Executive summary

The online landscape is changing rapidly, with AI-powered search, evolving trust signals and a change in consumer behaviours transforming how people find information and make decisions online. The travel industry in particular has been affected by these changes, with consumers increasingly relying on AI tools to research and plan their trips. 

This means that travel brands must rethink how they earn visibility online in this increasingly competitive, fast-moving environment. As a result, understanding how to use digital PR effectively has never been more important. 

The state of digital PR in the travel industry report brings together insights from senior digital PR professionals, in-house travel marketers and travel journalists to explore how digital PR is used across the travel industry and why it’s set to become even more important in 2026.

Key findings from the report

• There's a rising demand for digital PR from travel brands, which is set to make the space more competitive: 81% of travel marketers believe digital PR will become even more important in the 2-3 years
• Data-led campaigns are still the most popular tactic for earning coverage and links, but are becoming harder to execute: There is now more emphasis on unique and robust data, originality and stronger methodologies. Seasonality is also key with data-led campaigns.
• Reactive PR is becoming increasingly relied upon: Reactive PR and timely expert commentary are key to securing coverage in a fast-paced, competitive travel media landscape.
• Personalised pitching is now essential: Journalists expect pitches tailored to their area of expertise, their audience and the publication.
• The biggest challenge for digital PRs in the travel space is landing coverage: AI is helping to alleviate some of this through inspiring outreach angles and sense-checking emails.
• Digital PRs aim for quality over quantity with coverage: Almost half of travel digital PRs consider a campaign successful if it secures 0-9 pieces of coverage, and relevance of coverage is the most popular reporting metric, used by 90% of digital PRs.
• Digital PR coverage is being tied to wider benefits by only half of travel marketers: These travel marketers are mostly focusing on ranking improvements, increase in traffic to site and search visibility. A minority are tying digital PR coverage to revenue. However, there is a shared agreement that digital PR is highly effective for SEO and GEO.
• The top predictions for travel digital PR in 2026 include:
  • A transition from destination hype to value and relevance: Answering real consumer concerns this year, including convenience, affordability, safety and value
  • A need to reflect the consumer's desire for more personalised experiences: It will be crucial for digital PRs to fully understand the different target audience segments and create tailored, targeted stories
  • Human-led, story-first PR: To stand out in a world of AI-written content
  • Hyper-relevance and targeted outreach will be even more important: To land coverage on key, relevant publications

Introduction: the state of digital PR in the travel industry 2026

Travel brands are operating in a rapidly changing competitive environment, with AI-powered search, zero-click results, and evolving trust signals redefining how brands earn visibility and credibility online. At the same time, the search landscape has evolved the way consumers find their travel related inspiration, plan their trips and make their bookings or purchases. 

With these changes already underway, the need to understand digital PR’s impact and evolving role has never been more important to support online business growth.

The state of digital PR in the traveI industry 2026 report brings together insights from experienced digital PR professionals, travel journalists and seasoned in-house marketers working across one of the fastest moving sectors in search marketing. It explores how digital PR is currently delivered across the travel industry, and how those approaches should shift in 2026. 

Why digital PR in travel matters now

“Digital PR has come back into the spotlight over the past 18 months or so, thanks to the rise of generative AI. Alongside a solid technical foundation and fantastic content, brands need digital PR to support GEO - strengthening visibility in AIOs and LLMs like ChatGPT and Gemini - as well as still supporting traditional SEO. This is because digital PR helps build brand mentions and links which are used as a measure of trust and topical authority by these systems.”, explains our Head of digital PR, Chloe Osunsami.

This is particularly important for the travel industry because 84% of people globally are planning to use AI when preparing for trips in the future. That said, it does appear to still be the younger generations who are most comfortable with AI. The same YouGov survey found they are using it for a range of travel planning tasks from helping choose destinations, activities and places to stay through to full personalised itineraries. 

This highlights that AI is going to be a key part of the buyer’s and search journey moving forward, and therefore where travel brands need to be visible if they want to compete. 

In fact, the vast majority of digital PR professionals expect digital PR to become even more critical for travel brands over the next 2 to 3 years, with 81% of survey respondents believing its importance will grow. Only 14% expect the importance to remain the same, which suggests that even those not predicting growth, still see digital PR as an essential part of marketing. This also demonstrates that there’s minimal concern about the long term relevance of digital PR. 

Franco Lucchetti, Head of SEO at Columbus Direct, added:

“One of the main challenges over the past year has been adapting rapidly for visibility in Search. AI has also shaped the way users think, the intent behind the search and as a consequence, their queries, in a much more conversational way. The PR and digital PR world has a huge importance for a brand showing up in Search and Google News and on other websites alike. We have to keep in mind that digital PR is a pillar, for the trust of a website, and for increasing referrals and, in turn, uplifting financial revenue.”

We’re seeing a shared understanding that digital PR is no longer just about links. Brand mentions, trust signals and earned visibility across search and AI platforms are becoming key to long-term growth for travel brands.

Rising demand for digital PR is making the travel space more demanding

Worldwide search interest in digital PR has increased by 34% since 2020, with the UK up 49% and the US up 32% over the same period. Demand for digital PR in the travel sector is just as strong, with 57% of respondents reporting an increase in demand over the past 12 months. 

This suggests that travel brands are already becoming increasingly driven by the need for high-quality coverage and increased visibility, due to an intense competitive online landscape. 

But what tactics are digital PRs using to drive this high-quality coverage and which are most effective?

Data-led content campaigns still dominate

Data led content campaigns are the most popular tactic for earning coverage and links in the travel sector, with 95% of respondents using them. This highlights the value of credible, data-backed stories when it comes to securing high-quality media coverage. 

When asked to select the most effective tactics for earning coverage and links, respondents also prioritised data-led content campaigns, with 67% choosing it as their top choice and a further 33% selecting it as their second choice, further reinforcing its role as the most impactful approach when it comes to gaining coverage. 

Other common tactics and techniques include newsjacking/reactive PR and responding to journalist requests (e.g. HARO, Qwoted etc), with 71% of respondents using these approaches to earn coverage and links. This could reflect the travel media’s need for expert insight for relevant stories, such as travel trends. But tighter budgets have also led to a shift in priorities, with many now relying more on reactive and newsjacking tactics, with high-budget data-led campaigns often executed on an ad-hoc basis rather than part of the retainer.  

Thought leadership campaigns are used by 62%, while other tactics like link reclamation, resource outreach, and long-form guides are less common. 

Traditional stunts and influencer outreach were not selected as being used at all. This indicates that data or thought leadership stories, or those that are less risky in delivering a ROI like reactive/newsjacking, are more likely to be chosen by digital PRs today. At the same time brand authority is playing a bigger role, particularly as AI search engines increasingly prioritise trusted sources - so the choice of tactics are likely reflecting this shift too. 

One of the most notable themes to emerge is that while data-led content remains the most effective digital PR tactic, it is becoming harder to execute well. 

There is now more emphasis on unique and robust data, originality and stronger methodologies. At the same time, the travel sector has become increasingly oversaturated with data-led campaigns, making other tactics often easier to place.

Our Senior Digital PR Specialist, Laura Brothers, adds:  

“Data-led campaigns can still be really effective, but only when they genuinely reveal something new. Journalists are looking for originality and credibility. They’re asking tougher questions about where the data comes from and what it actually shows, which makes a robust methodology more important than ever. 

As search increasingly favours authoritative, trusted sources, questionable datasets and methodologies will quickly lose traction. The strongest travel campaigns today combine solid data with a clear methodology, and answer one key question: why this matters to the travel audience”

Content led campaigns follow a defined delivery cycle

When it comes to turnaround times for data-led or thought leadership campaigns, 81% of PRs deliver to the client within four weeks, with over half (52%) working to a 3-4 week turnaround. Only a small minority deliver in under a week or over five weeks, suggesting there’s a well-established planning cycle for content-led campaigns across the industry.

These findings suggest that while demand for these types of campaigns continues to grow, PRs that can deliver consistently within a refined delivery cycle will be better positioned to achieve results in an increasingly crowded landscape. 

Seasonality continues to influence how travel PR campaigns are planned

Seasonality continues to influence how travel PR campaigns are planned and executed, with clear patterns emerging around both timing and tactics. 

PRs tend to align their campaigns with seasonal travel trends and consumer behaviours. For example, wellness and trend-led content in January, family and beach holidays in summer and winter sun and skiing and towards the end of the year. However, for evergreen campaigns, in order to be more timely, seasonality is often reflected in the pitch email and angles used rather than changes to the content itself. 

Others note that reactive opportunities spike during the peak travel months with more media requests, so in quieter off-peak seasons, smart planning and looking ahead at emerging trends is important to maintain relevance and consistency in coverage. 

Overall these findings highlight that while travel PR is needed throughout the year, it needs to adapt to seasonal trends and reactive opportunities to ensure campaigns remain timely and relevant. 

But what techniques are PRs using to ensure their stories gain traction with journalists?

PRs are prioritising tailored, personalised pitches when reaching out to press

When pitching to journalists, most PR professionals opt for a personalised approach, with 67% of respondents sending lightly tailored pitches, which include the journalist’s name and small details about their publication. 

A further 24% go beyond this, with heavily tailored pitches including suggested headlines and angles specific to the journalist’s audience. Only 10% use a wider, generic approach. This highlights a widespread belief that customising pitches can increase the chances of coverage.

These findings are also reinforced by Buzzstream's 'Spray and Pray Study', which analysed over 31 million emails. The study discovered that personalised, more focused outreach dramatically outperforms generic pitching, with higher engagement and links, while ‘spray and pray’ campaigns see lower open rates and significantly fewer links. 

Some of the travel journalists we spoke to reinforced the need for more heavily tailored pitches, showing an understanding of the publication and the journalist’s area of expertise;

Gavin Haines, Freelance travel writer and editor highlighted: 

“Most of the emails I receive from travel PRs go straight to my trash because they aren’t remotely relevant to my areas of expertise. The ones that don’t go to trash come from PRs who know what I write about and the titles that I write for. It would be great to see more brands sharpening their focus and cultivating more meaningful relationships.” 

He also added that “An exclusive, or an inside line” could help - reinforcing the need for PRs to do their homework and suggest an exclusive story which could work for the specific journalist. 

Most PRs also include additional materials alongside their pitches, with approximately half including a press release (52%), and expert profiles (48%). 

Visual assets are also common, with 38% including brand imagery, 33% including infographics, and 19% including stock imagery. 

Hayley Minn, Deputy Travel Editor at the Daily Mail, added that “Great pictures” can help alongside a strong PR story. 

However, despite them being widely shared, journalists are using them less than in the past, with over half of PRs (52%) reporting that journalists use their imagery less than before, and a further 29% note that journalists used to use them but no longer do. This suggests that journalists are increasingly selective over what they actually use, reinforcing the need for relevance, quality, and editorial value.

Sean Walsh, Head of Marketing at Starpeak Limited agreed: 

“We’ve found that large portions of the budget go toward design-led collateral that journalists rarely reference or link to. While creative assets can be valuable, they don’t always justify the level of investment allocated to them. A more balanced approach, with costs tied more closely to what actually drives coverage and links, would be welcomed.”

Speed is critical for reactive PR opportunities

When responding to journalist requests or reactive opportunities, speed is a clear priority. 

The majority of respondents (71%) typically respond within half a day, with 43% responding within 2 hours or less. This tells us that most PRs recognise the fast paced nature when it comes to reactive news stories and the need for timely responses for the best chances of securing coverage. 

