What are some common mistakes brands make in digital PR, and how can they be avoided?

The biggest mistake brands make is putting the cart before the horse. I often speak to clients who want a big PR push (typically with very short notice) in hopes that it’ll make their project a success. But that’s not how it works–media outlets want to cover innovative projects that are already successful. They’ll do a story on you when you reach 1 million users or $1 million in annual recurring revenue. But landing in the NY Times or CNBC isn’t a realistic strategy to reach those targets. If I could give one piece of PR advice to brands, it’s that the press covers companies that are already achieving something. They aren’t interested in synthesizing success for you.

Brands are lacking the clear and consistent messaging, don't pursue clear ROI/goals, don't measure objectives of the each campaign, spray across different mediums but not really targeting their audience and main comm channels. They are usually not engaging with the community or responding to them. Also - typical things like press releases might not work anymore for your brand - look at out of box PR solutions, lean on brand influencers and do things differently. Diversify your tactics, measure, do things differently, build relationships and personalize the communication. Finally - you need to adapt to changes, new trends, ethical and other legal considerations.