LOT to make headway on Twitter—or at least a lot more than on other social media platforms.

SproutSocial says Fridays are the best days to post on Twitter, while the “safest” times are 10 a.m. to noon. Sunday morning tweets get the least amount of engagement.

Instagram now has 800 million monthly active users. So, what are the best times to post on this increasingly popular platform?

“Surprisingly, Instagram user activity peaks at 3-4 a.m. EST on Sundays, yet Instagram posts on Tuesdays received the best engagement,” says a report published by MarketingProfs.

“For Instagram, I use Tailwind to give me best times to post,” says Peg Fitzpatrick, “It creates a schedule based on your past Instagram posts, and you can choose how many posts by day.”

LinkedIn is known as the world’s largest professional network. So, when do posts garner the most engagement on this platform?

The best time to post on LinkedIn is Wednesday from 3 to 5 p.m., according to SproutSocial.

Posts shared on Friday through Monday receive the least amount of engagement.

“It’s very hard to determine the ‘best’ times to post on social media or for blogging but using your own account’s past data is the best indicator,” Fitzpatrick says. 

For more on optimal posting times, see CoSchedule’s comprehensive report based on 23 studies that cover the major social media platforms. And beyond knowing the best days and times for PR content, make sure you have the data within your stories to support a unique narrative.

When you’re ready to measure the ROI of your programs, download our free eBbook for the comprehensive KPIs your C-Suite wants to see.

The Best Days and Times for PR Content

When PR creates content, it is built-in our job description to broadcast it. That's why understanding how semantic SEO can affect organic traffic and increase your content's reach is essential to a modern PR comms and brand marketing strategy. 

Search engine optimization (SEO) is evolving. Google is consistently changing their algorithm, affecting how SEO should be implemented. 

To cover the changes, we had SEO guru Andy Crestodina discuss in a Meltwater webinar what semantic SEO is and why we need a content link strategy in our current competitive business landscape. In addition, we gathered insights from Amit Singal, Google’s former Head of Search, on best practices for maximizing a semantic SEO strategy. 

Historically, SEO professionals would start a campaign by researching a list of keywords to rank for. Depending on the traffic levels and competitiveness of each keyword, they’d choose a different set of keywords for which to optimize their pages. They’d add the keyword — and variations of it — in the URL, in the title tag, across the page, and more.

In the past few years, however, Google has been making changes in its algorithm, which has shifted the focus from specific keywords to topics. While this new semantic focus doesn’t change the way you optimize your pages — you still need to add your main keyword and its variations across the page — it does change the way you pick your key phrases.

According to Amit Singhal, Google’s former Head of Search, the shift has gone from focusing on strings (i.e., keywords) to topics:

Instead of using traditional keyword research tools that give you traffic estimates for specific keywords, follow Crestodina’s advice and use Google Suggest to find the key phrases for which to optimize your pages.

You should still think in the traffic volume your desired key phrases get; what you need to change is the way you find them.

Since finding key phrases with Google Suggest can take a long time, Crestodina recommends using a free tool like KeywordTool.io, which provides the whole list of suggestions from Google’s search bar.

An aspect of Google’s ranking algorithm that hasn’t changed is link building. To increase your site’s authority, you still need to get links from external sites, particularly from sites with high authority. The more links you get, the higher the authority of your site, and the better position your pages will get for the targeted key phrases.

However, attracting links from authoritative sites has gotten harder than ever. There’s increased competition in quality SEO content, making it harder than ever to earn the attention of influencers and other managers of high-authority sites.

In a survey of over 700 marketers two attributes attract eyeballs and high-quality links to sites:

While achieving the former is harder and would take an article (or webinar) on its own, developing original research is what can help you attract the links your company needs.

There are three ways to produce research:

Observation: Consists of picking a data set and making empirical observations to uncover insights

Aggregation: In which you combine data from existing studies to find new insights

Survey: This is the hardest of all, as you’d need to carry out a massive survey campaign in your target audience

According to research, surveys are the most common (and effective) type of research, with 58% of marketers using them. What’s even better is that 46% of marketers found original research to meet most (if not all) of their expectations.

While carrying out a survey can be a costly tactic to use, the links you can attract can help you increase the authority of your site, which will make it easier for search engines to rank your site.

In the most basic terms, Google ranks a website based on its authority. The way Google considers the authority of your website is by analyzing the number of links it gets, especially from sites with high authority.

If you’re able to get more of these high-authority links, your site will rank higher for your associated search terms, and thus, the more organic traffic (versus paid, ad traffic) you will attract.

Besides getting links from authoritative sites, you’ll need to optimize your site for different keywords by optimizing the HTML title tags, URLs, and images, among other elements.

Don’t forget to also optimize your site’s pages for the keywords or keyword terms, for which you can realistically rank. By using tools like Google Keyword Planner or Moz, you can check on the demand for a keyword and compare your site’s authority to the average authority of the websites that rank for that keyword.

If you find a keyword you’d like to compete for, check that the sites who are currently in the space don’t have a higher domain authority than yours. Then, when you pull out all the SEO bells and whistles, you’ll be able to rank for that keyword and attract more traffic.

Create Magnetic and Search-Friendly Headlines

According to Worldometer, there are over 3 million blog posts published every day. To make sure your articles get eyeballs they need to have a headline that’s both optimized for search engines and the users.

There are a lot of theories and ideas behind how to structure headlines, both to improve a post’s rank and make people want to click on them.

Crestodina recommends using the following structure:

Keyword + Colon + Number + Headline with Benefit

This structure applies mostly to articles, but it can be used in a PR pitches as well.

According to shocking research, most articles get no links or shares.

If you’re looking for the right data to compile, consider the missing statistic in your industry. Focus on a topic everyone talks about, but no one has any data to back up.

