This document discusses the need to show the full picture of digital PR campaigns, including failures, steady performers, and huge wins. It notes that most campaigns result in 1-20 links, which is normal and effective. Focusing only on huge wins creates unrealistic expectations and pressures. Learning from steady performers and failures can help improve strategies and identify trends. Seeing the full campaign history helps establish consistency over virality.

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Great Expectations
The Truth About Digital PR Campaigns

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We’ve got a problem.

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Here’s what Twitter has to say about
digital PR campaigns.

4. “Digital PR Twitter is getting
f**king ridiculous.”
@WolfofBaldStreet

5. “Attention seeking.”

6. “The #DigitalPR community
shouldn’t feel pressured to post
their best work and highlights...”

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You know what?
I’m guilty too.

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It didn’t stop there.

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468Pieces of Coverage
324Linking domains
Results

14. 150Pieces of Coverage
66Linking domains
Results
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15. 68Pieces of Coverage
45Linking domains
Results
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Here is one of those successful campaigns...
Coverage
Month

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And in context...
Month
Coverage

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I was not showing you the full
picture...

19. Today, I want to show you
the full picture.

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The full picture covers these
three pillars with creative
campaigns...

21. Huge wins Steady
performers
Huge fails

22. Huge
wins
Steady
Performers
Huge
fails
Huge
wins

23. Huge
wins
Steady
Performers
Huge
fails

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What’s the problem?

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We are giving the impression that
we don’t have campaign fails.

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We are putting too much pressure
on ourselves and newbies in
the industry.

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We are normalising the idea that
each campaign launched must get
100+ links.

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We’re setting unrealistic
expectations and KPIs.

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We’re making others think that
5, 10 or 20 links can’t be effective.

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We know ‘steady performers’ can be
effective, we should celebrate the
impact and learn from them.

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We can do better.

32. Rinse & repeat
Why do we focus on the wins?

33. Let’s go back to our first ‘Aira
viral’ campaign...

34. 68Pieces of Coverage
45Linking domains
Results
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It was at this point we focused
on the wins, only the wins.

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Guess how many maps we
launched that year for one client?

37. 12 / 18CAMPAIGNS

38. Huge wins Steady
Performers
Huge fails

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40. Hmm, this sounds
familiar...

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Year Format
2009 Guest posts
What do we do to get links?

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Year Format
2009 Guest posts
2012 Static infographic
What do we do to get links?

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Year Format
2009 Guest posts
2012 Static infographic
2014 Interactive infographic
What do we do to get links?

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Year Format
2009 Guest posts
2012 Static infographic
2014 Interactive infographic
2017 Instagram map
What do we do to get links?

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Year Format
2009 Guest posts
2012 Infographic
2014 Interactive infographic
2017 Instagram map
2018 Index
What do we do to get links?

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Year Format
2009 Guest posts
2012 Static infographic
2014 Interactive infographic
2017 Instagram map
2018 Index
2019 “Best job ever”
What do we do to get links?

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Year Format
2009 Guest posts
2012 Static infographic
2014 Interactive infographic
2017 Instagram map
2018 Index
2019 “Best job ever”
2020 Product stunt
What do we do to get links?

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What about next year and beyond?

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Year Format
2021 Video
What will we do in the future to get links?

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Year Format
2021 Video
2022 Virtual reality
What will we do in the future to get links?

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Year Format
2021 Video
2022 Virtual reality
2023 Experiential
What will we do in the future to get links?

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That’s 10 ‘winning’ formats in 14
years. But we were doing more
weren’t we?

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What about the formats we didn’t
celebrate?

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We love to rinse and repeat
formats but again, that doesn’t
show the full picture.

55. The truth about digital PR
Let’s talk about failure….

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The first step in telling the full
picture is talking about failure.

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Who’s had a campaign fail?

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CASE STUDY EXAMPLE

59. Where have you
been the past
four years?
The Daily Mirror

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Launch = 0 links

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Why?

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We launched our campaign here…

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It was not wise to launch a
campaign to press during the US
presidential election.

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I kept that one quiet on Twitter.

66. Failures come in all
shapes and sizes.

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‘Honk Kong’ will be a country that
forever haunts me.

72. Failure’s don’t stop there...

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Who’s had to report on a
campaign fail?

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Who’s had to pull their team
through a campaign failure?

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The reality...

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You have to have each others
backs through thick and thin.

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Sometimes it really hurts when
things don’t go to plan but it’s
reality with link building.

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What is normal?

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Have you ever had a campaign that received the following
number of links?

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Have you ever had a campaign that received the following
number of links?

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So, I’m a bit suspicious that only a
third have experienced 0 links.

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Despite what Twitter shows, not
every campaign is going ‘viral’.

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The research shows the majority of
campaigns are getting 1-20 links.

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AND THAT IS GOOD!!!

87. What’s ‘normal’ for Aira?

88. 138 campaigns in a year

89. 2,381 followed links

90. Avg. 17 links

91. Huge
wins
Steady
Performers
Huge
fails

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The link numbers are almost
irrelevant if they’re not having an
impact on bigger KPIs.

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You don’t always need loads of
links to get real business results.

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47 links across 5 campaigns
with technical SEO and
keyword research.

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“[Aira have] consistently provided great
guidance on setting targets, communicating
their progress and helping us grow as a
company”.

97. ‘Steady
performers’ can make a big
difference to the bottom line.

98. The truth about Digital PR
Learning from ‘steady performers’

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Remember this?

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We turned it into this...

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We have a number of processes in
place that help us learn and develop
as a team.

102. Content Evaluation Matrix

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Where this
all started...
Mark Johnstone

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Focusing on wins...

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Trend:
Maps are great for link building.

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Learning from ‘fails’...

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And a second example...

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What should we have learnt
from those campaigns?

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Trend:
We can complicate things too much.

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Not learning from these produces
inconsistent digital PR results.

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Coverage

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Whereas ‘steady performers’ can
produce consistent results...

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Looking at ‘steady
performers’...

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Trend:
Campaigns with multiple data points
and are evergreen work well for
consistent results.

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Looking at ‘steady performers’
helped us get a 95% increase in
organic traffic and 63% increase in
organic revenue.

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You should be reviewing your work
every quarter to find these trends
and implement them.

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Here’s a template for you
to review your work.

125. In summary...
Let’s circle back around

126. The full picture =
Digital PR is hard.

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You will experience a campaign fail
(or a two). It’s going to happen.

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It’s important to keep consistency
and quality in mind over virality.

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#1
Take the ‘viral’ pressure off and
start talking more about ‘steady
performers’ and fails.

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#2
Realise that ‘steady performers’ can
consistently impact weighty SEO
KPIs.

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#3
Use the Success Matrix to review
campaigns and catch trends early.

132. Today,
I’ve showed you the full picture.

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