Our digital PR lead, Alex Fiske explains:

“We know journalists are busy. We also know that when a breaking news story drops, it’s all hands on deck to provide the best value content to an audience. As PRs, we have access to experts who can supply commentary or data that elevates a story. After all, journalists are looking to make their stories the most credible and helpful too. If we have this information to hand within a few hours, our chances of landing coverage greatly increases. We recommend having a bank of quotes, across a range of topics, that can be tweaked here and there towards the story, to add a unique spin, speeding up response time”.

In addition to supplying expert commentary, speed is also critical for other aspects of the PR-journalist relationship. Speaking to James Wong, Freelance Travel Journalist, he highlighted that “Fast turnaround for fact checking is always appreciated.” 

This implies that when an opportunity arises, travel PRs do need to be extremely agile to be able to focus on speed to land the opportunity. But what other blockers and challenges are there when it comes to digital PR in the travel industry?

Approvals remain the biggest blocker to moving faster with digital PR

With a strict delivery cycle when it comes to campaign production, it’s often internal decision making that slows down campaign delivery the most. More than three-quarters of PRs cite approvals from senior stakeholders as the biggest blocker when it comes to moving faster. This is followed by the time needed to source thought leadership input from senior stakeholders (52%), complex data analysis (43%), and coordination with design/development and content teams (38%). 

These findings suggest that travel brands that can streamline their approval process earlier in the production phase will ultimately help PRs work more efficiently, respond quickly to media opportunities and stay ahead in an increasingly fast-moving market. 

Securing coverage remains the biggest overall challenge 

When asked what the most challenging parts of the digital PR process are, securing coverage came out on top, selected by 43% of respondents. 

Sean agreed with how unpredictable results have become: 

“One of the biggest challenges this year has been inconsistency in digital PR results. A number of campaigns that looked extremely strong on paper unfortunately failed to gain the breakthrough we expected in terms of coverage. Conversely, other campaigns, sometimes the ones we had lower expectations for, ended up landing links at a much faster and more successful rate. It’s been a reminder that even well-researched ideas don’t always align with journalist priorities or timing, and that adaptability is essential.”

This inconsistency is likely due to a number of factors including the way the media landscape has changed, an increasingly crowded space and increasing pressure on journalists who receive a high volume of pitches every day. If a story doesn’t immediately add clear value or align closely with their specific needs, reflecting a topic which is of importance to their target audience at that moment in time too, it is unlikely to be considered. This is only set to get harder, especially if digital PRs don’t do their homework before going into ideation.

This is echoed by journalists themselves. Gavin Haines said: 

“Legacy media brands are in many ways returning to their original business models - cultivating loyal readerships and taking them behind paywalls, rather than competing for clicks and diminishing ad revenues. Successful ones will gain a better insight into their readers, develop relationships with those readers and produce richer, more relevant content for them. That’s the idea, anyway. Digital PRs will need to respond to that trend, gaining a better understanding of those publications, the journalists and editors who work on them, and their readers.”

Additionally, finding enough relevant journalists and their contact details was also a significant challenge, selected by 29% of respondents. This highlights that challenges are not only external, but internal too, media database challenges can cause setbacks. 

AI is helping Digital PRs alleviate some of their challenges 

It’s little surprise that AI is being adopted by travel PRs, but its use remains largely to support tasks. The most common use of AI for digital PRs is insight for ideation, selected by 71% of respondents. This suggests that AI is being used to support, refine and validate ideas rather than generate them - something that used to be a challenge for 20% of PRs and SEOs who did content-led link building.

Another main use of AI among PRs is to sense check data that forms part of an idea, selected by 43% of respondents. A further 38% leverage it to inspire outreach angles and 33% use it to sense-check outreach emails. 

These findings show that rather than replacing PRs, AI is being used to help enhance campaigns and sharpen outreach angles, while creativity and journalist relationships remain firmly in human hands. This shows a clear understanding of where AI adds value in travel digital PR, and where human insight and trust remain critical to success.

Reporting - Coverage expectations tend to prioritise quality over quantity

In the past, digital PR focused on the quantity of links rather than their quality, with the assumption that the more links meant better visibility. Fast forward to today, however, and the emphasis has shifted, where a handful of high-quality relevant pieces of coverage can move the needle far more effectively than dozens of low value, irrelevant links. 

This shift is reflected in the survey results. Coverage expectations in travel digital PR clearly prioritise quality over quantity. Almost half of respondents (47%) consider a campaign successful if it secures 0–9 pieces of coverage. Around 24% expect 10–19 pieces of coverage, while some measure success over longer periods rather than per campaign.

Looking back over the past 12 months, PRs show the range of coverage actually secured, with the majority achieving between 10-19 pieces of coverage per campaign (82%).

This highlights that while some campaigns can achieve a lot of coverage, most campaigns generate a modest number, and this is deemed a success by those in the industry.

When it comes to setting coverage and link targets, it varies widely among PRs. Only 14% set coverage targets for each activity, whereas 43% set an overall coverage target for the partnership. Almost a quarter (24%) do not set coverage or link targets at all. The low emphasis on link targets suggests that PR teams now prioritise coverage quality over link metrics. 

Digital PR lead metrics go beyond just link or coverage counts

Measuring and reporting on digital PR in the travel industry goes beyond just link counts or coverage volume. The survey highlights a clear set of metrics that agencies and freelancers look upon when assessing the success of a partnership. 

The most widely used measure is the relevance of coverage or links, cited by 90% of respondents, again, highlighting that a few high-quality, relevant pieces can be far more effective than a large volume of mentions when it comes to driving meaningful results. This is reported on more than volume of mentions (86%) and volume of links (81%).

When measuring the quality of coverage, DA or DR continues to be the leading metric, used by 81% of PR professionals. 

Internal relevancy scores (38%) and audience insights (24%) are also used quite widely to ensure the coverage is relevant to the campaign and reaches the right audience. Traffic to host sites (19%) and occasional manual grading/tier lists or other methods are applied in select cases.

This highlights that while coverage volume and link volume remain core KPIs, there is a growing emphasis on relevance, impact and audience value. 

Lag metrics - Digital PRs are trying to tie activity to wider benefits

Whilst they’re not as commonly used as the coverage lead metrics, we uncovered that roughly half of travel PRs are trying to piece together how their activity is supporting SEO, and helping drive business growth - something that’s always been a challenge in the industry.

48% of digital PRs are looking at and reporting on ranking improvements and search visibility, whilst slightly less monitor increases in branded search volume (43%) and traffic to content pages (38%). 

Jolie Hoang, Digital Marketing Manager at Cabin Zero highlighted that “Further understanding effectiveness is key to understanding where we can invest our budget moving forward.”

David Westby, our Principal SEO Consultant adds “Attribution is one of those tricky things in Digital Marketing. What’s even harder is attributing the value of Digital PR coverage to the bottom line.

Lead metrics are clear - and really valuable - but it’s important not to overclaim impact and attempt to give Digital PR full credit for, say, ranking improvements, increased brand visibility etc when there may well be other factors at play.

Digital PR, though, can certainly help with these metrics and using things like Causal Impact we can help show that more concretely.”

Travel digital PR is believed to be highly effective for organic search

On a scale of 1-10, respondents gave it a median score of 8, with the majority (67%) rating its effectiveness 8 or higher. This indicates digital PR is seen as a key part of the SEO and GEO strategy for travel brands, with activity not only to gain coverage, but also improve rankings and traffic to a travel brand’s site. 

In terms of timings when it comes to seeing the impact of digital PR on rankings and traffic, most see a result within 1-6 months, with 38% citing 1-3 months and a further 38% citing 3-6 months. This suggests that digital PR is not just a short-term tactic. Campaigns require careful planning, but results are effective within half a year for most brands.

How travel PR has changed in recent years

Over the past 12 months industry experts have witnessed a saturation in travel data campaigns, which has led to a greater demand for solid, unique data, to help brands stand out from the crowd. 

However, these data-led campaigns are increasingly being run as ad-hoc projects, especially for those with tighter budgets, where “always on” reactive and thought leadership activity delivers a better ROI than fewer, larger activities. 

In fact, compared to 3-5 years ago, travel digital PR experts have highlighted that newsjacking has become significantly more important, especially in peak seasons and with the shift toward expert commentary helping to improve topical authority. 

Digital PRs need to ensure they’re providing plenty of value with their thought leadership though, with it being highlighted that simpler thought leadership is now less effective than it used to be. 

But what does this mean for where digital PR is headed for the travel industry?

The future of digital PR in travel is set to become even more critical 

These findings suggest digital PR is set to become even more critical for travel brands in the future. Travel marketers are now working in an increasingly competitive landscape driven by changes in consumer behaviour, AI-driven search, and an increasing need for trust, relevancy and authority. 

Travel brands today need to appear in trusted online environments, with high quality relevant coverage, expert insights and mentions all essential for AI-driven search - and this is where digital PR can support. 

Sean agreed: 

“Digital PR will continue to sit at the heart of our SEO activity in 2026. High-quality, authoritative coverage remains a core driver of our organic performance.”

But how will digital PR need to evolve in 2026?

The top predictions shaping travel digital PR in 2026 

Digital PR will continue to be shaped both by;

• What in-house marketers need to help build visibility for SEO and GEO, and drive business growth online
• What journalists are looking for, how they work and how they’re measured

After all, we operate in the space between these, devising strategies, tactics and stories to land brand coverage with journalists, to ultimately help drive real commercial impact for brands. 

Delving into our interviews with senior in-house marketers and travel journalists, we’ve pulled out four top predictions for digital PR in 2026. 

1. A transition from destination hype, to value and relevance

Over the years digital PR has become more focused on the target audience, their needs, wants and desires - and in 2026, this appears set to become even more important. 

Both our in-house marketers and travel journalists have highlighted that successful marketing, including digital PR, will lean more on answering real consumer concerns and needs, such as convenience, affordability, safety and other tangible value, rather than just promoting destinations. 

Whilst this might not mean the end to all of the fluffier stories like the prettiest destinations using the golden ratio and campaigns based on colour palettes, it might mean these are less likely to be as successful as more value-driven stories - especially as the media is looking to provide value too.

Jolie Hoang highlighted that: “Convenience and saving money are going to be big trends in 2026. We’ve seen these themes continue to grow through what our customers are looking for in our products, and I think these messages will need to shine through all marketing too.” Whilst from the media perspective, Hayley Minn shared that: “Finding more affordable and less crowded alternatives to well-known destinations (destination dupes)... and a focus on value for money rather than luxury” are going to be key trends and editorial focuses this year. 

Gavin Haines reinforced this with his predictions noting that: “Rising unemployment and the ongoing squeeze on living costs will narrow the horizons of many British travellers, likely benefitting short-haul and domestic destinations.”

Digital PRs will need to really understand their target audience, their concerns and what’s considered of value to them this year, to be able to shape stories that will resonate. On top of this, they will need a solid grasp on the readership of target publications, to be able to uncover where there is overlap, and which stories are best designed to land in the places that will drive brand impact.

2. Digital PR will need to reflect the consumer’s desire for more personalised experiences

“Travel Marketing will be counting more on personalised experiences and extremely tailor-made itineraries” predicts Franco Lucchetti, who went on to state that travellers are “more aware of what they want”.

Rob Gaige, Head of Global insights at Reddit is quoted within Skyscanner’s 2026 travel trends report highlighting that “rather than selecting the destination and then assembling activities, today’s travellers begin their search with individual passions, hobbies and interests, leading to more meaningful trips.” 

Sean Walsh let us in on the insight that “interest in activities such as trail running, cycling holidays, hiking routes, water-sports and general “challenge-based” trips has been climbing for the past few years, and we only anticipate that demand accelerating into 2026. UK travellers are increasingly looking for trips with purpose, physical engagement and unique, story-worthy experiences rather than passive holidays.”

