Digital PR has finally begun to be recognized as more than a link-building tactic.

The majority of Digital PR reporting in the past was focused on the number of links and the average Domain Authority. But hasn’t quality always trumped quantity? We as marketers have allowed this to continue for so long.

It is difficult to prove the value of PR in today’s PR environment to those who are powerful, however, that doesn’t mean that our peers or colleagues don’t understand it.

While PR is still necessary for SEO purposes, we shouldn’t just pay attention to how many links were achieved. It is important to ask how rankings were affected and to try to link this to business goals.

To address this, we must stop calling it link-building. It is so much more than this. It doesn’t matter what campaign or activity you are running, desk research will be required at a minimum. However, content creation, design, and onsite development are all important.

We’re not “link builders”, we’re much more than that.

PR professionals need to understand that links are not important and begin thinking about how Digital PR can directly impact ROI and how Digital PR could be integrated into other channels.

PPC and PR are two examples of this. Combining them is something that no one has ever considered. PPC has always been the star, using a traditional ‘Last Click attribution model. Although it’s been difficult to prove the value of PPC, we can now see if someone has engaged in PPC activity through Google Analytics. We can also start to attribute some success to PR.

Attributing digital PR activity to ROI is something we should be focusing on if we want to keep up with the competition and continue to get a piece.

In 2017, 75% of comms pros said that they needed to measure PR better (which is still true) and 70% claimed they don’t have the data to do this (which should not be the case).

You have all the data you need as long as you have an analytics tool, which is a must for any marketing professional. You can track top-level metrics like the number of users, bounce rate, average time on site, and new users. Additionally, you can measure social metrics such as shares and engagements.

These numbers might not be what you are looking for and they may not directly impact their business goals. But there is more.

You can track the user’s journey and see where they came from. This can be compared to your AOV (Average Org Value) and you will have the basis of a PR measurement system.

A recent survey by PR Week on the importance and value of PR – ‘PR In a Post-Pandemic Future‘showed some interesting results.

First, COVID-19 found that 64% of clients had reduced their PR budgets in the past six months. The study also revealed that 77% of clients have decreased agency retainers, while 90% have delayed campaigns.

These steps were not taken out of panic, and they do not reflect the direction of the PR industry. With the steps it took during 2020, PR has seen greater value, especially when it is about brands returning to market strategies.

Many industries, including retail, hospitality, and travel, will not be able to return to the strategies they used before COVID-19.

Digital is now the priority. To overcome this epidemic, it will be necessary to overhaul existing channels. To build trust and confidence with customers, new ways of communicating are needed. However, we see that many brands are afraid to invest in digital, so they’re not willing to take risks.

In the current climate, being indifferent is going to be our biggest failure. We will see PR truly come to its full potential shortly.