Can Digital PR Work in Niche Industries?

There is a stereotypical image of what a PR professional does—it’s organising press trips for an illustrious travel brand, hosting events for exciting tech launches or organising photo shoots for a glamorous fashion house. Sure, there are rare occasions when this is the case, but it is largely a misconception of what the day-to-day realities of working in PR are really like.

This misunderstanding all too regularly makes many small businesses believe that PR is not something relevant to them; that it’s a service exclusive to large brands or companies in popular B2C spaces. However, the truth is that your business doesn’t have to be one of the top dogs in entertainment or a globally renowned retailer to use PR effectively. Even the smallest, most niche of companies can reap the benefits of Digital PR too.

Here are a few ways how businesses in very niche spaces can successfully earn coverage and backlinks via Digital PR:

Unique research into relevant topics

‘But why on Earth would a journalist at The Independent want to write about my micro B2B enterprise?’, you might ask. Well, the answer is: give them a story worth writing about. You don’t have to be providing the sexiest product or service to get great PR, nor does your business need to have a thrilling rags-to-riches journey. Some research into a topic indirectly related to your company could be enough to grab a headline from your dream publications—and a backlink as well. This could be a survey, an index, or even just some internal customer data that journalists and their readers might find surprising.

Share your insights

You are an expert in your sector, no matter how specific that sector might be—and this kind of expertise can actually be the bedrock for an amazing Digital PR story. Sharing insights into how world events have impacted your industry can be an excellent way of getting coverage and backlinks from publications, especially ones that tend to write about your industry. Has your sector been affected dramatically in the latest Budget announcement, for instance? Or has it seen a surprising boom as we exit lockdown? Putting yourself out there as a spokesperson can be an effective Digital PR technique for gaining links in a niche space.

Get creative with a stunt

Journalists love a PR stunt. A good stunt is provocative, attention-grabbing and something you would want to share with your friends on social media. What it doesn’t need to be, however, is expensive. Sure, you could hire a tube station for a grand PR stunt, but small businesses in niche sectors could also have just as successful a viral campaign through a simple visual. At Kaizen, we did precisely that with our client DirectlyApply; we got hundreds of links just by creating a shocking visual representation of what remote workers might look like in the future.

It is not only a misconception that Digital PR cannot work in niche industries; it could also be a missed opportunity. If you were sceptical that it would not work for your sector then there is a good chance your competitors feel the same way too. Therefore, making it a key part of your marketing strategy could help you outrank your competitors. 

Find out more about our approach to creating digital PR campaigns and landing tier one coverage on our blog.