Within skyscanner’s 2026 trends report Rob Gaige further highlighted that there is “more time being spent on researching specific activities.”

Alongside hobbies and interests, Gavin Haines highlighted several economic and real-world factors that could influence personal travel and holiday decisions this year, such as “the reluctant return to the office five days a week for many workers … set to re-harden the boundaries between work and play, signalling an end perhaps to the longer hybrid holidays many enjoyed before.” . 

Together these insights show how crucial it’s going to be for digital PRs to fully understand not just the overall target audience, but different segments of the audience and their interests. Brands with multiple target personas will need to have activity designed for each one to be able to target them effectively through tying into these key areas of interest and the economic and real-world factors which might influence their holiday or travel plans. It’s likely digital PRs will no longer be able to plan all activity to cover as many target personas as possible, as it just won’t be as effective in landing coverage or driving business impact.  

Looking ahead, Virtual Reality (VR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) will offer an opportunity to bring these personalised experiences to life. Franco Lucchetti highlighted that while VR may not be mainstream yet, AI can already help travellers make the most of their time by offering “best-of” experiences before they travel. 

3. Human-led, story-first PR will stand out in a world of AI-written content

The word of the year in 2025 was “AI slop” - we think that sums up where a lot of content production has been heading. In this new era, real human stories are becoming more valuable in setting content apart as these are the elements AI isn't mimicking, and a key way readers can tell human-written narratives apart.

Across the travel journalists and in-house marketers we interviewed, there was a strong agreement that authentic, experience-led storytelling will be the differentiator in 2026.

Franco Lucchetti highlighted that “authentic stories are pure marketing!” and added that “user-generated content” and “deeply personalised narratives” will be key trends this year.

Journalists strongly echo this. James Wong notes a clear editorial move “As we battle with AI, I’ve already noticed a shift from generic guides to much more personal travel stories. The kind of stories that cannot be imitated by an algorithm.” 

Gavin Haines added that he foresees “a greater embrace of rich, human-led travel narratives from more discerning outlets” while Hayley Minn highlighted that these stories are “more interesting to read about, as they’re more relatable so are great for the paper, and do well online.”

As our survey results suggest, AI might support digital PRs in areas such as ideation and outreach strategies/approaches, but digital PR stories need a clearly visible human touch. 

The key way to achieve this is by including first-hand human experiences, i.e. using case studies and real people to surface untold angles, personal insights and give behind-the-scenes access. This can be applied within ideation and the concepts taken into production, or through thought leadership. This not only helps set content apart for a reader and the media, but it also strengthens E-E-A-T for the content itself. 

We expect this to become more prominent within digital PR stories. These human narratives are likely to be much more effective in driving coverage and therefore topical authority. 

4. Hyper-relevance and targeted outreach will be even more important

Our survey results show that the majority of digital PRs already tailor outreach, and a quarter heavily tailor pitches with suggested headlines. However, insights from the travel journalists and editors we spoke to lean towards preferring a heavily tailored approach, signalling the end of “spray and pray” - especially for those who want to land coverage in key travel titles. 

Hayley Minn, Gavin Haines and James Wong all emphasised the importance of digital PRs understanding the writers they’re pitching to, their audience, editorial styles and topics of interest or expertise. 

Hayley Minn added that digital PRs should “ Think about headline first, and what actually draws a reader to click … Trying your hand at writing a headline in the Mail’s style at the top of a press release/when offering a press trip always makes me more likely to run the story, as it means I don’t need to find the story within the press release.”

Travel writers and editors have KPIs too, ranging from page views and engagement to how their content helps drive subscriptions. When they read digital PR pitches, they likely have these in mind to determine if a story is worth being one of the 2-20 stories they, or their team, plan to write that day. This is key to keep in mind, as it helps keep focus on what’s going to drive those results for the publication, the writer, and how digital PRs can help. 

Gavin Haines added “I don’t have many relationships with travel PRs but the ones I do have work brilliantly because they understand my approach, the outlets I write for and how they can work within that.”

When asked about relationships for expert commentary both James Wong and Gavin Haines highlighted that they usually source their own experts through their connections to ensure they have unique insight for their stories. This demonstrates how important it is to build relationships with key writers and editors, to increase the chances of being called upon for expert commentary. 

Digital PRs doing their research on the publication and specific writer is only set to get more important. As Gavin Haines highlighted, legacy media brands are returning to their original business models, strengthening their relationships with their readers, and digital PRs will need to respond to this trend if they hope to land coverage in these places.

Conclusion what this means for travel brands in 2026

As AI-powered search and zero-click results become the new way travellers plan their trips, travel brands can’t rely on rankings alone. Visibility is now also driven by authority, brand mentions and being cited by trusted sources - which is exactly where Digital PR comes in. 

While links do still play a part, brand mentions, expert commentary and credible insights are becoming increasingly important trust signals for both search engines and AI-driven platforms. Travel brands that ignore this risk not being seen where their audience is actually searching. 

Reactive PR and expert commentary are proving crucial ways for brands to gain traction - but only if they can move quickly. Data-led campaigns are still implemented by most travel digital PRs, even if on a more adhoc basis. However, long approval processes and slow sign-offs are holding a lot of brands back. Those that can streamline decision-making and who have spokespeople on-hand will be much better placed to take advantage of opportunities as they happen.

Human stories are also becoming more valuable than ever. In a landscape increasingly crowded with AI-generated content, journalists and readers are searching for real experiences and stories. Travel brands that can bring human insight and expertise together, will stand out in ways where AI can’t. 

We’re also seeing a shift around the volume of coverage needed. A handful of high-quality, relevant pieces of coverage that actually address the traveller's needs can far outweigh lots of low-value mentions. For brands, this means focusing less on how many pieces of coverage they earn and more on where the coverage appears. 

Overall, digital PR in travel for 2026 is about setting brands apart from AI written content, creating stories which demonstrate value to the consumer, and resonate with key audience interests. It’s also about doing the research to heavily tailor journalist pitches and maximise chances of exposure. . The brands that get this right will earn visibility where it matters most - in front of the traveller. 

We’ve specialised in travel digital PR since 2016, helping brands build long-term organic growth in a constantly evolving search landscape. With over a decade of experience, we know what it takes to secure high-quality coverage, build trust and drive real impact for travel brands. Take a look at our travel digital PR case studies to see our work in action and the results we’ve achieved. 

Want to see how we can help support your travel brand with digital PR in 2026 and beyond? Visit our travel digital PR service page to discover what we can do. 

Methodology

We conducted a survey of 21 senior digital PR practitioners, with long-term, hands-on experience across digital PR and SEO in the travel industry. Respondents represented a mix of agencies and freelancers supporting travel brands including booking platforms, accommodation providers, holiday companies and transport providers. 

Alongside this, we conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with in-house travel marketers and travel journalists and editors to provide insight into both the brand perspective and what the media is predicting and looking for in 2026. 

The survey and interviews took place between November 2025 and January 2026. 

SEO is dead… again! 

The narrative that SEO is dead is nothing new; it's practically as old as the internet itself! Each "death" has been less a funeral and more a dramatic costume change for SEO, forcing it to shed its outdated outfits and embrace something more sophisticated.

As SEO is now “dead” again, we thought we’d take a trip down memory lane and have a look at every time SEO has died. 

SEO - the back story 

SEO began in the mid-90s as the first search engines attempted to start cataloguing the early web. However, the term “SEO” came about in 1997 when it was tied to the efforts of optimising websites to rank higher in search results. 

Back then, SEO was less about sophisticated algorithms and more about stuffing meta keyword tags like a Christmas turkey and hiding text on pages with the same colour background. Ah, simpler, shadier times!

Every Time SEO Has Died (But Didn't, Obviously)

1997: The Original "Search is Dead" Party Pooper

The very first notable eulogy for SEO came from Richard Hoy in 1997. That’s right, in the same year the term was first coined. 

He genuinely believed search engines were a "dead-end technology," too complex and full of misleading info. He basically told his clients to set their meta tags and then "forget it." 

Granted, Richard wasn’t saying “SEO is dead” in 97, he was saying that search engines were. To say Richard was slightly incorrect is a bit of an understatement.

2003-2004: The Algorithm Antics Begin (Florida, Cassandra, Austin)

Next, Google decided it was time to clean house with updates like Florida, Cassandra, and Austin. These updates swooped in like digital sheriffs, penalising keyword stuffing, hidden text, and shady link schemes. 

Suddenly, the Wild West of SEO got some rules, and many who thrived on "by any means necessary" tactics now fell short. All of a sudden, black hats at the top of the SERPs were replaced with white hats heroes.

This, again, wasn't the death of SEO, but it was the death of SEO as many knew it. It was the end of its rebellious phase, pushing it towards valuing helpful content.

2005: "ShoeMoney" Predicts the End of the "Tricks"

Web entrepreneur Jeremy "ShoeMoney" Schoemaker declared SEO dead in 2005. His fear? That manipulative tactics wouldn't work anymore because search engines were getting too smart. He saw "short-term top rankings" as a fleeting dream. Jeremy's prophecy was a sign that SEO needed to grow up and move past its "trick-based" antics towards something more sustainable.

Jezza was right. SEO needed to change. It had to move away from certain tactics, just like it had before. But this wasn’t the final nail in the coffin for SEO; something else was looming in the distance.

2009-2010: The Caffeine Jolt 

Google's Caffeine update, rolled out in 2010 (with early testing in 2009). It was a massive infrastructure change that left some, like Robert Scoble, saying “SEO isn’t important any more”.

This update wasn't about penalising specific tactics, like so many before it, but about improving Google's ability to crawl and index the web much, much faster. This meant fresher results and a huge increase in the sheer volume of information Google could process. 

For some, the faster indexing felt like a chaotic jolt, with new content appearing and disappearing quicker than ever. It wasn't a "death," but certainly caused some caffeine-induced heart palpitations for SEOs, reminding everyone that speed and fresh content were becoming paramount.

2011: Panda Pounces on Poor Content

The Google Panda update in 2011 was a big one. It specifically targeted low-quality, spammy, and duplicate content. Suddenly, quantity wasn't king; quality was. Many "black hat SEOs" who relied on content farms let out a collective gasp. For them, SEO nearly did die.

However, this was a stern telling off from Google. The search engine was letting shady characters know they need to change their ways. For white hat SEOs, they did what they always have done, pivoted. 

Until the next update.

2012: Penguin Swims in and Cleans Up Links

Right on Panda's heels came the Penguin update in 2012, which took aim at manipulative link building. Link farms and dodgy blog networks were out. This sparked another wave of "SEO is dead" declarations, notably from Ken Krogue in Forbes. 

The truth, Penguin just pushed SEOs to build stronger, healthier links. It taught us that quality and ethical link building were the way forward. Crazy, right?

2015 & 2019: AI Arrives (RankBrain & BERT)

The mid-to-late 2010s brought the brainiacs to the party: RankBrain (2015) and BERT (2019). These machine learning algorithms helped Google understand user intent and conversational queries better than ever. Which, of course, created panicked whispers in the SEO world: "Keywords are dead! SEO is dead!" 

The truth? It just meant SEO had to get smarter, again, focusing on understanding what users really wanted, not just the exact words they typed. It became about providing comprehensive, helpful answers, making E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) the new cool kid on the block.

2023-Present: The AI Revolution (Helpful Content & SGE)

And now, the latest "death" rattle comes with the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT and Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE). The fear? That AI-generated answers will replace organic listings entirely, leading to the "Crocodile Effect" (lots of impressions, few clicks). "SEO is finally dead for real this time!" they cry.

But is it? If SEO has taught us anything over the years, it’s the plucky underdog that just wants to please search engines and will evolve in order to so.

