Each year Digital PR and Outreach specialists from all over the UK descend on London for the only conference exclusive to all things Digital PR and outreach. SEO agency Verve Search, were hosts to the conference and brought in some of the best speakers to talk all things SEO, PR and links! As Ricemedia’s Digital PR Manager, I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to head down and attend the full conference- here are some of the best bits from the day!
“Put people at the heart of what you do and create a story experience.”
The first talk was given by the brilliant Jack Murray, CEO of MediaHQ, who had everyone feeling all of the emotions as he explained how we as marketers should be telling stories- not just making content for contents sake. One great piece of advice from Jack, was that when we create these stories we need to find the Magic Slice. What’s that I hear you say? The Magic Slice is that sweet spot in the middle of what people are interested in and what you (or your client) want to talk about. Find the right balance between the two and you’ve got yourself an ace story!
outREACH Conference
“When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news.”
Next up was a super interesting talk from Digital Features Journalist Richard Fisher from the BBC. Richard talked us through the best ways to outreach to journalists who receive dozens of emails daily from PR’s. Creating newsworthy stories and pitching in the right way is the key to getting a journalist’s attention. Also be wary of trends, driverless cars and VR stories have been overdone and are on their way out right now. Look for future trends before starting a campaign.
“Don’t freak the client out by asking for a yes. Ask for consideration!”
Digital PR and marketing speaker extraordinaire Lexi Mills talked us through how to turn PR Stunts into national success. Tip one was to really know your client inside and out. Marketing becomes a whole lot easier if you can live and breath a brand. Getting a client to do a PR stunt is no easy feat. Start off small with something you know will be cheap, easy and quick to do. Once you have proved your worth, or warmed them up a bit, you can do the bigger, braver stunts!
outREACH conference
“Setting more ambitious goals, makes more ambitious teams. Aim higher!”
Finally, the talk from freelance Digital PR pro Stacey MacNaught was on to really create a linkable assets- because if it’s not creating links after you stop outreaching, can it really be called an asset?
Stacey did her own survey and found; 59% of people said they do all their outreach at once and as quick as possible. Also 22% said they go back often to a project to re-outreach and then only 25% claim to hit their outreach targets. So how can we overcome this? Well in a few simple tips actually!
- Optimise your content- make sure it can be found easily when searched for
- Become a source- make sure you have data people HAVE to site!
- Assets- create helpful and useful assets and the links will role in
- Monitor- continue to monitor coverage and links even after the outreach has finished
That wraps up our round-up for outREACH conference 2018! Thank you to the hosts and all the speakers for making it an ace day and we look forward to doing it all again in 2019!
If you’d like some advice regarding either your PR or link building strategies, then do not hesitate to get in touch with us – we’re more than happy to help!
