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Tracking what’s genuinely going on in any growing industry can be challenging.
And as you’ll see, digital PR is building interest fast.
Over the past year, BuzzStream has compiled statistics from our research on the digital PR industry.
Like our link building statistics, these should guide your strategies or research.
Combining data from our State of Digital PR Report, Muck Rack, Cision, and Google Trends, the following digital PR statistics tell the story of PR in 2025 and beyond.
Digital PR Growth
1. There has been a 34% increase in the search term “digital PR” since 2020 worldwide. (Google Trends)
2. The UK has seen a 49% increase since 2020, with a 9% increase in the past two years. (Google Trends)
3. The US has seen a 32% increase since 2020 and a 9% increase in the past two years. (Google Trends)
The industry blew up sometime during the Pandemic when Google’s John Mueller tweeted:
This, combined with Google’s 2024 Helpful Content Update, Link Spam Update, and foray into AI, have made PR, in general, a much more critical part of the marketing mix.
Industry Challenges
4. Nearly three-quarters (72%) believe digital PR is more challenging in 2025 than in 2024. (BuzzStream)
5. The most challenging parts of digital PR are measuring impact (31%) and ideation (30%). (BuzzStream)
6. It’s also harder to sell to clients and stakeholders in 2025 (45%). (BuzzStream)
Due to the rise of digital PR interest, many new players have entered the fold. This is only adding to the competition and challenge.
But, I believe some of the best campaigns are born out of good competition. You can see some of those digital PR examples in our post.
Tactics for PRs
7. The two most popular tactics digital PRs use are pitching data-led content (95%) and providing expert commentary (93%). (BuzzStream)
I’m glad to see data-led content leading the way because I believe that is where brands can combine their SEO and PR efforts for the best results. I outlined the thinking in my post about link building in 2025.
8. Over half (51%) of PRs collaborate with SEO teams most closely for campaigns. (BuzzStream)
9. About 9% prioritize collaborations with Brand teams. (BuzzStream)
This is where I’d like to see the most significant change. Sites must realize that digital PR, SEO, and branding play together.
Costs and Budgets
10. About two-thirds (67%) of respondents operate with budgets under $10,000/month. (BuzzStream)
11. Only 4% report budgets exceeding $20,000/month. (BuzzStream)
12. Most agencies achieve a cost per link (CPL) below $750. (BuzzStream)
13. 25% of digital PRs can generate 40+ links per month. (BuzzStream)
$750 per link is an extreme bargain these days. The value of a link has shot up due to a combination of factors, such as fewer quality sites, journalist layoffs, and more digital PRs working in the space.
You can read more about this in my post on the impact of the Helpful Content Update on quality sites.
With a $10,000/month budget, you’ll expect to get ~13 monthly links based on this breakdown. If they are high-quality, highly relevant links, they can significantly impact your brand’s rankings and visibility.
14. In our study, 51% of respondents don’t know their average cost per link. (BuzzStream)
As much as brands should think more broadly about their KPIs, links still dominate the conversation. And within the link conversation, there will always be CPL.
So, even if you don’t like it, it’s probably worth figuring out if you hope to sell services.
In our link building pricing post, we explained how different agencies consider their cost per link.
KPIs for Digital PR
15. Number of quality links is the top success metric for digital PRs (87%). (BuzzStream)
16. Ahrefs Domain Rating (DR) is used by 84% of digital PRs to measure a link’s authority. (BuzzStream)
17. Only 13% use Ahrefs UR or URL Rating. (BuzzStream)
18. Moz Domain Authority (DA) gets used by 45%, with only 7% using Page Authority (PA). (BuzzStream)
19. Majestic’s Trust Flow (TF) is used by 9% and Citation Flow (CF) by 4%. (BuzzStream)
When analyzing the impact of digital PR, quality reigns supreme. There are plenty of metrics out there for determining link quality.
In the next stat, you’ll see how relevance is gauged.
Link Relevance
20. 67% cited page/post title as the best way to evaluate a link’s relevance. (BuzzStream)
21. 10% of digital PRs don’t measure relevance at all. (BuzzStream)
The page title is only one way to gauge relevance.
The Google leak showed us how vital anchor text and the surrounding text are to determining the relevance of a link.
Paid Placements
22. 87% of PRs avoid paying for link placements. (BuzzStream)
23. Over 90% believe hitting client goals is possible without buying links. (BuzzStream)
This is excellent news for PRs and bad news for link marketplaces. Most marketplaces provide very low-quality, low-impact placements.
After analyzing thousands of guest posts, I concluded that only 6% were actually valuable in that they had a high DA and high traffic (and those two metrics don’t take into account things like relevance.)
Statistics About Results
24. 46% believe a digital PR campaign takes 3-6 months to see measurable results. (BuzzStream)
25. 36% believe it takes an even shorter time, at 1-3 months. (BuzzStream)
Our research showed that some PRs can generate upwards of 40 links per month, which can supercharge a site and cut the time it takes to see results.