So, Is SEO Dead in 2026?

Spoiler alert: No. Absolutely not.

Just like every time before, the current "death" of SEO is simply another evolution. At least, that’s how we’re thinking about SEO right now. SEO is slowly but surely becoming what it should be about: building a great brand that search engines want to rank. So, it’s goodbye to tricks and black hat tactics and hello to brand growth.

For our SEOs, not much has changed. They’re still optimising on-site and off-site trust signals, just for AI instead of organic search results. They’re busy optimising for AI-assisted search, focusing on clear, expert-written answers that AI models can confidently cite. This means structured data, multimedia, and an even deeper dive into user intent.

The future of SEO is about brand. Building brand trust signals on and off websites to reach new audiences, appear in search results and AI overviews. Here’s how: 

• Focusing on E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness are more vital than ever.
• High-quality, expert-driven content: Google wants real human expertise, especially in crucial areas like health and finance.
• Top-notch user experience (UX): A fast, mobile-friendly, easy-to-navigate site is non-negotiable.
• Embracing AI as a tool: SEOs are using AI for topic research and content optimisation, not letting it replace their brains.
• Diversifying traffic sources: Relying solely on traditional organic search is out; social media, PR, owned channels, like email, for example, are in.
• Visibility: Top of funnel is moving towards zero click, and that won't change, so this is about visibility/brand recognition.
• Optimisation: Bottom of funnel is where we still win. Optimising commercial pages is more important than ever.

SEO has always been a marathon, not a sprint, and it requires constant adaptation. Every "death" has simply been a push towards a more user-centric, ethical, and valuable approach. So, next time you hear someone declare SEO dead, just remember, people are already working on its next evolution!

Want to discuss how we’re evolving SEO at Aira? Well, we call it Blended Search, and it’s pretty cool. Let’s have a chat about it. 

Today (in 2026), digital PR is a marketing strategy designed to earn brands coverage and links in the right places, to increase online visibility and topical authority. It plays an essential role in SEO and GEO. 

But digital PR has been on its own journey over the years, evolving and adapting to the ever-changing online landscape and Google updates. How it looked in 2016 (and before that) is very different to how it looks today, and why digital PR matters has changed over time too. 

Intrigued by where digital PR came from and how it’s changed over time to become what it is today? Read on to find out more and see some of our own examples of activity over the years too. 

Over the years: From traditional PR to link building to digital PR

Public relations (PR) has been around for a very long time, since the early 1900s - with mixed reports on when the first PR department or consultancy was established. 

Fast forward to the dawn of the internet in the 1990s, once access was available to households, online PR was born. This type of PR focused on building brand awareness via online media, blogs and any other online space where you could get your brand featured. 

This was still a form of traditional PR, in objectives and how it was measured, just conducted online. 

But with the dawn of the internet saw the rise of SEO, with the term "officially" being used from around 1997, and with it, link building. Once SEOs uncovered the power of links and anchor text as ranking signals, a range of link building techniques emerged to drive volume. 

Link building has its own long history (which if you’re interested, it's covered in a section of the Link Building Book). Over time, key Google updates like Panda and Penguin which focused on reducing spammy practices and sites, encouraged the industry to evolve and move away from tactics like link exchanges, directory link building and guest posting to tactics which focused on earning links from higher quality websites. 

And so Digital PR was born; a crossover between traditional PR and link building, designed to build links through earning coverage from creative stories. 2016 saw the first agencies to specialise in digital PR start to shape the landscape that we know today, and that included Aira's Digital PR team. And yes, it is the same Laura still here today - she’s helping to shape what and how we do it in the new age of GEO too!

Digital PR: 2016 to 2026

2016 was the year Pokemon Go became a summer obsession, “One Dance” by Drake was everywhere and “post-truth” was coined word of the year. It was the age of photo-sharing, before the dawn of short form video, and “doom scrolling” became a common habit.  And just like the stars in season one of Stranger Things, digital PR was very young. 

The main focus for digital PR in 2016 was building links. Volume of links was still at the center of strategies, but the spotlight was on earning coverage in the media, through creative stories, to build this volume. Publishers didn’t really have linking policies back then, and earning links was much easier. There was some focus on quality, with the national media being a priority, but relevancy was often pushed aside in the desire to go ‘viral’ and drive that volume. 

Many of the campaigns we launched in 2016 and 2017 still maintained topical/brand relevance, but the insights powering the creative were often much simpler. That’s not to say the team didn’t also create more complex data pieces, but the simple but creative approach, using design or interactivity, worked really well in landing coverage and links to support SEO. 

Google search interest in the term “digital PR” started rising steadily from 2017.

Other agencies were also focusing on using influencer marketing tactics, such as events and gifting to build links. But these started fading out in 2018-2019, as they weren’t providing the same return on investment from an SEO point of view. With the introduction of the “sponsored” link tag in 2019, this pretty much brought this focus to an end, with media outreach being favoured to drive ROI. 

Over the years different tactics became popular or “fashionable”. From brain teasers, to colour palettes and swab experiments to dream jobs, every digital PR had a favourite. Some more quick to activate than others, and some more likely to achieve virality - but all still designed to build links. 

Digital PRs were also using thought leadership. But during this time it was more interviews and profiling, than newsjacking which didn’t become big until some time between 2018 and 2020 - it’s difficult to specifically pinpoint the moment it became a key tactic for the digital PR industry.

As the media became more and more inundated with digital PR stories, it got harder to land coverage in key titles. To get around this, insights and data behind creative stories became more complex, to provide something journalists couldn’t create themselves. There was a big rise in indexes. At Aira we also worked with a data journalist to ensure our ideas and methodologies were robust and told great stories for the media to use. 

Then it hit 2020, the year everyone had to stay home. It was the year we wore “business on top, comfy on bottom”, the sourdough and banana bread craze had taken hold, and Joe Exotic hit Netflix. As we couldn’t go anywhere, the digital business landscape excelled and the SEO industry, including Digital PR, boomed. For the industries that weren’t impacted by the pandemic, like travel. 

By this point in the timeline, more emphasis was placed on relevance of the creative content stories and publications being targeted. This was further cemented when John Mueller said in one of Google’s Office Hours episodes, the now famous line “there could be one really good link from a really good website out there that is for us a really important sign that we should treat this website as something that is relevant because it has that one link.”

If you wanted to land relevant coverage (and links), you needed relevant stories. Many of the tactics were the same (campaigns, reactive newsjacking, thought leadership and stunts), but with relevancy at its core. Links were still a focus, but digital PRs were trying to suggest NoFollow links and brand mentions still had an impact on visibility. 

Then it hit 2024; the year 1.4 million fans went wild for ‘Oasis reunion’ tickets (for the tour in 2025), Simone Biles had a triumphant return at the Olympics in Paris and people were debating which job roles were most at risk from AI. It was the year AI overviews launched, and ChatGPT weekly active users hit ~200m and continued climbing. 

More people were using AI and LLMs as part of their buyer and search journey - helping them to solve their every day problems - and so studies started emerging on how to ensure your brand appeared in these new search spaces too. Something SEOs started coining GEO (generative engine optimisation). 

In early 2025, Ahrefs released a brand visibility study which looked at 75,000 brands. It revealed that ‘branded web mentions’ had the strongest correlation with AI overview brand visibility. This presented a much greater spearman correlation than backlinks, and nine other factors including domain rating and branded search volume. 

Other AI monitoring tools also launched studies too (like this one from Profound), on the most cited/trusted sources by LLMs - highlighting the need to appear in these top publications to increase chances of being cited. 

All of this brought Digital PR back into the spotlight. But not just for links anymore, for brand mentions too. Finally they were being given the attention they deserved. 

We’re yet to see what 2026 brings from pop culture to microtrends, but one thing that’s certain - digital PR is fundamental to a strong SEO and GEO strategy, to help drive visibility and ultimately business performance. 

We’re still seeing many of the same core tactics being used effectively, but now with brand relevance really being at the heart, robust data, unique insight and speed being key;

• The content campaigns that deliver the best results are more complex, with a strong focus on robust, legitimate data sets and methodologies. We need to be creating something that’s helpful or inspiring for the target audience, that journalists couldn’t create on their own.
• Newsjacking is a huge focus with taking an “always on” approach, and landing quick wins - you need to be quick to react though as the news moves fast. Having an internal expert who can help provide unique commentary that adds something to the story is crucial here, and you need to be able to prove they’re real. AI produced experts and quotes aren’t going to provide value, and will be spotted - these are more likely to be detrimental for the brand with some studies even calling them out. 
• Planned reactive - getting quotes or data-led stories ready ahead of time - is also a great way to build topical authority and visibility of an expert.
• Interesting brand news/launches can also be an effective way to land relevant, quality coverage - capitalising on something that’s already going on. As long as it is genuinely newsworthy. 
• Stunts are becoming less of a focus in the digital PR industry - with relevancy being essential, many of the stunt styles of the past might not drive the same ROI. Equally, budgets are still being more restricted, so digital PRs are less likely to take risks, and opt for tactics which have a greater chance of driving success. 

Wrapping it up: why digital PR matters

2016 saw the dawn of digital PR as we know it today, evolving from a combination of traditional PR and SEO link building. But it’s been on a transformative journey over the past decade. Comparing 2016 vs 2026 shows just how far it has come. 

From the initial focus on volume of links to support visibility in traditional search spaces, to relevancy of stories being at the core of driving the right types of links. To now in 2026, branded web mentions also having a fundamental role in GEO, supporting visibility in AI search spaces. It’s clear to see that digital PR has continued to evolve to play a key role in driving online performance over the years, including the tactics and how they’re implemented to gain traction with the media. 

References:

• Search Engine Journal (2021) - 20+ years of SEO history
• Google Search Central via YouTube (2021) - Google SEO office-hours from February 19, 2021
• Backlinko (2025) - ChatGPT / OpenAI Statistics
• Ahrefs (2025) -  AI Overview brand visibility factors study
• Profound (2025) - AI Platform Citation Patterns

What is digital PR? 

Digital PR (digital public relations), or sometimes known as online PR, is a marketing strategy designed to earn brand coverage and links in the right places; where your target audience sits online, i.e. key authoritative publications and websites in your niche. With consistency, over time this serves to boost brand awareness, and improve topical authority and online visibility - supporting SEO. 

It therefore sits under the umbrella of SEO. This includes AEO, GEO and any other terminology you wish to use for the digital search space. It's all essentially the same thing, where people go to search for answers to problems (or their ‘wants’ or ‘desires’). 

Digital PR layers on top of a strong technical foundation, and strategic content strategy, to help build and grow online brands and ultimately, drive increased revenue.

The search space has evolved over the past few years (hello AIOs, ChatGPT, Gemini and all your favourite LLMs), and with it, digital PR has become even more important. It’s an exciting time for digital PRs as brand mentions have been highlighted as just as important as links for boosting brand visibility in digital search spaces. Something we’ve always talked about as being hints for Google are now actively being shouted about as key focuses for the new AI era. 

Digital PR and the rise of Generative AI

Generative AI is everywhere and is being used at many different points of the buyer's journey - from initial problem solving through to now pulling tailored shopping options, and even checking local stores for stock levels - making it important to businesses to appear within the results there too. 

To showcase the current scale of generative AI:

• OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced in October 2025 that ChatGPT had reached 800m weekly active users globally, a 60% increase in just over six months.
• Ahrefs’ 2024 study of AI Overview triggers, which looked at 146 million SERPs, found that Google’s AI overviews currently appear for approximately 20% of searches - with some categories having as high as a 60% chance of triggering an AI overview. 

Since the launch of Google’s AI overviews and the increase in use of LLMS (such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and many more) there have been several studies and articles on the factors which correlate with brands being mentioned or brand content being pulled into AI responses.  

