Align social and content to boost your digital PR

Eva says: “Make your digital PR work harder with social and content alignment.”

What does digital PR look like in 2026?

“Digital PR in 2026 is all about trying to get your work featured within AI searches.

We’re now seeing that a lot of people are relying on AI for the simplest queries, like the best restaurants to go to, travel tips, and advice for something that is a lot simpler and easier than Google.

Even with Google’s AI overviews, the main focus at the moment is trying to get that exposure, so that AI recognises it and pulls it through for your brand.”

What does it mean to have your social and content in alignment?

“When you launch a digital PR campaign, you should be integrating that into your blog post content creation as well as your social media content creation.

For example, if you have a heavy data set or thought-leadership piece, it could become an infographic, a short-form video, or story polls on your social media platforms, depending on your business.

It’s about creating supporting, additional content, and even using digital PR to drive people towards the expanded version of the content.

By doing this, through social media, you are getting extra brand exposure for the data set that you have gathered for your digital PR campaign or your expert commentary. In that way, integrating keywords and hashtags throughout can be really beneficial.”

Would you publish your content on your blog initially, and then reach out to people using digital PR to get more awareness afterwards?

“Yes. I would suggest going down the route of posting it on your blog first, and then doing your digital PR outreach.

Hopefully, you have gained some coverage from that, and you can then highlight it within your social media posting. Show off the expert commentary that you've shared with publications like Vogue or Elle, for example, and how it has been used on their website.

Put that on your social media profile to build brand exposure and trust with consumers, and humanise the brand as well.”

Do you include expert commentary in the initial blog piece, or would that be in the digital PR that you're trying to get more traction with?

“Across the board: within your blog post, your digital PR campaign, and your social media content as well.

For example, I always enjoy working with engagement ring clients, and if they were to give you expert commentary on lab-grown diamonds – what they are, what they're worth, whether or not they increase in value over time, etc. – that can be used as a thought-leadership piece on the website. Then, it can be shared with journalists who might be interested in it, and it can then be repurposed on social media as well.

A lot of lifestyle publications, like Metro and Marie Claire, have actually taken things that are trending on social media, where someone has jumped on it through expert commentary and repurposed it into a TikTok video or Instagram Reel within the article on their website.

You get double the brand exposure because they use your brand name, and they also use your social content within that piece. It's really good exposure for your business in the long run.”

If you already have an evergreen piece of content, how do you ensure that more digital PR can go towards that in the future?

“When you're first building your content plan, try to focus on the keywords that you want to promote within your business.

In the example I gave earlier, it would be diamonds or engagement rings. From there, you would try and build out a content plan that can cover multiple lanes, ensuring that the lifespan of the campaign is as long as possible.

You can add expert commentary that isn’t time-sensitive, but there are also times when you can jump on trends and offer expert advice.

As we’re speaking now, winter's coming up, so ‘cuffing season’ is always a big thing. If you're a relationship expert, that’s always a buzzword, and you can jump on that buzzword ahead of time.

That way, whenever someone searches for information on cuffing season, your content will hopefully appear within that – especially if you're also appearing on social media, you're covering that topic across the internet, and the expert you're using has already gained coverage in the past to add that extra trust and authority.”

How do you choose which seasonal or trending topics to focus on?

“Look at the keywords that you want to focus on. Is the topic related to the keywords you want to rank for? Is there any referral traffic from earned media that has benefited you in the past?

It's always a game of reviewing the content that you have put out and whether or not it has been worthwhile. For example, if you went out with a heavy data set campaign and it landed you loads of links and coverage, that’s great. Go ahead with that again, because it's worked in your favour in the past.

If it hasn't, maybe try and pivot your strategy towards reactive content or expert commentary. Always review what you have done and how it’s impacted your keyword rankings overall.”

Are AI search engines impacting digital PR and the way that you can achieve success with it?

“It would depend on who your audience and target market are.

If your target market is of a younger demographic, then yes, I would say so. There are more people in that demographic using platforms like ChatGPT to ask the simple questions and search for simple things like ‘best new places to go’, ‘top 10 most eco-friendly cities’, and ‘best places to live if you’re a digital nomad’.

It’s a go-to place where they can simplify information, rather than constantly scrolling through Google to try and find the best advice.”

Are listicles something that clients are asking you to aim for, to increase visibility in AI search?

“Not directly, it's something which we've never really gone into yet.

We're more focussed on aligning content with expert commentary because we want to more quickly build credibility and trust with stakeholders.

If, for example, someone were to see your business name in the media, and they haven’t heard of you, then they search for you on Instagram or TikTok to check how reliable you are, the number of followers and interactions that you have will build that trust with them. They will see that you are a legitimate business. They can see the founder, or a specific expert, speaking and offering expert advice within your social content.

It adds that human touch, and it combats the AI ‘experts’ that we are starting to see in the industry – where fake ‘experts’ are being created, and journalists are trying to search for them. It’s a big red flag if you’re doing that.”

How do you measure digital PR success in 2026?

“Relevance is obviously still key. If your piece has been covered in highly relevant publications that have a high readership rate, that is always a great way to measure whether or not a campaign has been successful.

It’s not necessarily about traffic or links any more. It's all about the increased relevance of the publication that features your content. I'm seeing a lot more people who are trying to just build links for the sake of building links. When you do that, it can impact your backlink profile negatively.

If you're trying to combat that, you should aim for publications that are relevant to the campaign that you're building, which is ideally centered around the keywords that you want to boost.”

How do you find experts who are likely to align with the brand, and how do you forge those relationships?

“It's down to their accreditation (their certifications and qualifications) and whether they've been relied on in the media in the past. That's always a great sign.

There's a specific astrologer whom I have worked with, and she has been mentioned across loads of different women's lifestyle publications. Tying her name to a campaign really helps that campaign to gain success because she already has that credibility.

If you don't have the credibility yet, try to find someone who already does, within that topic or field, and work with them directly when you’re building a campaign. To begin with, just reach out to them and say, ‘I'm working on this digital PR campaign. Would you be interested in working with us? This is the brand I'm working with, or the specific area or niche that I’m talking about, and this is the direction in which you see the campaign going.’

You can also give them a little insight into what sort of questions you’re considering and the kind of answers you are hoping to tie into the campaign.

Also, if there is a data set that you have been working with, go to them and say, ‘I've got this data set for this trend. Would you be interested in commenting on this?’ Also, let them know that it will be outreached to the press, and give them examples of the kind of publications you will be targeting.”

Eva, what's the key takeaway from the tip you shared today?

“Build content with multiple lanes in mind. Expand your digital PR campaign efforts to extend its lifespan, across the board.

Even though your campaign will go out instantly, you can also spread that content out over the next week or month on your social media platforms.”

Eva Cheng is a Freelance Digital PR Consultant. You can find out more over on LinkedIn.