That said, “results” do differ depending on many factors. You need sound on-page SEO and technical SEO to reap the benefits of digital PR.
In our SEO and digital PR analysis, we’ve seen huge jumps in organic traffic for sites from links gained through digital PR.
Industry-Specific Stats
26. Fashion/Beauty (29%) and Education (25%) topped the charts as the hardest industries to get links in. (BuzzStream)
27. Travel (45%) and Business (30%) are the easiest industries to gain links to. (BuzzStream)
These results may change your thinking about a link’s value in these industries.
The harder it is to get a link, the more costly it is to build.
Digital PR Tools
28. Muck Rack, BuzzStream, Cision, and Roxhill are the top tools for building media lists. (BuzzStream)
29. The biggest challenge with media lists is outdated or incorrect journalist information (61%). (BuzzStream)
Our media databases study showed why Muck Rack is consistently one of the top-used list-building tools due to its accuracy.
30. The most popular digital PR email outreach tool is BuzzStream 🐝 (56%). (BuzzStream)
31. Around 14% rely on Gmail for outreach. (BuzzStream)
The fact that link builders and PRs are still using Gmail shows me that they aren’t taking advantage of building relationships with journalists.
Email outreach tools like BuzzStream provide valuable contact history to help you get repeat links from top-tier publications.
Pitching Journalists
32. 61% of digital PRs say finding relevant journalists is more challenging in 2025 than in 2024. (BuzzStream)
33. According to our research, only 60% always check a journalist’s fit by reading their bio. 54% always confirm a fit by reviewing recent articles. (BuzzStream)
34. 77% of journalists agree that spamming a journalist with irrelevant information is the top way to get them to block you or add you to their “don’t call” list. (Cision)
35. The number one thing that makes a journalist’s job easier is understanding their target audience and what they find relevant. (Cision)
That’s according to Cision’s State of the Media report in 2024.
36. 73% of journalists say they reject PR pitches because they are irrelevant to their coverage area. (Muck Rack)
It’s getting more and more critical to identify a journalist’s fit before emailing. You can read about how to find the right journalists in our post.
Then, we’ve also outlined several personalization methods that can help.
37. 63% of PRs only send one follow-up email to journalists. Only a quarter (24%) send two follow-up messages. (BuzzStream)
38. According to journalists, 64% believe you should only follow up once. (Cision)
39. About one in four (27%) say you should never follow up! (Cision)
The follow-up is a topic that is frequently discussed in PR circles. However, it seems like the single follow-up is the way to go—and potentially never.
We’ve outlined some follow-up email tactics in our email outreach templates post.
Newswire Services
40. 72% never use newswire services to distribute press releases. (BuzzStream)
41. One in four journalists pick up stories from distribution services. (Cision)
As an outreach tactic goes, newswire services don’t seem to be as popular. That said, one in four journalists still use them for story ideas. So, depending on the kind of announcement, it may still be a worthwhile investment.
Journalist Relationships with Digital PRs
42. 70% of journalists say that relationships with public relations professionals are essential to the success of their job. (Muck Rack)
This is excellent news for PRs and all the more reason to invest time and energy into building meaningful relationships with PRs.
43. 54% of PRs receive 1-5 pitches per day. (Muck Rack)
44. 75% of journalists can receive up to 100 weekly email pitches. (Cision)
45. 49% of journalists say they seldom or never respond to a PR pitch. (Muck Rack)
With stats like this, it may be tempting to send numerous follow-ups. But in most cases, if your pitch is relevant to their beat and eye-catching, a journalist will find it.
46. Print, TV, and radio only comprise 25% of journalists’ primary publishing medium. (Muck Rack)
Digital is the future of journalism. This may be one of the driving factors in the growth of interest in digital PR.
What Journalists Want
47. 74% of journalists named news announcements/press releases as the kind of content they want from PRs. (Cision)
48. 61% of journalists said that original research reports (trends, market data, etc.). (Cision)
As seen at the beginning of this post, this directly aligns with digital PR’s main tactic: data-led content.
49. Journalists say that press releases (68%) are most valuable for generating content or ideas, followed by direct pitches (47%) and industry experts (47%). (Cision)
When pitching news to journalists, come prepared with a press release and expert quotes.
You can see the key components required in our anatomy of a release post.
50. Images are used by 72% of journalists. Data visualization/infographics by 34%, and videos by 33%. (Cision)
Lastly, when pitching, journalists seem to reuse images. Data visualizations, not so much.
Take Statistics With a Grain of Salt
Remember, these statistics tell a story but don’t apply to every brand. Google still has the power to dictate the effectiveness of a lot of what link builders do.
The beauty of digital PR is that it can transcend the boundaries of SEO and promote the brand.
Don’t know where to go from here?
Get started by reading our digital PR primer.
Check out the BuzzStream Podcast