Ahrefs’ 2025 analysis of AI Overview brand visibility factors, which looked at 75,000 brands, revealed that ‘branded web mentions’ has the strongest correlation with AI overview brand visibility. 

It found that: 

• Branded web mentions showed the strongest correlation with AI Overview visibility (Spearman: 0.664)
• This was significantly higher than backlinks and nine other tested factors, including DR and branded search volume.

This shows correlation, not causation, but the strength of the pattern indicates that earning high-quality brand mentions should now be treated as a primary lever for AI visibility. 

This, among other studies, have re-highlighted the importance of digital PR for visibility in generative AI, and not just for links, but for earning brand mentions from key websites and publications to build trust and authority too. 

While mentions are getting their time in the spotlight, digital PR shouldn’t however just ignore links all together. We know LLMs conduct searches (“queries”) to pull together a response for a user, therefore ranking on traditional search engines is important too - which is where links still come in. Therefore traditional SEO best practices aren’t going anywhere - we’re just evolving!

Digital PR vs link building

Digital PR is a form of link building, but not like in the early 2000s sense of the word - or like the ‘questionable’ tactics we still see today. Digital PR is strategic, targeted and tailored, using storytelling and content to help build links from relevant, authoritative websites (i.e. the ones you want linking to you to make a difference) over time. 

Digital PR doesn’t just focus on building a volume of links, from any website in existence - as it’s been highlighted many times by Google that this doesn't move the needle anymore. Google updates over the years have refined what the crawlers consider ‘authority signals’. 

Gary Illyes, analyst at Google, was quoted at a search conference in 2024 stating that they need few links to rank pages. 

Alongside this, Google’s internal API documentation which surfaced in the 2024 algorithm leak, suggested that the algorithm now scores inbound links based on quality, relevance, and overall trustworthiness. It also suggested that the algorithm seeks contextual relevance from links, and brand mentions - we should mention those too as the documentation highlighted that unlinked brand mentions contribute to search relevance and trust signals, something we’ve believed to be true for a while. Whilst we can’t take the leaked document as definitive, several factors do align with what we’ve seen in organic search over the years. 

This highlights that organic visibility is now driven by a blend of signals (not just links alone) which help Google assess trust and authority. To simplify this, we can break this down into a model that reflects how Google increasingly evaluates a brand.

Off-Site trust signals include: 

1. High-quality links – Links from relevant, authoritative, trustworthy sources
2. High-quality mentions – Unlinked but credible references that reinforce your brand’s identity and topical expertise
3. Contextual relevance – Coverage from publications within your target niche, demonstrating that your brand is part of the right conversations online
4. Entity consistency – Consistent spelling, naming, and context for your brand across all mentions and citations - further highlighting relevance of the content as well as the publication
5. Expert attribution – Quotes, commentary, and insights tied to real individuals supporting E-E-A-T and strengthening your brand entities.

To earn these trust signals consistently, we'd recommend sitting on the left of this scale:

By earning both coverage and mentions from authoritative sources, you’re building trust signals for both traditional search and AI-driven visibility. 

Digital PR vs traditional PR

There are many similarities between digital PR and traditional PR. After all, digital PR was born from traditional PR, and they’re both about building brand awareness and reputation. But they do differ.

Digital PR focuses predominantly on online channels, or opportunities which eventually influence online coverage, as it’s this coverage that will support SEO and benefit website performance. 

The traditional PR focuses of print coverage, events and activations aren’t usually priorities for digital PRs - because of effort vs reward, where the reward is focused on benefitting SEO, and being able to measure that. 

So, what online channels does digital PR focus on?

The main focus of digital PR is media outreach to secure brand mentions and links. Digital PR strategies for media outreach should target quality, relevant websites and publications in the brand’s niche. These will be key places that the target audience is sat online, and have the best impact in terms of building trust and authority signals to support SEO.

These could be uncovered from an analysis into which publications are writing about, and linking to, competitors, or from research into the target audience and media landscape. 

That said, a brand’s target audience is likely to sit in other places online too, such as forums, social media, on emails, etc. Therefore, wherever possible and relevant, amplifying stories through other channels where the target audience sits should also be a consideration. This can lead to further coverage or have an influence on user behaviour, which further supports SEO. 

What are the benefits of digital PR? 

Digital PR coverage (earned mentions and links) can have many benefits. At Aira we predominantly focus on the SEO side of those benefits;

• Improve topical authority and brand awareness (in Google’s/Generative AI eyes)
• Supports E-E-A-T signals - used by Google to assess quality content
• Can increase branded search - as users search for you after reading coverage
• Improves search engine rankings
• Increases visibility in generative AI
• When part of a holistic digital marketing strategy, these all lead to increased traffic, and revenue. 

At Aira, we’ve seen these benefits of digital PR, when part of a holistic strategy, on clients across a range of industries from finance and ecommerce, to travel and even B2B tech/SaaS. 

But there are brand benefits to implementing digital PR which we can’t forget too. Especially as digital PR coverage is designed to reach the target audience;

• Boosts brand awareness 
• Increases brand reputation and affiliation - helping consumers feel connected to your brand
• Can increase branded search 

These brand benefits can just be harder (or more costly) to measure, and sometimes harder to separate from other ATL activity. And it’s important to remember that without being able to separate it, we can’t claim correlation is causation. 

How do I know digital PR is right for me?

No matter your industry, you’ll know that increasing brand awareness and visibility is key. If you own or lead an online business, digital PR, and more broadly SEO, should be considered.

A number of industries, like insurance, money saving, healthcare and travel are incredibly noisy, and move quickly. If you operate in a buzzy, competitive online space, the chances are you will need to implement digital PR to be able to compete with active competitors long term. 

Some B2B industries can be quieter, with fewer relevant coverage opportunities - so even competitors aren’t featured in key titles that often. If your brand competes in this type of space, it doesn’t mean you don’t need digital PR, it just means the scale of activity will be very different.

Digital PR tends to work best for businesses that;

• Have a strong, technically sound website as a foundation. 
• Are in a position to provide expertise on a subject - this could be through data we help source or commentary (which we can guide), and should always be from a named expert.
• Have some creative freedom - we’ll always stay relevant to the brand and target audience, but if our content campaigns and stories are too branded, it’ll limit earned coverage opportunities due to being seen as advertorial. We need some creative freedom to allow innovation and to be able to create a buzz with the target audience. 
• Have limited internal restrictions around outreach - due to the speed of the news agenda and opportunities, we’re a very agile team and work quickly to capitalise on all opportunities. That said, we have worked with a number of businesses with internal red tape and legal approval processes, and helped shape internal processes too! So it can work if your internal team is willing to try something new!

If you’re still unsure, we’re always up for an initial conversation where we can help you decide if Digital PR, or perhaps one of our other services is right for you - just get in touch.  

What’s the best strategy and approach for digital PR?

There isn’t a one size fits all approach when it comes to digital PR; it highly depends on the industry, websites you want to target and your target audience.

At Aira we will run an audit of your brand website and competitors, including any challenger brands new on the scene. We will dig into your target audience (using any insights and personas you have too!), and conduct a media and cultural landscape analysis to help determine what’s being spoken about, topic gaps, and what might impact relevant opportunities i.e. seasonal or cultural hooks. 

All of this insight should be analysed to pull out the target websites, key topics for storytelling, and the tactics which are most likely to be effective. This shapes a tailored strategy and approach for each brand, which is taken into ideation sessions. 

The strongest ideas from our sessions are run through a rigorous concepting process which has been evolved over the years, to ensure only the most robust ideas move ahead to client approval. We’ll manage the production from end-to-end, producing copy and design if required, and following approval, will outreach to target online media to secure coverage. We’ll also work with relevant teams to further amplify the story across owned media.

We’ll always keep the brand up-to-date on outreach and earned media coverage. We’ll regularly review activity and feed any learnings back into the ideas and approach. 

Therefore a framework for a typical approach looks like this;

• Research and auditing - competitors and industry, target audience, media and cultural landscape 
• Analysis & Insights - Pulling out the key focuses for tactics, topics and target websites
• Ideation - Ideas which align to the findings
• Production - Storytelling, including the right elements, and ensuring the brand is positioned as an authority
• Outreach - Tailored and targeted
• Reporting and evaluation - feeding learnings back into the strategy

Which digital PR tactic is most effective for 2026?

Just like the strategy, there isn’t one leading tactic for everyone - it depends on the industry and space you’re operating in. 

However, there are several tactics we tend to rely on at Aira. And it always works best when you combine these throughout the year, and scale up and down, reacting to the landscape and what’s currently happening.

These are the tactics we tend to use most often, alongside what each tactic is and some of our favourite examples to bring these to life. 

Tactic	What is this tactic?	Some of our team’s favourite examples over the years
Digital PR campaign	A data or insight-led creative story, which uncovers something new (and relevant) to create headlines for digital PR outreach.  These range in scale and complexity, and can be produced with or without content (and design). Large scale campaigns could be interactive or include video.  Our internal team of creatives manages everything from end-to-end, designing each campaign with multiple angles for longevity, to help attract coverage and links over time.	- An extensive prescriptions report fuelled by NHS and survey data. - An analysis of personal finance education across every state in the US to uncover where does it best (and where it isn't so good). - An index cross-analysing multiple data sources to round-up the best dog friendly vacations.
Thought leadership	Using a brand’s internal experts to provide commentary to press on relevant trending topics, which are important to the target audience. This could be ahead of a seasonal hook like Black Friday or key travel periods.  Quotes will always be human-written, and can be drafted by the Aira team for brands to add to.  We introduce your brand to key press contacts to get them front of mind for any future content too.	- Using internal experts at a lawn company to provide the best methods to get thriving grass, just before it hit the key lawn sowing period. - Comments from a company formation agent sharing the impact on the increase in cost to register a business in the UK, and advice for new businesses. - Predictions from internal experts on trends for the coming year in a range of subjects from flowers to multi-factor authentication.
Reactive PR	This isn’t just waiting for opportunities to land in our inbox and hitting reply. We constantly monitor the news and proactively outreach in response to breaking news. We need to be collaborative and quick with this tactic, but this can add great value. And yes, this can be done across time zones too!	- Comments from a classic car insurer responding to the news that the chancellor could lift the 40-year car tax. These comments went live within an hour of the first coverage breaking-out. - Expert commentary from a pharmacist to highlight the difference between hay fever and covid symptoms when significant pollen bombs were announced. Over multiple pollen bombs in two years, we secured 179 pieces of earned media coverage.
Existing content	We don’t always need to create more content. Sometimes we can give your blog content a little zhuzh using our creative flair, to help create new topical stories for outreach.  This could be updating or adding new data or quotes, and even including new design assets if valuable.	- We used data on the cheapest states to go to college (in-state) to support an editorial blog post, and secure coverage on CNBC and several finance sites. - We added quotes from an in-house spokesperson to a winter care guide for electric vehicles, and used the quotes as tips for media outreach ahead of cold weather.
Brand news	We look to capitalise on all relevant coverage opportunities, so if a brand has a new product launch or some business news which we believe more of the world should know about, we might be able to help here too.  We just need to be kept in the loop with any upcoming news and we can do the rest.	- Outreaching new/relevant products for seasonal gift guides e.g. Christmas and Valentine’s Day.
PR stunt	A one-off time-sensitive, attention-grabbing innovative story.  This could be creating something (physically or digitally) different to normal to create a buzz and get people talking.	- An ultimate working from home desk concept product, which was launched in the height of lockdown.

How do you measure digital PR? What are digital PR KPIs?

