Leveraging Digital PR Expertise To Build Personal & Company Brands
Dr. Sean McCaffrey was well known in Springfield, Illinois, having hosted a radio show for nearly 18 years and appearing regularly on the local Fox affiliate Wednesday morning TV show. However, in the winter of 2017, Beacon Marketing was charged to begin to build a national reputation for Dr. Sean as a holistic health care professional and internal health specialist.
Digital PR Research
Susan Mackasey, our digital PR specialist for Beacon Marketing, explained, “We had two really strong elements to leverage: our knowledge of the media world and Dr. Sean’s considerable knowledge base across a range of holistic practices. We used our expertise in digital PR publications to build a plan that would provide international exposure and widen Dr. Sean’s credibility across a broad spectrum of media outlets.”
Public Relations has always been a powerful way to build a reputation of a person or a brand, but through the universal reach available in our digital world, it is possible to quickly build exposure and ratchet up perceived authority incredibly quickly. All it takes is a strong strategic focus.
We took the time upfront to research appropriate media outlets who would be interested in sharing Dr. Sean’s expertise and advice, choosing only the most distinguished, high domain authority publications/websites to partner with. Susan explained this ‘quality over quantity’ philosophy saying, “Taking time to write individual pitches and personalized responses to media queries does take more time, but the media responds more positively to this focused attention because they know they are going to get high quality, exclusive content for their readers.”
A Website, A Press Kit, and Search Engine Optimization
A big part of the strategy was preparation. When they started, McCaffrey Health Center did not have a strong website. It had very little exposure to point to and no press kit to provide to any interested reporters. That makes it a very hard sell, as this was asking reporters to take a big risk on an unknown person.
When Beacon Marketing began working with McCaffrey Health Center, the website domain authority was non-existent, and there were only two backlinks to the website. As a part of our work for them, we completely redesigned their website, expanding content and refreshing visual appeal, while building a solid platform to build search engine optimization. Back links are a critical component to building strong, long-term search engine strength, and a solid digital PR program assists in that area as well.
Results
of beginning to work with the client
readers
High Domain Authority Websites
in ad equivalency
With an already-strong social media presence, some might have questioned the need for an attractive, well-organized website, but Susan explained its importance to the overall strategy: “The dramatic redesign of the website allowed me to confidently send people back to the site to learn more about Dr. Sean and the McCaffrey Health Center. We posted an attractive press kit that we developed, which presented well and aided in securing strong media exposure as we got started. That momentum built quickly, and we were able to garner exposure in media outlets that are considered the ‘holy grail’ of that genre.”
Delivering Strong Digital PR Results Quickly
“The results have been nothing short of amazing,” enthused Ellen Mughal, Vice-President of Marketing and Business Development for McCaffrey Health Center. Dr. McCaffrey has said, “The exposure they’ve been able to provide is fantastic, and we’ve been really pleased with their digital PR efforts.”
Within five months, Beacon Marketing has secured features in nearly 20 high domain authority publications with the cumulative reach of over 46 million readers and an ad equivalency of over $100,000.
Susan summarized the public relations benefits the client receives, saying, “All this exposure is invaluable as it builds Dr. Sean’s personal brand and strengthens McCaffrey Health Center’s reputation, making it easier to garner even more press. When reporters research a potential source, they look at what other media outlets have featured that expert. Once they see that you’ve been featured in highly prominent publications, it becomes easier to get a ‘yes ‘for your efforts.”
