The Situation: Our client, a mobile study service, turned to public relations to increase its search engine optimization (SEO). CB&A utilized digital content supported by a media relations campaign to boost search results for the company.
The Results: The successful public relations campaign garnered extensive media coverage, which enhanced the client’s industry visibility, positioned the company as the leading mobile study service, and most importantly, increased the client’s SEO.
Creating Content to Achieve SEO Goals
After an in-depth analysis of user data, the client identified an uptick in mobile studying among students. Moreover, students who study on smartphones are better prepared for class, as they study more often and more efficiently. To capitalize on this proprietary knowledge, CB&A developed an effective communications strategy that employed digital content creation, media relations and blogger outreach.
The centerpiece of this visibility campaign was an infographic, created in collaboration with the client’s design firm. The infographic was hosted on the company’s website and released in November 2011, triggering an immediate surge in traffic to the website. The digital content was shared virally across multiple social media channels, embedded in blogs and covered by numerous media outlets.
Promoting Infographic with Media Relations
CB&A supported the infographic’s release with a well-devised media relations strategy. Between October 2011 and January 2012, CB&A distributed a series of three news releases, one of which featured the mobile studying data and a link to the infographic posted online. Ahead of the announcement, CB&A also pitched a number of exclusives and sneak peeks to key trade and consumer media targets.
Over the four-month period, CB&A secured more than 11 million cumulative impressions in education trade and consumer media outlets. Sixty percent of this coverage appeared in top-tier publications that reach the client’s target audience of educators and administrators. In addition, the full-length infographic was featured in outlets such as Tech & Learning and USA Today College.
Generating Buzz Through Blogger Outreach
Another important aspect of CB&A’s media strategy involved blogger outreach. During the course of the campaign, 20 to 25 percent of the client’s media coverage originated from blogs. A number of the industry’s most influential bloggers, including Free Technology for Teachers and Edudemic, shared the findings and embedded the infographic on their blog.
Campaign Visibility
Some campaign outcomes:
• Monthly inbound links increased from 25 to 125 per month, doubling cumulative links in just four months.
• Domain authority increased from the mid-30s to the mid-50s, while other competitors range from 50 to the mid-70s, but remain stagnant.
• Reached top five search results on Google for the term “online flashcards,” advancing from page four to one in the world’s largest search engine.