PR measurement has always been a challenge. Looking back over the years, traditional PR metrics have often been criticised, from claims of having billions of eyeballs on a story/brand message, to different calculations for an equivalent cost in advertising value. 

It’s always crucial to stay as close to tangible outputs as possible, especially when looking at lead digital PR metrics and KPIs - i.e. results we know we impacted/can impact. 

For digital PR this should always be direct outputs, which are, coverage (brand mentions or links), including the quality (domain authority/rating) and relevancy scores, as well as reporting on new referring domains. Relevancy scores could also include territory/country of coverage. 

By sitting under the umbrella of SEO, Digital PR has a slightly easier job with reporting on longer term benefits. But it can still be an obstacle we need to tailor an approach to, and overcome together with the brand - to also ensure we’re delivering reporting that the brand needs internally. 

Metrics which could be reported on as longer term measures of digital PR success include;

• Search rankings and share of voice
• Brand search volumes and clicks
• Other traffic, such as referral and direct - as noreferrer link clicks can show here. You can also create a custom group channel to show traffic from AI sources. 
• Mentions or share of voice in generative AI
• Conversions/leads
• Revenue

It’s key to note, when looking at longer term reporting for digital PR and wider benefits, a lot of the time we’re discussing correlations and not causation. These should only be included if it can be confidently discussed that there’s a correlation, and there was no other big marketing activity which could have impacted this. 

How much does digital PR cost?

Packages are tailored, and therefore costs, based on your budget and/or recommended on what you need to compete in your industry space. Some brands/industries will need less activity and therefore less budget, whereas others are highly competitive, so there is no specific cost that works for all. 

At Aira, we generally work best with clients who can invest at least £3,000 a month. That said, the more you have to work with, the faster we can move, and the more we can tackle for you to help move the needle.

When we start discussing a proposal, we can suggest a couple of cost options so you can see the difference in scale. 

If you don’t quite have that much, we might still be able to help or point you in the right direction, so do still get in touch. 

To summarise on what digital PR is…

Digital PR is a marketing strategy that sits under SEO. It uses tactics to secure earned brand mentions and links, to grow brand awareness, topical authority and visibility, supporting search engine rankings and visibility in generative AI. 

With the rise of generative AI, Digital PR has become even more important as it’s a fundamental way of earning brand mentions (as well as links) in the right places, which correlates with increased visibility in these new search spaces.

Digital PR differs to traditional PR and link building, with its focus on benefitting more areas which support online performance in today’s evolved search space. 

It’s important to note that there isn’t a one size fits all approach when it comes to digital PR, or one tactic that would work for every brand; it highly depends on the industry, websites you want to target and your target audience. All digital PR strategies and approaches should therefore be tailored, and utilise a number of tactics across the year to maximise coverage opportunities.

Measuring digital PR, and the wider benefits specifically, can be challenging. We recommend sticking to tangible outputs, like coverage, quality and relevancy, as lead metrics and KPIs. Then, working together on an agreed approach to reporting on wider benefits. 

If you still have questions or would like further clarity on how digital PR could support your brand, drop us a message and we’d be more than happy to chat. 

References:

• Ahrefs (2024) - AI Overview triggers study 
• Techcrunch (Oct, 2025) - ‘Sam Altman says ChatGPT has hit 800M weekly active users’ 
• Ahrefs (2025) -  AI Overview brand visibility factors study
• Google API Documentation (2024 leak) - ‘Secrets from the Algorithm: Google Search’s Internal Engineering Documentation Has Leaked’
• Search Engine Journal (April, 2024) - ‘Google Confirms Links Are Not That Important’

A few weeks ago, I headed down to one of the biggest marketing events in the UK, brightonSEO and it made one thing very clear - the world of search is evolving faster than ever. With the sudden development and growing popularity of AI impacting the way people search, how can we continue to meet our marketing goals, and how should we be measuring success? 

After a day of note-taking and visiting as many talks as possible, I feel a lot closer to understanding what the future of search looks like. Here are some of the insights that I have taken away from the day: 

1. Limited data doesn’t have to hold you back.

When you’re running new PPC campaigns with very limited data, it can be tricky to predict what to expect, and sometimes it can feel like you only have your gut instincts to rely on and trust. But gut instincts aren’t led by useful, reliable data. In a talk by Alex Van Der Pol about how to make smarter PPC decisions using data and pattern-spotting, I learned that by analysing performance patterns from similar campaigns, you can create data-backed benchmarks instead of relying on guesswork.

To decide which campaigns to use as a comparison to the one you want to predict the outcome of, you should pick an existing or historical campaign that advertises a similar product or service that followed a similar budget, strategy and timeline.

2. ChatGPT doesn’t run ads (yet), but what happens when this time comes for paid search?

Whilst Google generates 14 billion searches a day, ChatGPT is slowly but surely catching up with a giant 2.5 billion searches. ChatGPT still has some way to go before it becomes the world's most popular search engine, but it is safe to say that it’s capturing the attention of audiences globally and creating a buzz in the marketing world. 

During his talk, Ashley Fletcher gave us an insight into how ChatGPT generates its results, and it is entirely reliant on content relevancy. And to create more of a challenge for marketers, every search result is completely unique. Looking forward, we should all be thinking - how can we optimise for an experience that is different every time?

3. Understanding the way audiences use search platforms is key to investing in the right channels. 

One of my favourite insights that I took away from Brighton SEO was from Becky Simms’ talk on the psychology of search behaviour. We often decide which platforms to optimise based on the demographics of our audience and their needs, but we need to start putting as much focus into the intent of the search. Why did they search on this platform, and what do they expect from the results? For example, audiences may search on TikTok or Instagram to get quick results that they don’t need to spend time researching, or they are simply looking for inspiration. However, audiences who are searching for answers on platforms such as Tripadvisor or Reddit are expecting to take more time to research and are often seeking validation from other users. 

Overall, the takeaway here is that we cannot force one platform to do it all. Each platform serves its own purpose, and brands that can show up for each of these purposes on the appropriate platforms will win the audience's attention and trust.

4. Users aren’t just sticking to one platform. So neither should we when creating a marketing campaign. 

Following on from the point above, when listening to the talk on the psychology of search, I also learned that most web users under the age of 44 are using around 5 platforms to collect information on their queries. And over 55s are using 2 platforms. Meaning your audience isn’t solely “on Google”, they’re everywhere. Brands are missing out on opportunities by only prioritising one platform.

This talk highlighted that audiences will subconsciously develop a preference for things, people, or ideas that they are more exposed to as they become more familiar with them. So all in all, the more exposure and brand awareness you can gain, the more you will maximise your performance. 

5. It’s time to rethink our lead forms.

During my day in Brighton, there were only a handful of talks that didn’t mention AI. Most of these talks focused instead on the classic lead form. We all know that most users don’t enjoy filling out online forms, which means that we need to make their journey as easy as possible to get them to complete the form and to decrease our form abandonment rates. 

Charlie Marchant’s talk gave me some great tips on how we can improve our conversion rates on forms; one of these was that having a multi-step form can make complex offers feel much less overwhelming for users.

Another great tip was to include the more difficult questions at the end of the form. This makes users less likely to abandon the form as they aren’t intimidated by them at the start of the form, making them less likely to complete all the steps. 

Lastly, the talk made clear from case studies that relevancy drives conversions. So we should be tailoring both forms and landing pages to the types of leads that we are aiming to generate. 

The Big Picture:

This year, brightonSEO really proved that AI is changing the way people search and how we marketers need to adapt to these changes if we want to continue seeing successful results, whether that’s in SEO, PPC or CRO.  We can change our key performance indicators, we can optimise our content relevancy to suit AI platforms, and we can build a larger brand presence across multiple platforms instead of just prioritising one. Algorithms and search platforms will continue to evolve. But one thing will always stay the same - we need to cater to our audience’s needs first and remember the user behind the search. 

When you're trying to coax the maximum number of "right" eyeballs to your website, pay-per-click (PPC) and search engine optimisation (SEO) are often treated as estranged cousins at a family reunion. Big mistake. Combining PPC and SEO efforts is far more effective and creates a cohesive marketing strategy that accelerates results by leaning on each other. We call it Blended Search. Here's how it works.

Why PPC and SEO strategies are a powerful combination

Boost search engine results page (SERP) visibility

Achieving high search engine visibility for your website is always the goal, right? Yet, Google is perpetually updating the search engine results pages experience. This means your hard-won organic keyword rankings are increasingly nudged downwards by Google’s latest obsession. That could be:

• AI overviews 
• Featured snippets 
• Knowledge graphs 
• "People Also Ask" boxes 
• Images 
• Videos
• News results
• Shopping results
• Maps

Oh, and who could forget those rather prominent paid search ads? Hint, hint.

Google’s consistent updates are changing the way we think about SEO. Because to truly maximise your website's visibility, it needs to be unmissable in the SERPs - which is becoming increasingly difficult.

However, by integrating PPC and SEO, you don’t just increase your brand’s prominence; you give it the best possible chance of appearing at the top of the search engine results pages.

How PPC and SEO data inform each other

Here's where the magic truly happens. Data from both PPC and SEO tools, when fused, creates a richer, more focused search marketing strategy. It allows you to attract the right users at the right time.

Let’s take the search terms report from Google Ads as an example. It’s a juicy list of relevant search terms that triggered a PPC ad and resulted in clicks through to your website. This information is invaluable for informing your SEO keyword priorities and gives you a head start in understanding what users are actually searching for. The PPC data gleaned here is, to put it mildly, invaluable to your SEO strategy.

Google Ads also allows for the kind of multivariate testing of PPC keywords, titles, and descriptions that would make an SEO specialist weep with joy at its speed, quickly revealing which variations drive higher click-through rates and conversions.

You can use PPC campaigns to test potential organic keyword targets to see if they're worth the long-term SEO investment. This is a much faster method than traditional SEO split testing. The insights from both SEO and PPC data are truly invaluable to both teams. This harmonious exchange of PPC and SEO data is what makes combined PPC and SEO strategies so potent.

Focus on effective strategies and eliminate digital duplication

The data gleaned from your PPC campaigns provides a valuable head start for your SEO strategy. You can instantly pivot to focus on topic areas that are already driving clicks and conversions, then expand on them with clever content clusters and targeted pages.

Prioritising relevant keywords and ad copy that boast high click-through rates gives your team a clear indication of strong user engagement. What proves effective for PPC ads can directly guide your SEO efforts. While direct copying and pasting isn't recommended (we're not barbarians), do consider the tone, style, and PPC keywords that are attracting attention from potential users.

For example, your most effective ad copy from your PPC campaigns can inspire fresh title tags for organic content, and engaging PPC ad descriptions could form the basis of compelling meta descriptions. There's no need for your teams to reinvent the wheel. This integrated approach enhances your digital marketing strategy simply by adding an SEO spoke to the well-established paid search wheel.

Structure your strategy: the long game meets the immediate win

SEO often involves a delightful "slow burn," with results that build value over time. PPC, on the other hand, can provide immediate visibility at the very top of the search results page.

This means that PPC can strategically support your SEO efforts by quickly securing visibility for your target keywords while you work on producing content and optimising on-page elements to increase your organic search reach. 

SEO can also strategically support PPC campaigns by producing supporting organic content for long-tail cluster topics. These targets are more than likely not suitable for PPC campaigns due to their position in the customer journey, but still offer audiences important and valuable information before they make a purchase. 

Additional benefits of integrated SEO and PPC strategies – the unseen upsides

Enhanced remarketing opportunities: The art of the second chance

Combining PPC and SEO creates genuinely powerful efficiencies and remarketing opportunities. For example:

• PPC can target users who found your site through organic search but didn't convert: You can set up remarketing ad campaigns to re-engage users who visited specific pages via organic search results but, for whatever reason, didn't complete a desired action (e.g., a purchase, a sign-up).
• Organic content nurtures leads for PPC: Users who discover your brand through informative organic content might not be ready to convert immediately. Remarketing ads can then serve them targeted display ads later, pushing them (gently, of course) further down the sales funnel.

