Boss' Bugbears: Intermarketing's digital PR expert Hannah Moore on what makes a successful campaign in the digital age
Search engine optimisation is an entity we are hearing more and more of on a daily basis, especially if you find yourself involved within the marketing or tech worlds.
From the words on your page to the way other sites link to you on the web, SEO is simply a way of making sure your site is structured in a way that search engines understand. However, SEO isn't just about building search engine-friendly websites, it's about making your site better for people too, and this is something which Leeds based agency Intermarketing have worked into a new digital PR campaign with client instantprint. The Drum spoke to Intermarketing's digital PR expert Hannah Moore on what makes a good PR campaign today, and about the process behind instanprint campaign itself
Where did the idea for the campaign come from, and how did you begin the whole process?
For this particular campaign, we worked with an external agency to create a survey around 'boss' bugbears'. So, essentially, “what employee traits do bosses in the UK hate” and “what traits they look for in an employee.” We ran the survey with 500 bosses, discovering what their biggest bugbears with employees are. We then went through the data and picked out the biggest headlines and the most interesting statistics. Finally, we assisted the client in transforming this data into a blog post and infographic, which now sits on their website.
What is the importance of understanding SEO when working in digital PR?
Firstly, it helps you to feel more engaged and passionate about what you do. For example, if you don’t have any real understanding of SEO you may not fully appreciate what it means to gain a high authority link and how it helps to improve a website’s organic search visibility.
Although digital PR is a creative role, to really throw yourself into it you need to understand technical SEO. They should never be two separate entities. For a successful campaign, you need to work alongside the technical SEO team to create a strategy that increases brand awareness, whilst driving more relevant traffic.
Why do you think the Boss’ Bugbears campaign was so successful?
Mainly because we gained original data which journalists can then adapt and mould into their own news story. Furthermore, the topic was so broad. A lot of people in the UK work in an office, or have worked in an office, so it was a subject that resonated with a lot of people. I think journalists could see that and therefore it enabled us to gain coverage from a wide scope of publications, from The Yorkshire Post to Marie Claire. We also had some brilliant social media interaction, with even everyone's favourite dragon Theo Paphitis sharing the story over his LinkedIn.
Why do you think Intermarketing were such a good fit for the campaign?
As Intermarketing is an integrated agency we have so many vital skills for a successful campaign all under one roof. We have SEO, Digital PR, Social Media and Content Marketing skills, which are all fundamental to creating a successful digital campaign. Plus, we’re passionate about giving clients nothing but amazing results and building close relationships with them. I think all of this is so important to run successful campaigns.
Where should marketers start when planning a digital PR campaign?
You need to really understand your client, their brand and have a complete picture of what you want to achieve from the campaign. Look at what’s worked in the past, and what didn’t work so well, and consider why. When I’m planning campaigns, I like to set aside time to just have some fun. Grab the biggest piece of paper you can find and go a little bit mad. Write down anything. Then leave it a day. Come back the day after and improve your ideas and refine them to be more realistic.
Why should all companies implement digital PR, even if they’re not an e-commerce website?
Ensuring your website is fully optimised for search engines is more important than ever, and will only continue to become more important. Even if you’re a restaurant, so many people now search on their mobile phones ‘where to eat’ and if you’re not fully optimised you’re really missing a trick. Digital PR is not only vital for SEO, but it will also build credibility and trust with your customers. If you’re a new brand, you need people to know that you’re the expert in your industry, and if people are reading your comments and quotes in well-respected publications that will help you to build that trust.
Finally, what are a couple of your bugbears?
Great question! I’m lucky as I work with such a great team of people, but I have to say my biggest bugbear is probably the office door being left open, or bad music being played in the office. There’s no excuse for bad taste in music!
Hannah Moore is SEO campaign executive at Intermarketing Agency.
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