Key Takeaways

1. The Importance of SEO and PR Integration:

   • SEO needs PR and PR needs SEO
   • Benefits include brand awareness, traffic, ranking for tough keywords, digital presence, and authority

2. Challenges for Integration:

   • Mismatched priorities
   • Late involvement
   • Defining the outcomes

3. How SEO and PR Can Collaborate Seamlessly:

   • Start the campaign with a kick-off meeting
   • Understand responsibilities
   • Maintain constant communication

4. SEO's Role in PR Campaigns:

   • Provide insights on seasonality
   • Suggest themes and topics
   • Assist with housekeeping (on-site campaign content)

5. During the Campaign:

   • Collaborate on coverage to ensure correct keywords and backlinks
   • React to understand what is and isn't working
   • Monitor coverage, links, and topic relevance

6. The Importance of Brand Awareness:

   • Links are not the be-all and end-all of a campaign
   • Don't discount the importance of brand awareness and mentions
   • Future-proof against AI by focusing on brand recognition

7. Measuring Success:

   • Set measurable expectations from the offset
   • Use real-time reporting (impressions, searches, rankings, traffic, trends)

8. Winning Example Characteristics:

   • Timely
   • Gained SEO coverage
   • Valuable backlinks
   • Helpful content piece
   • Clear call-to-action (CTA) around the site

Action Items

1. Before the Campaign:

   • Organize a kick-off meeting with both SEO and PR teams
   • Share insights on seasonality, themes, and topics
   • Align calendars and plan on-site campaign content

2. During the Campaign:

   • Establish a system for constant communication between SEO and PR teams
   • Collaborate on coverage to ensure proper use of keywords and backlinks
   • Monitor campaign performance in real-time (coverage, links, topic relevance)
   • Be ready to react and adjust based on what is and isn't working

3. After the Campaign:

   • Set up a system for real-time reporting on key metrics (impressions, searches, rankings, traffic, trends)
   • Analyze the campaign's impact on brand awareness and mentions, not just links
   • Evaluate the campaign against the pre-set measurable expectations

4. Ongoing:

   • Foster a collaborative relationship between SEO and PR teams
   • Regularly share insights and learnings between departments
   • Stay updated on AI developments and their potential impact on SEO and PR strategies

5. For Future Campaigns:

   • Apply learnings from successful campaigns (timely, SEO coverage, valuable backlinks, helpful content, clear CTAs)
   • Continue to refine the process of integrating SEO insights into PR campaigns

Remember: The key to success is collaboration between SEO and PR teams throughout the entire campaign process - before, during, and after. By sharing insights, maintaining constant communication, and understanding what success looks like, you can create more effective, integrated campaigns that drive both SEO and PR goals.