SEO builds the initial interest, and PPC capitalises on it, making your search marketing much more effective. This interplay is the hallmark of intelligent PPC and SEO strategies.

Complementary keyword strategy: the two sides of the same coin

PPC and SEO keywords truly complement each other with the right strategy; here's how:

• Protecting branded terms: PPC can act as a vigilant guard dog, protecting your branded relevant keywords from competitors bidding on them. This ensures your brand always appears at the top for its own search results, even if your organic rankings aren't always number one. 
• Filling in organic gaps: PPC can quickly target valuable PPC keywords where your organic rankings are a bit weaker or non-existent at the moment. It drives immediate traffic while your SEO strategy works to improve organic search results visibility for those terms. It's a strategic placeholder, ensuring no valuable traffic is lost.
• Discovering new opportunities: PPC testing can uncover new, high-converting long-tail relevant keywords that SEO can then build content around, expanding your overall organic search reach and boosting organic traffic. This combined approach is key for maximising your presence across the search engine.

Cost-effectiveness and ROI:

If you're thinking, "This marketing strategy sounds great, I bet it’s expensive", good news, it doesn't have to be. In fact, it can actually work out cheaper in the long run. Here’s how to make this strategy as cost-effective as possible: 

• • Optimising ad spend: Insights from SEO (e.g., knowing which organic keywords are already driving significant organic traffic) can help refine PPC campaigns, so you are not bidding on keywords that you already rank for organically. This smart use of data significantly improves budget efficiency.
  • Maximising lifetime value: The combined efforts of both SEO and paid search lead to more opportunities to reach your target audience, especially when you use remarketing ads for people who have reached you organically. This can result in better conversion rates and, crucially, a higher customer lifetime value. Ultimately, this dramatically improves overall ROI for your entire search marketing endeavour.
  • Long-term vs. short-term gains: While PPC ads offer immediate, gratifying results, SEO provides sustainable, long-term organic traffic. Using both SEO and paid search balances short-term gains with long-term growth.

• Marketing efficiency: With SEO and Paid teams working together, they will be communicating about what's working, what's not and where budget should be spent and where it shouldn't. So, rather than throwing spaghetti at a wall to see what sticks, teams can work together to maximise results and spend budget where it will have the biggest impact.

The symphony of search: When paid search and SEO work together

Ultimately, treating PPC and SEO strategies as separate, siloed entities is a missed opportunity. Which is why we developed Blended Search. By integrating search marketing strategies and leveraging the insights from each, you can create a robust, resilient, and highly effective digital search engine ecosystem that consistently drives relevant traffic, enhances brand authority, and maximises return on investment.

As Matt, our humble leader, said on the Future of Search webinar recently, "it's not just about doing more; it's about doing more, smarter". This integrated PPC and SEO performance approach is the smarter strategy. We call it Blended Search, and it's the future of digital marketing.

To learn more about the Blended Search approach, get in touch.

You’ve poured your expertise into crafting that insightful blog post, that comprehensive guide, or that compelling video. You’ve nailed the research, polished the prose, and optimised for SEO. But then… silence. Or, at best, a trickle of traffic. Sound familiar?

Sometimes we need to stop creating and start amplifying.

Here’s the truth: without an effective content distribution strategy, even the most brilliant content is essentially invisible. It's like building an architectural marvel in the middle of a desert – impressive, but no one will ever see it. The missing link? An effective content distribution strategy.

Why distribution is the missing link in your content strategy

Many businesses focus heavily on content creation, pouring resources into producing high-quality content. This is absolutely essential, but it's just the start of something much more powerful: getting that content seen. 

That's what a distribution strategy does. You create content for your website and then distribute that content elsewhere so that others can enjoy it too. Basically, once you've created that content, you need to market it!

It’s the bridge between a great idea and tangible business goals like generating leads, increasing brand awareness, and boosting sales. A truly successful content marketing strategy doesn't just create; it actively distributes.

How to build a content distribution strategy

The real win when it comes to content creation is getting that digital content into the hands (and minds) of your target audience. This is what we call "content marketing".

This isn't about blindly pushing digital content onto every platform. It’s about a deliberate, strategic plan to connect your valuable content with the right people, at the right time, on the right channels.

Let's look at how to develop an effective content distribution strategy that turns your content creation process into a marketing strategy designed for growth.

Phase 1: Developing strategic foundations for your content distribution strategy

Before you blast your digital content everywhere, take a second. A well-defined content distribution strategy starts with understanding your landscape and your ambitions.

Know your target audience (intimately)

This is the bedrock of any effective content strategy. Where do your target customers spend their time online? What social media platforms do they use? What publications do they read? What are their preferred content formats? Understanding their customer journey and where they look for information at each stage of the buyer's journey is paramount for your content distribution strategy. Your content marketing strategy hinges on this insight.

Quick tip: Don't assume. Conduct market research, read your reviews and survey existing clients. Get to know your customers and their buying journeys.

Define your business goals for distribution

What do you want this content distribution strategy to achieve? Is it primarily for lead generation, driving website traffic, boosting brand recognition, or improving search engine rankings? Clear business goals will dictate your choice of marketing channels and your content distribution channels. Your overall marketing strategy should inform your content distribution strategy.

Audit your existing content

A comprehensive content audit can help you identify gaps in your distribution for existing content and pinpoint outdated content that needs a refresh before being re-distributed. This step is crucial for any effective content strategy.

Phase 2: Owned channels – maximising your home base

These are the marketing channels you fully control. They are the backbone of your content distribution strategy and where your digital content ultimately lives, for example:

Your company website

Your content management system is your central content hub. Every piece of valuable content starts here. Ensure your blog posts are optimised for search engine results pages (SERPs) and easy to share. Our SEO checklist for optimising web content can help here. Ensure your landing pages are targeting customers in the right buyer stage and are keyword targeted to show up in the SERPs when your buyers are ready to make a purchase. Use dedicated landing pages for gated digital content like e-books or whitepapers, serving as crucial points for lead generation in your marketing funnel.

Email marketing

Marketing emails have an average open rate of 35.63%. This is an incredibly powerful content distribution channel. Nurture leads, promote new blog posts, and share curated digital content directly with your subscribers. It's like a private social media channel between you and your potential buyers and should be a core component of any strong marketing strategy.

Phase 3: Earned channels - Spreading the word organically

Phase 3 uses third-party platforms and user engagement to amplify your message. This phase of your content distribution strategy is all about organic reach.

Social media accounts

Your organic social media content strategy is vital. Share compelling social media posts on various social media platforms. Don't just post links; craft engaging social media posts that spark social media engagement and encourage shares.

Strategic tip: Tailor social media posts for each platform. LinkedIn for professional insights, Instagram for visuals, X for quick tips and conversation, etc. Tailor the tone of the copy and the designs to ensure you cater to the different audiences on each platform. Encourage user-generated content related to your brand.

Guest posting & collaborations

Write blog posts for other relevant industry websites. This is most commonly called guest posting. This exposes your digital content to new audiences, cements your brand as an industry or thought leader and builds valuable backlinks, supporting your overall content marketing strategy.

Online communities & forums

Participate in relevant forums (like Reddit and niche industry boards). Share your digital content where it's genuinely helpful, but avoid spamming content as this can cause frustration with forum members and admins.

Public relations & media relations

Craft strategic press releases for major announcements or valuable content that warrants media attention. This is what we like to call Digital PR. It can boost brand awareness significantly, earn more backlinks and get you in front of more potential customers.

Phase 4: Paid channels - strategic amplification for content distribution

When organic reach isn't enough, paid content distribution offers precise targeting and accelerated reach for your digital content.

Social media ads

Run targeted social media ads on social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, or X to promote specific blog posts, landing pages, or lead magnets to a highly defined target audience. Paid ads can drastically increase your audience engagement.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Consider paid search ads that appear on search engine results pages for relevant keywords, directing prospective customers to your digital content assets. This complements your efforts to increase organic traffic.

Content syndication

Partner with publishers or platforms to republish your digital content on their sites, reaching their established audiences. This often involves paid content distribution.

Influencer marketing

Collaborate with industry influencers who can share your digital content with their followers, offering targeted exposure. This is a form of paid content distribution that can boost brand awareness.

Paying to advertise every new blog post on your social media pages is overkill, and the costs will add up quickly. However, a strategic approach to advertising key pieces of content, whether guides, events or new products, can put them right in front of your audience quicker than organic approaches.

Phase 5: Measure, analyse, & adapt - the continuous loop

Developing an effective content distribution strategy is not a one-time setup; it’s an ongoing process of measurement and refinement. Here's some ways to measure the results of your campaigns:

Utilise Google Analytics: Track website traffic, conversions, and user behaviour originating from your various content distribution channels.

Monitor Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs): Keep an eye on your search engine rankings for key terms. Use tools like Google Search Console to identify areas for improvement in your content strategy.

Track social media metrics: Monitor engagement, shares, and referral traffic from your social media posts across all social media platforms.

Review your content calendar: Based on the data you're seeing elsewhere, adjust your content calendar accordingly. What's working? What isn't? Periodically review your content distribution strategy to ensure the content you have planned is going to move the needle.

Perform regular content audits: Regularly review existing content to ensure continued relevance and identify new content gaps or outdated content that could be repurposed for new content distribution efforts.

This data-driven approach is a key element of any successful content marketing strategy.

Distribute with purpose, not just presence

Your content creation efforts deserve to be seen, consumed, and acted upon. A well-developed content distribution strategy transforms your content marketing efforts from a passive expense into an active, high-performing asset that directly fuels your business goals.

It's time to stop publishing content into the void and start strategically distributing content that truly resonates with your target audience at every stage of their buyer's journey. This is how you move beyond simply having content to truly dominating your market.

Need help building a content distribution strategy that delivers unstoppable growth?

Want to learn more about how strategic content can help your business grow? Get in touch today, and we'll help develop a content distribution strategy that grows your business. Don't let your valuable content sit idly by. Let's design a strategic plan to get your message heard and seen by the right people.

What is Inbound Marketing?

Inbound marketing is a strategy focused on growing a business by fostering meaningful, long-term relationships with its customers. It benefits both: customers receive more personalised and relevant content and interactions, while businesses can attract their target audience, build lasting relationships, and create brand advocates. When balanced with calculated outbound marketing efforts, it can generate some truly powerful results.

Inbound marketing is a concept pioneered by Hubspot, which has become massively popular and for good reason. According to Hubspot, Inbound marketing costs 62% less per lead than traditional outbound marketing methods. Whew! This means that the potential impact of inbound marketing tactics can no longer be ignored! So in this article, we will go into detail on all things inbound marketing including:

• The Three Phases of Inbound Marketing
• Key Trends in Inbound Marketing for 2025
• 8 Tactics for Creating an Effective Inbound Marketing Strategy
• Where to Begin With an Inbound Marketing Strategy in 2025
• FAQs

So like a dolphin, let's dive in!

The Three Phases of Inbound Marketing

Inbound marketing is a straightforward concept, but it can be explored in as much detail as you’d like. Think of it like an iceberg, what’s visible on the surface is just the beginning, with much more beneath the surface waiting to be discovered. But to get started, let’s break it down into three simple stages: ‘attract,’ ‘engage,’ and ‘delight.’ These stages form the foundation of inbound marketing and are easy to follow, but there’s a whole lot more beneath them that you can dive into as your strategy evolves.

