Content

A Year of Link Building Through Creative Content Campaigns

As 2018 draws to a close, we’ve been reflecting on the performance of our campaigns, what learnings we can take from them and what trends are emerging in creative link building through digital PR.

So, what’s worked well this year and what will be key to building links in 2019?

Presenting existing data in a new and innovative way

This year, iPropsect delivered several campaigns that brought visuals and news hooks to life with the use of data. Utilising large data sets and applying them to creative campaigns allows journalists to access fresh content that they may otherwise not have the time or resource to create, making it a compelling sell for journalists to run the story and link back to our campaign.

For a fashion retailer who has a wedding boutique section on its website, we created a rain predictor tool where brides-to-be could input the date and location of their wedding to find out what percentage chance of rain was for their big day. To generate the results, we analysed 86 years’ worth of Met Office rainfall data, providing a credible source for users. Cultural events such as the royal wedding in May ‘18 and the unusually hot summer weather gave us multiple opportunities to promote our content and it received pick up across wedding, lifestyle and national news media.

For a client in the betting sector we created a series of data-led content pieces in the run up to the World Cup.  Analysing the professional careers of squad members in every competing nation we were able to depict their career paths from league to national squad.  Football, sports and news sites loved the innovative use of data and it received blanket coverage ahead of the tournament.

We worked with a garden equipment retailer to look at the cost of garden waste collections by local councils around the UK. We looked at the charges for the service and then built a picture of who received the most and least value for money. The data gathered allowed us to create league tables, we then pushed the story to regional media, achieving over 260 pieces of coverage and links.

Evergreen content

Rather than focusing on creating seasonal content, we’ve had great success this year with evergreen campaigns, that are less routed in topical news, but can still be pushed out to media in response to trending topics. For example, we produced an infographic which showcased foods that are banned in different countries around the world for a kitchen retailer. As well as securing coverage on food and lifestyle sites in our initial push of the content, subsequent news articles around import/ export and food trends provided multiple opportunities for outreach.

For a holiday company we took real estate values in key coastal locations to create a piece of content around the cost of some of the world’s most popular beaches. We then ranked them by value, showing that Venice beach was the most valuable, with Bournemouth beach in second. Not only did this provide us with an opportunity to see the content internationally, it could also be rolled out at multiple times throughout the year.

Visually-led content

Finally, we’ve seen lots of successful image-led content across the industry this year, with themes around re-imagining places and objects, most-instagramed locations and creating visuals around things that could have been.

For a house builder, we created a series of 3D rendered images bringing to life monuments and structures that were planned for the capital but never actually built. Using plans for an aerial monorail on Regent Street, a pyramid inspired monument in Trafalgar Square and an airport over the Thames, we created a series of striking images that captured people’s imagination and led to online national news coverage as well as broadcast and print.

For a toy retailer, we worked with an illustrator to depict how some of the country’s most loved cartoon characters from the 90s would have turned out as adults – the key to the success of this piece was the quality of the graphics and the nostalgia they evoked. The campaign turned out to be a big hit with lifestyle, design and entertainment media.

So, next year it’s all about evergreen content, big data and stunning visuals. We can’t wait to get started!