Taking centre stage across a growing number of professions, the integration of digital has seen communications redefine the way organisations function. The world of PR, from content to distribution, is no exception.

With communications at the heart of public relations, technological developments have often underpinned the importance of digital in each branch of the industry. From online newsrooms and SEO to visual PR, knowing what tools to have control of can often be the difference between setting the pace and staying afloat. Yet navigating the breadth of digital progressions within PR is an ongoing challenge for industry professionals.

Aiding this, brand newsroom and multimedia PR platform, Mynewsdesk, recently held its ‘Digital PR Bootcamp’, offering an educational programme highlighting how professionals can capitalise on the burgeoning digital aspects of the industry.

Beginning with the creation of successful content, Mynewsdesk opened with the concept of brand newsrooms – from Buzzfeed and The Guardian to successful YouTuber, Zoella – and how curating the right kind of content is about understanding target audiences. Yet moving content to a desired location forms a crucial part of digital PR, a discussion point punctuated by the daylong focus on content and distribution. Mynewsdesk’s campaign with Swedish cycle helmet manufacturers, Hövding, entitled the ‘100 Million Reach Challenge’ sought to expand on its distribution targets.

Yet as the ether of various technologies disrupt the status quo of PR, the importance of setting KPI’s remains intact. Balancing this with the practical inclusion of digital, the bootcamp included a key focus on cultivating achievable KPI’s, followed by a breakdown of SEO optimisation and the effectiveness of Google analytics.

Closing out a day packed with integrated group activities, the topic of visual PR resulted in a further consideration of how photo and video related content remains a challenge for communicators, with Swedish photographer, Daniel Ekbladh, expressing the importance of creating compelling and evocative imagery to push your message further. Putting this into practice, Mynewsdesk’s digital focus culminated in a simulated crisis provided by social media simulators, Polpeo. With a team breakdown and timed score, participants had to effectively deal with a workplace crisis, testing internal communications across the diverse audience.

However, ongoing digital developments have often seen effective communications rely on a willingness to incorporate relevant tools into an organisation, something many organisations fail to do successfully. With the rapid enlargement of social media, digital awareness is top priority for those looking to gain industry influence as communicators, yet with the rapid changes of PR at times unpredictable, knowing how to cultivate digital savviness as an organisation is equally another challenge altogether.