Digital PR Strategy in 3 Simple Steps — Whiteboard Friday

Mar 13, 2026 02:05 PM - 1 month ago 42590

In this section of Whiteboard Friday, Chloe Osunsami provides 3 elemental steps for crafting a successful integer PR strategy successful 2026. Join her to observe really to analyse competitors, find AI visibility gaps, and unafraid charismatic marque mentions.

Digitized Whiteboard pinch 3 steps for creating a integer PR Strategy successful 2026.

Click connected the whiteboard image supra to unfastened a high-resolution version!

Hi, invited to this version of Whiteboard Friday. I americium Chloe, Head of Digital PR astatine Aira, and coming I'm going to return you done really to group up a coagulated integer PR strategy for 2026 utilizing 3 elemental steps.

So, arsenic galore of you will beryllium aware, integer PR has travel backmost into the spotlight complete the past 18 months aliases so, acknowledgment to the improvement of hunt and the emergence of GEO.

Alongside a beardown method instauration and awesome content, integer PR is needed to summation visibility wrong these spaces, and that's because integer PR helps to build relevant, charismatic marque mentions and links, which service arsenic spot signals to these systems.

Now, immoderate of you mightiness say, "Chloe, but I was already doing that." And that is great, but you conscionable request to proceed doing that. And location are besides things that you tin look astatine to make judge your strategy is group up to really thrust further ROI successful this caller space. 

1. Review competitor performance

First of all, we want to commencement by looking astatine competitor performance. But really do we cognize who to excavation into? Now your target assemblage is not going to look astatine conscionable your brand. Your marque won't run successful a vacuum, and therefore, you person to deliberation astir the different brands that your target assemblage mightiness spell after. 

Powerful SEO information to find gaps earlier your competitors

So moreover brands that person made their sanction synonymous pinch a merchandise will not beryllium operating successful a vacuum. Take, for instance, Hoover. They are truthful renowned for their vacuum cleaners. But a purchaser is apt to comparison them to, say, VAX aliases Dyson, aliases Samsung. So moreover Hoover doesn't run successful a vacuum. I did intend that pun.

So if you person a database of competitors, great. If you don't, location are ways that you tin uncover competitors using SEO devices and look astatine competing domains. These thin to look astatine a stock of communal keywords, truthful I would delve into the tract a small spot and conscionable double-check that the merchandise aliases work is balanced aliases very akin to what you offer.

I would besides look astatine challenger brands, truthful ones that whitethorn not beryllium arsenic large correct now, but are trying to make waves wrong the industry. So, getting backmost to the vacuum example, Electrolux launched successful 1910, the aforesaid twelvemonth arsenic Hoover. Hoover dominated the marketplace until the '30s, erstwhile Electrolux really took the apical spot.

Now, if Hoover hadn't monitored Electrolux, they wouldn't person known what to do to effort and support that apical spot aliases moreover return it backmost over. So it's really important that you show these. Nowadays, location are tools, for illustration Google Alerts aliases Alertmouse, that thief you to show those newcomers successful the industry. So I do urge mounting up alerts, and that's to beryllium capable to spot those.

Zoomed-in conception of the whiteboard for measurement 1 - competitor performance.

Now, erstwhile you person your competitors, you want to commencement digging into their performance. So you want to beryllium capable to reply the question, "Who are the ones to watch?" Now, to do that, you tin look into immoderate of these metrics aliases each of these metrics, depending connected what you want to delve into. But I would highly urge looking astatine integrated postulation to spot who is performing champion successful the integrated space.

Domain Authority is besides a bully measurement to look astatine the value of their backlink profile. You tin person a look astatine the keywords and the circumstantial areas that competitors are focusing on, the ones that they're performing champion in, and really galore of their keywords are successful apical positions. Referring domain profile, some for the value and besides the relevancy of that, arsenic good arsenic AI visibility.

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See really you stack up against competitors correct now!

Once you've sewage a grip connected which competitors are performing best, you tin really commencement to excavation into what is linked to those top-performing competitors. And this is erstwhile you excavation into the somewhat much integer PR-esque metrics. But this is very important for you to beryllium capable to cognize which ones to excavation into. 

2. Identify sum and AI visibility gaps

Zoomed-in conception of the whiteboard pinch measurement 2 - sum & visibility gaps.

Now, erstwhile looking astatine the gaps, you want to commencement pinch looking astatine sum and AI visibility. Now this is some links and marque mentions, arsenic good arsenic prompts aliases cluster gaps wrong the AI abstraction that your competitors are being mentioned successful aliases cited successful that you're not.

Now pinch links, you tin usage a link intersect. That is simply a very adjuvant measurement to find retired wherever your competitors are being linked to aliases linked from that you're not yet.

Brand mentions, location are devices that tin thief uncover marque mentions, but you tin besides usage Google hunt parameters to uncover sum for your competitors. 

How beardown is your brand?

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And then, finally, AI prompts and cluster gaps: you tin usage circumstantial devices to uncover them.

Now, erstwhile you person those gaps, the quality-relevant gaps are going to go your targets, and you want to commencement digging into those quality-relevant mentions and citations to understand really competitors sewage there.

Now you could beryllium asking questions astir the type of contented they produced. Maybe it's informational and ace helpful. And it mightiness not beryllium thing you cover, but it's ever adjuvant to beryllium capable to past propose it to different teams because that will besides effect your work. We're each moving towards the aforesaid goals astatine the extremity of the day.

You besides want to deliberation astir if they are utilizing circumstantial penetration wrong their distribution strategy, whether it's proprietary information or thought leadership, and if location are immoderate peculiar integer PR strategies that could beryllium helping.

Once you've done this, you past want to excavation into the media landscape. Now, these are places that you would for illustration your marque to beryllium mentioned aliases linked from that are applicable and charismatic wrong your space, but besides publications that are regularly cited aliases trusted by LLMs.

Now you want to excavation into the topics that these publications are covering, that are relevant, what's precisely being covered astir these topics, really could you adhd to that, and immoderate gaps that perchance your marque aliases customer could capable pinch adjuvant contented and stories that are applicable to your target audience. 

3. Bringing each the penetration together

Now, erstwhile you person each of this insight, is erstwhile the communicative starts to travel together. Now location is nary group measurement to do this last bit. You request to puzzle each these pieces together. 

A zoomed-in conception of the whiteboard for measurement 3 - bringing everything together.

We're looking astatine bringing together your marque knowledge and their cardinal focuses aliases the cardinal focuses from the SEO strategy arsenic well, because that is going to beryllium important to what you do.

Target audience, their wants, needs, their desires, really those necktie in. Along pinch the competitor penetration you've pulled coming from each of this, and the media scenery study that you've done.

With each of these bits, you want to commencement to propulsion together a data-backed communicative connected what you should do complete the adjacent 6, 12, 24 months to beryllium capable to compete pinch the competitors that you pulled out.

When you are starting to propulsion that together, measurement back, put yourself successful a elder stakeholder's shoes, and inquire questions like, "If this were presented to me, would I beryllium asking other questions into this bit? Or do I request other insight? Or would I inquire why we're not considering this route, for instance?" And really reappraisal what you're suggesting from their shoes.

If you were a fund holder, would you beryllium happy pinch what you're suggesting if it was your budget?

And that is everything. So I person a template which will thief pinch this section, and we'll nexus to it successful the transcript. And I dream this was helpful. Happy auditing. 

The author's views are wholly their ain (excluding the improbable arena of hypnosis) and whitethorn not ever bespeak the views of Moz.

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