Massive campaigns (1001–5000 emails) received less than 3.5 links per campaign—70% fewer than 51-100 spots. Only 1 in 3 emails in digital PR gets opened — the average open rate was 33.79%. Open rates dropped from 35.42% (1–50 emails) to 29.76% (1001–5000 emails) — a 16% decline. Read more

Take effect May 5, 2025 Impact bulk senders, aka sending 5,000+ emails/day to Microsoft consumer email addresses Must pass SPF and DKIM Must publish a DMARC record (at least p=none) Must align the “From” domain with SPF/DKIM Must use valid reply-to/from addresses Must include Read more

Podcast pitching is on the rise as PRs struggle to reach traditional journalists. Personalized, value-driven pitches with clear topic ideas outperform generic outreach. Pitch tactics like filling gaps, offering counterpoints, or proposing swaps increase acceptance. Research the show’s Read more

Target high link-intent keywords like “[industry] statistics” to attract organic, citation-driven backlinks. Use proprietary or hard-to-find data to increase linkability and differentiate your content. Evaluate SERPs and backlink profiles to ensure your keyword has citation potential before Read more

Craft media pitches so journalists can write the story in 15 minutes flat. Use "exclusive" in subject lines strategically to build media relationships. Ensure content is hyper-relevant since irrelevance is the top reason for PR blocks. Engage on social media genuinely, but always pitch via Read more

Use “city rivalries” and emotional angles to spark regional press engagement and amplify link potential. Leverage freemium tools, proprietary data, and trending keywords to create highly linkable content assets. Build link velocity by targeting newsletters, round-ups, and overlooked image-based Read more

Backlinks remain the baseline KPI, but quality (relevance, authority, traffic) matters far more than quantity. Track 12 impact areas: from referral traffic and branded search to direct traffic and owned audience growth. Ahrefs, GA4, and Talkwalker are critical tools for evaluating both SEO Read more

Major publishers suing OpenAI include The NYT, Tribune, and CBC, raising concerns about content visibility in AI results. AI training models and LLM rankings remain opaque, so adjusting digital PR tactics now is premature. Links and media mentions still drive Google rankings, even if excluded Read more

 Interest in "digital PR" has surged 34% globally since 2020, with major spikes in the UK and US.  Top challenges in 2025 include measuring impact and campaign ideation, with 72% saying it’s harder than last year.  Data-led content and expert commentary dominate digital PR tactics, used Read more

April 23, 2025 Update: I've updated this post to reflect all publisher partnerships with AI companies as of April 23, 2025. OpenAI and Microsoft have been busy. LLMs used by OpenAI and Google are heavily curated datasets. Ziff Davis’ study shows that heavily curated datasets contain a higher Read more