The views expressed by the business participants are their own.
Digital PR is often presented as a powerful way to improve brand visibility, build authority and improve SEO. However, many clients do not realize that what they pay for is not always what they get. From expensive marketing services to paid media placement disguised as organic PR, digital PR is full of pitfalls that can cost businesses thousands without delivering any real value.
In this article, we will look at some of the common pitfalls in the digital PR industry and why clients should be careful when investing in these services.
Related: Scholars or Hypocrites? How to Choose a Reliable PR Agency in 6 Steps
1. You pay for digital PR — you get media sales
One of the biggest problems with digital PR today is that many agencies claim to offer real digital PR services, but, in reality, they just use third-party press release services. The agency pays a few hundred dollars to issue a press release, then charges the client thousands of dollars. As a result, the client gets their press release published in major publications like Business Insider or CNN, but this release is often buried in the PR section of the website, which brings missing value to the client’s brand. Not only that, but this exclusion has no impact on SEO efforts. This approach sounds like a scam, as customers are paying a premium for something that offers no real benefit.
One of my former clients, an entrepreneur, ordered a digital PR campaign from a PR agency and later shared their report with me. It was full of syndicated press releases, which could have been bought from a third-party press release sales company and resold to them as premium broadcasts. He finally fired them after the first month and hired me instead.
2. Paid media placement disguised as organic PR
Another common problem in digital PR is how agencies handle media placement. Agencies often promise an “organic PR campaign” that they claim will be picked up by the media. However, if journalists do not show interest in the campaign, the agency still needs to send some kind of success report to the client. To do this, they buy media placements and present them as organic results in their campaign.
At the end of the day, the client receives several media placement links that were not actually acquired through organic efforts but were purchased to meet the agency’s deliverables.
3. No results are guaranteed, even with real campaigns
Even if a digital PR campaign is well run, there is no guarantee that it will be successful. A client can spend $5,000 to $15,000 on a campaign, but if the media doesn’t find it, the result may be no backlinks. This is very worrying for clients, because they are not sure what they are getting for their money. It is a risky investment, and unfortunately, the result can sometimes be nothing at all.
Therefore, digital PR costs can vary inversely, from $ 466 to $ 5,462 for connected communication, according to Getmelinks, when the agency needs to create a story; for companies that already have a compelling story right, costs can be up to 60% lower.
Related: Why Clients Feel Overcharged by Marketing Agencies and How to Get It Right
4. You can’t target your SEO important pages
Another challenge of digital PR is that you can’t always target the most important pages on your website. Ideally, you would want to link back to your sales pages, product pages or landing pages – those that drive traffic and revenue. Instead, digital PR campaigns often create content on new topics, surveys or research. The links that editors pick up will often go to these new pages, which don’t add much value to the client’s SEO strategy or overall business goals.
5. No anchor text control
Finally, with digital PR, you have no control over the anchor text used in the backlinks. Journalists will link to your website, but they will use whatever anchor text they choose. Although this is not a major problem, it reduces the value of the link to some extent. If you pay for backlinks, the ideal situation would be to link to your target pages with your desired anchor text, which digital PR usually allows.
Before investing in digital PR, it’s important to understand the risks and how to spot potential pitfalls. First, ask your agency for details on how they plan to advertise your product. If they mean press release sales, be careful – this often leads to low value placement in PR categories that don’t benefit your brand or SEO.
Related: 6 Things Every Brand Should Understand About PR
Second, when reviewing media placement, always check whether it was genuinely earned or paid for. If the links seem too relevant or come from obscure sites, they may be purchased sites rather than organic.
Finally, don’t be afraid to ask for transparency about results. A good PR agency should be upfront about the uncertainty of results and what happens if a campaign doesn’t deliver. Make sure they provide clear metrics for success, not just a list of links.
By asking the right questions and paying attention to these details, you can protect yourself from wasting money on services that don’t deliver the results you expect.
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