8 Tactics for Creating an Effective Inbound Marketing Strategy

SEO, Valuable content and Blended Search

SEO is the backbone of inbound marketing and a solid content marketing strategy goes hand in hand with this. Create relevant and engaging articles and landing pages to attract your target audience. It is a strategy that is tried and tested. However, SEO in 2025 requires a shift to focus on what we call here at Aira ‘Blended Search’. Search engine results pages (SERPs) are evolving and now display a variety of results including images, videos, news articles, maps and AI summaries. Blended search takes all of these factors into account and aims to rank for image, video, and news results as well as typical search results. This will involve optimising image alt tags, videos, and news articles for relevant keywords.

Use Video!

Video isn’t optional, it’s essential for creating those deeper connections with your audience. In fact, businesses that use video marketing generate 66% more qualified leads. Short-form videos, product demos, and behind-the-scenes content are all great ways to connect with your audience. Don’t overlook the power of platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and LinkedIn for driving traffic and engagement. It could be something as simple as a short-form video explaining exactly what a product does, or a long-form video/podcast that goes further in-depth on examples and real-world applications for your product.

Personalisation and Data-Driven Insights

Personalisation is key in today’s crowded market. Using data analytics to segment your audience and tailor content to their preferences helps increase conversion rates and builds stronger relationships. A CRM platform is an example of a powerful inbound marketing tool that can track your leads' journeys and deliver personalised experiences. Work to bring your company's data such as contact lists, into one neat application and see how much simpler your marketing, sales and customer service efforts will be.

Optimise Your Lead Nurturing Process

Inbound marketing isn’t just about attracting leads; it’s about nurturing them through the buyer’s journey. Marketing automation tools can help you send targeted content based on where prospects are in the sales funnel, increasing the likelihood of a conversion. Email campaigns, drip feeds, and retargeting ads are excellent tactics here. This means you do not need to handhold each customer through the sales process, freeing up more time for your sales teams to assist customers at the end of the funnel.

Focus on ROI

Prioritise your ROI by focusing on metrics like cost-per-lead (CPL), customer lifetime value (CLTV), and conversion rates to measure the effectiveness of your inbound efforts. The beauty of inbound is that it’s easy to track, so you can demonstrate clear results to stakeholders. This is especially easy with dedicated CRM software which stores all of this information and tracks individual customers and how they engage with your brand.

Interactive Content

Interactive content, like quizzes, surveys, and polls not only engages users but also generates valuable data for your strategy. It’s an effective way to increase time on site and gather insights into your customers’ preferences, which can fuel further personalisation. Your customers want to get involved and be a part of your brand's story, give them an interactive experience that they will remember!

Diversify Your Marketing Channels

While blogging and SEO will always be foundational, don’t overlook emerging channels. Voice search, podcasts, and social commerce are all gaining traction in 2025. Test new platforms, but ensure they align with your brand and audience to avoid spreading yourself too thin. Remember an important part of any successful inbound marketing campaign is balance.

Optimise for Mobile

With more than half of all web traffic coming from mobile devices, your inbound strategy must be mobile-friendly. Whether it’s your website, email campaigns, or video content, ensure that everything is optimised for mobile viewing to enhance the user experience. Focus on content that balances images, aesthetics, content quality and loading speed. It is a delicate balance but one that you need to strike to even keep up with the competition these days!

When we sit with businesses to figure out what they want to achieve with their marketing, it ultimately comes down to one thing - sales. They may want to increase traffic to a certain part of their website or rank for a particular set of keywords but, ultimately, any business selling products or services wants to use SEO to drive more sales from their website.

But once you’ve realised that sales are what you’re after, how do you make that a reality? In this post, we’ll be sharing 5 ways you can use SEO to get more sales from your website.

1. Work out how people search for you

Businesses will often choose a handful of keywords related to their products and services and try to rank for them in Google, sometimes successfully, and then wonder why they haven’t seen an increase in sales.

SEO is about being found in search results where your customers are looking. If you’re ranking for ‘beach holidays’ but your potential customers are searching ‘beach vacations’, they won’t be able to find you.

Here are some ways to find out how people are searching for you:

• Talk to your customers - check case studies and testimonials or host interviews and make a note of any common terminology.
• Do some keyword research - use a free tool like Keywords Everywhere to find long-tail keywords and compare search volumes.
• Check out the competition - have a browse of your competitors’ websites. What terminology are they using to describe your products or services?
• Check Google Search Console - Google Search Console is free and will tell you the search terms people are already using to find you online.
• Check Google Ads - You can use Google Ads to check for keywords that are driving traffic to your website. Even if you’re not running ads, setting up a Google Ads account and using the Keyword Planner tool can help you discover relevant search terms and their competition levels.

2. Get your house in order

Much like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, SEO comes with a hierarchy. Before you start creating new content or securing links, it’s important to ensure your on-page SEO is in good shape. Considering 47% of customers expect a webpage to load in 2 seconds or less, if your website takes 5 minutes to load, no one will stick around to buy.

Here are some things you should check:

• Site speed - Google has indicated that it uses site speed as a ranking factor. Moreover, if your site takes too long to load, users will buy from your competitors instead. You can check your page speed using Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool.
• Minify images - one way to speed up your site is by optimising your images. Run them through a tool like TinyPNG before uploading.
• Check for redirect chains - a redirect chain occurs when one URL redirects to another which redirects to another, and so on. Each link in the chain loses link equity (which tells Google how reputable your site is) and increases load time for users. You can use Screaming Frog to check for redirect chains on your website.
• Has the appropriate schema – Implement structured data (schema markup) to help search engines understand your content better and improve rich search results. You can test your schema using Google’s Rich Results Test.
• Images have alt text – Ensure all images have descriptive alt text to improve accessibility and help search engines understand their content.
• Has internal links from other pages of your site – Internal linking helps search engines discover content on your website and improves user navigation. Ensure that all important pages are linked to from other relevant pages on your site.

There are two other important, non-SEO considerations you should keep in mind:

• The ability to convert easily – Is the page well-designed to get users to convert? Are forms easy to use? Is the call to action clear? Make sure there are no unnecessary barriers preventing users from taking action.
• Having tracking in place: You need proper tracking (Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, etc.) to monitor performance, understand user behaviour, and measure success.

3. Create great content

The next step is to create some killer content that tells Google what your website is about, and which is relevant and useful to your target audience. By creating great content, you’re drawing users to your site, giving Google an indication that you must be pretty great and they should show you more prominently in search results.

If your content is useful and people actually want to read it, they’re more likely to trust and buy from you. 

Here are a few examples of content you could create around your products:

1. • Show them how it’s done - create written or video tutorials. Think about how to use your product, but also how it can be used in wider projects.
   • Product comparisons - don’t be afraid to talk about the competition. Your customers already know who they are and this gives you the opportunity to own the narrative. This also helps to pre-qualify leads, particularly if your product or service is a luxury one.
   • Don’t forget the fun stuff - back in 2006, Blendtec launched their video series 'Will it blend?'. They put everything from iPhones to glow sticks in a blender and the series went viral. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box when it comes to content ideas.

4. Build some links

With the killer content you created in step 3, you may have already got a few people linking back to you from their own websites. This sends their audience to your site to become customers and also tells Google that you have a great website that they should show to more people. But, unless you already have a big audience, how do you get people to find and talk about your products online? It’s time to build some links.

• Citations - add your business to reputable local and industry online directories. Make sure you use the same details on each one - this helps Google match you up across the internet and recognise you as one business.
• Find mentions and ask for links - find other websites mentioning your brand and reach out to ask for a link. You can use Google Alerts to get notified when someone mentions your brand.
• Check who links to your competitors - use a tool like Ahrefs to check which domains are linking to your competitors. This could reveal industry blogs or lists that might be willing to link to you too.

5. Look great in search results

So you’ve managed to rank in search results for the keywords you identified in step 1. That’s great, but the hard work doesn’t end here. Now you have to get people to actually click through and buy from you. You have limited real estate in the search results page, here are three ways you can make the most of it:

• Page titles - ensure your title is something that accurately describes what the page is about, includes your brand name and isn’t so long that Google cuts it off at the end (somewhere between 60-80 characters).
• Meta descriptions - Google automatically pulls through a short snippet of text from your page to give users a better idea of what they can expect when they click. Make this taster as enticing as possible by adding custom meta descriptions. If you’re using WordPress, you can install a plugin like Yoast to do this.
• Product schema - if you’re selling physical products, product schema can bulk out your listing in Google’s search results and take up more space on the page, making it more likely users will come to you instead of your competitors. Core features of product schema include showing your price range and displaying star reviews in the SERP. 

To discover  how SEO can drive more sales for your business,read some of our other SEO posts, or feel free to get in touch for a tailored strategy to boost your revenue. 

1.  

There are few things I enjoy more than auditing a website, and fixing technical SEO issues that will help improve the site’s search rankings. Sad? Perhaps, but I love a good puzzle.

We have access to so much data that it can be difficult to decide where to focus our efforts. It can also be tempting to fix every single issue in the hopes that something helps to move the needle.

Here are three tips on how you can look in the right places to harness your technical SEO data and improve your presence in organic search.

1. Glean hints from the SERPs

I like to begin at the end and head straight to the search engine result pages (SERPs), to see which websites are ranking highly for my desired keywords, and reverse engineer how they’re ranking.

Competitor analysis won’t just look at technical SEO, of course; you’ll also be taking on-page, off-page and other factors into consideration to inform your complete strategy.

However, there are a number of technical SEO pointers we can tease out of top-ranking websites to help you rank better.

For example, you can determine whether there are any correlations between rankings and site architecture and indexing rules.

This can be especially useful when assessing how high-ranking ecommerce or recruitment websites use canonicalisation, noindex/nofollow and robots.txt to handle sub-categories, filters and parameters.

I’m not saying you need to copy your competitors’ setups, but it’s something you should consider when looking at your technical SEO.

2. Look to the search engines

My humble opinion is that it’s pointless crawling a website, identifying problematic areas of the site and tidying up those areas if search engines don’t even take any notice of them.

Luckily for us, search engines like Google and Bing are kind enough to tell us what they see when they look at our website.

Performing site: searches and using tools such as Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools quickly gives us insight as to whether an issue you’ve discovered is actually causing problems for your site.

My general rule is to review what is and isn’t indexed, so you can focus on getting valuable non-indexed pages indexed and ranking, and leave non-valuable unindexed pages. 

Heading straight to Search Console and Webmaster Tools can also flag up issues such as crawl errors, conflicting directives, rogue parameters and sitemap inconsistencies, which may be hindering the ranking performance of your pages.

You can use this research to form parts of your analysis, but the actions you take should ultimately be driven by business goals. What fixes will help you achieve them? Usually, the first step is getting key pages indexed and ranking. From there, you can work on getting the technical health of your site in a good place.

3. Marry your crawl data with log file analysis

Checking Search Console and Webmaster Tools is a great starting point, but for larger sites (or those with indexing issues) search engines come across plenty of other technical SEO issues that they won’t report on, which we can’t see in a standard crawl.

The answer to this problem is log file analysis. If you can get access to your log files, you can find out exactly which URLs get crawled by your most important search referrers, how often, and other incredibly useful insights.

Using the date range, number of unique URLs crawled and the crawl rate of your log files, you can determine whether any search engines are not crawling any pages that you consider important to your site:

We can also see whether the pages being crawled generate more organic traffic than those that don’t get crawled:

If the numbers aren’t looking too healthy, you can dig further into the log file data to identify any pages you need to either discourage search engines from crawling, or encourage them to crawl.

I hope these three technical SEO tips help to get you into the mindset you’ll need to identify and fix the right issues that will actually help your site to rank higher in the SERPs.