Besides using well-researched content, Crestodina recommends covering topics with a strong opinion. If you answer a question no one dares to answer (but many wonder about) you will call attention, acquire links, and foster more social shares.

Most press releases aren’t UI-friendly and nor add to authority since they tend to be company-focused, link to irrelevant websites, and feature long, incomprehensible paragraphs.

Consider asking yourself “What’s in it for the reader?” At the end of the day, Google wants to give users the best content possible, so instead of using the traditional press releases online, adapt them to the web.

Start by highlighting the main benefit in the headline. This will catch the reader’s attention and make them want to read more.

Also, be smart about formatting. That includes using white space (the space between different elements in a web page), bolding and italics, and short paragraphs.

Finally, align content and PR pitches with the reader’s interests and needs. Focus on what they get from your content, and build from there.

You don’t have to be technical and a search engine specialist to understand SEO’s impact on your PR campaign. With the help of semantic SEO and research-driven link building, you will be able to increase your brand’s reach, drive more organic traffic, and increase your site’s (and brand’s) authority.

How to Boost Your Next PR Campaign with Semantic SEO

Public Relations has changed dramatically over the past decade. It has grown and matured as an industry, yes. But the most striking moves have come in how we work. The changes have been less disruptive than those in advertising, but the rise of digital and social media has given way to a new world of digital PR. And the rules and tools have changed accordingly.

So, what’s different, and how can we take advantage of the changes? The goals of a typical digital PR program are similar to those of traditional PR with distinct tools and targets. We still prize earned media stories and we work to create branded content. But the most frequent targets are digital media outlets with high domain authority―top outlets like Refinery 29 or Business Insider. We push for links to a company or product website as a matter of routine.

Content has changed, too. In fact, the unofficial birth of digital PR was probably in late 2011 or early 2012, when Google changed its algorithms. The original Panda and Penguin updates favored quality content and penalized black-hat SEO techniques that had propelled dubious websites to page one of the search listings. Later updates defined non-linking citations as implied links, meaning that brand mentions in digital media worked nearly as hard as links, rewarding good digital PR work with higher search rankings. And for many brands, search rankings were the name of the game.

Gradually, PR morphed from delivering “earned media” to something PR Council president Chris Graves calls “earned influence.” To my way of thinking, this means a broader range of both tools and outcomes, from straight-up publicity coverage to paid third-party endorsement, and everything in between.

What impact has the new digital PR had on those of us in the business, and how do we leverage opportunities?

Instead of press releases and a giant Rolodex, it makes more sense to break a story through Facebook Live, or possibly a tweet with a link to a microsite with details of the story. Instead of a full-blown press conference (where breaking news could derail plans and quash media attendance), it’s smarter to share news through an exclusive arrangement with a single digital journalist. The old ways and tools still apply, and access to media and influencers is still vital. But where we once used a blunt instrument, we now have more refined ways of getting the job done.

Digital PR practitioners today need a newer and more varied skill set to take advantage of opportunities and maximize outcomes. Content used to mean good journalistic writing, a well-researched white paper or op-ed … or maybe a sassy blog post. Today it’s about digital storytelling techniques where visual impact may be more important than persuasive writing. And any PR person who doesn’t understand analytics, or at least the basics of SEO, will find themselves working at a serious disadvantage.

Digital PR has ushered in a whole new way of thinking about content. For years we focused primarily on earned media, which still has a hallowed place as an outcome of good PR. Then social media blurred the lines between paid and earned media, and “owned” or branded content expanded as companies and their agencies ramped up blogging and thought leadership content that lives on a branded website. Most PR agencies have adopted the PESO model, for Paid, Earned, Shared, and Owned content that works together to drive search visibility, brand awareness, and the all-important customer engagement.

Anyone who grew up working at a major PR firm has partnered with ad agencies. There was also the occasional sales promotion tie-in, or maybe coordination with a direct-marketing campaign or consultant. Crisis experts routinely work with law firms. But today’s PR people may partner with teams expert in digital marketing, SEO content marketing, email marketing, content marketing, and more. That opens up a new world of “co-opetition” where we might be indirect competitors for the same budget yet must work as a team for the sake of maximizing outcomes.

Aside from content overall, nothing has changed PR more than the rise of the digital influencer. What we’re seeing here is a move from celebrities to less-known figures who can offer authentic engagement without breaking the bank. Lately, many brands and agencies have turned to micro-influencer programs that collaborate with personalities who have fewer than 100,000 followers (primarily on Instagram) but who ideally offer a less commercial and more meaningful relationship with fans and followers. Although micro-influencer programs have their detractors, they are popular because they’re designed for visual platforms and are more easily scalable at nearly any budget.

Tools and skills are part of the picture, but real success in the digital era requires nothing short of a mindset shift for most “traditional” PR professionals. In the past, the creative efforts of PR practitioners were directed toward journalists. As bloggers grew, the influencer economy took off, but we were still working to generate branded messages and stories through the filter of the writer. More recently, PRs are charged with developing “viral” content that engages consumers directly. This requires new storytelling skills and represents an enormous mindset shift and has required new talent.

Committing to Outcomes as well as Outputs

Today, everything is measurable and measured. PR floated for too long in a kind of netherworld―we urged clients to take it on faith that earned media would move the needle or we promised brand reach as measured in impressions … but very little beyond. Today, the good news is that there are easier methods and a new mindset for evaluating PR outcomes. And with that data, we can maximize our digital PR strategy. Our focus as professionals can then be on quantifiable changes in SEO, web traffic, brand engagement, and ultimately on the one metric that’s familiar to any marketer―improving business outcomes.

This article was published on this site on October 11, 2017, it originally appeared in MENG Blend, it was written by Dorothy Crenshaw from Business2Community, and legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.

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