Ethical Storytelling in PR: Relevance, Reputation, Results

In today’s age of ever-increasing competition, technological advancements and abounding misinformation, a strong PR strategy is founded on authentic, well-researched content, ensuring the narrative informs the public rather than manipulates it.

But this is not always the case. Digital PR has gained a bit of a bad reputation over the years with click-bait style headlines, irrelevant content at odds with clients’ expertise, questionable data studies and prioritising securing links above everything else.

Instead, every good digital PR professional should be focused on ethical storytelling, protecting both the client’s brand (and your own) with engaging and relevant campaigns.

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The Importance of Ethical PR Practices

Ethical storytelling is common decency that all businesses should (we hope) strive to uphold. But it is not just down to moral obligation – it’s a business-first strategy. The digital landscape is vast but controversy can spread in an instant. This strategy needs to be nuanced, smart and sensitive to 8 billion different points of view.

The old adage of ‘there’s no such thing as bad publicity’ might be true for a celebrity, but not for brand building. As SEOs and clued-up digital PRs know, spammy links and online criticism don’t build credibility or authority – they can damage your brand’s reputation, isolate consumers and turn off journalists.

One such example of this is a casino positioning themselves as ‘experts’ offering research and advice about allergies and pollen levels…If you’re wondering where the relevance and credibility is, I am sure you’re not alone.

The disconnect between the brand, the topic and the advice being issued is obvious, serving as a good example of a somewhat forced campaign that lacks real relevance to the organisation’s core offering.

Let’s do better.

Well-researched, ethical and relevant PR campaigns should:

Build Long-Term Credibility

Credibility breeds trust, a brand’s bread and butter. Establishing authority within the relevant industry will build credibility that lasts. Consumers will remember and look to the brand as a trusted source for information, services and products in future.

Avoid Backlash

An online dating platform learnt this lesson the hard way with a ‘anti-celibacy’ campaign, which was branded as “tasteless” and labelled as undermining women’s choices, contrary to the company’s founding values: empowering women.

Due diligence, sticking to the brand’s expertise and ensuring the messaging is sensitive, accurate and aligned to a unified issue is the best formula for success.

Still Be Fun and Creative!

Consumers base their purchasing decisions on trust, and trust is built through a brand’s consistent, trustworthy and relevant appearance in the media, including social media. The opposite will break down trust and deter customers.

With all that being said, this is a nuanced issue and journalists also want interesting and exciting content… Campaigns don’t have to be boring to be trustworthy and earn quality coverage and links. To cut through the noise, be playful, experimental and light-hearted. With the right context, digital PRs can create a charmingly clever narrative, that journalists and readers will love.

A great example is the ‘Platinum Jubbly’ stunt which featured on the BBC and secured 80 pieces of international coverage and 50 backlinks to the brand’s domain. With 5 million online views and 10K social shares, this playful campaign captured the heart of Brits during the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

The campaign was closely aligned with the client’s service offering and real souvenirs were sold as a result of its success.

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The Key to Creating Ethical Content

Ethical storytelling is not synonymous with playing it safe. It is about striking the fine balance between engagement and integrity, authenticity and accuracy, and relevance and quality. Without a relatable and newsworthy hook, responsible research, brand alignment and credible spokespeople, a campaign risks being disingenuous and ineffective – despite the links.

Google’s EEAT guidelines emphasise expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. Content is evaluated against these principles, and irrelevant links gained within irrelevant content are likely to have little to no impact on a client’s website visibility.

Google refers to good content as “people-first”. Ask yourself: why will this idea capture the interest of both the media and the public? Without a compelling reason or news hook, placing people and their interests at the heart of the story, campaigns won’t land.

What Does Responsible Research Look Like?

Credible data sources, gathering original data accurately and maintaining transparency in your methodology are key factors in delivering credible content. This also includes limited reliance on AI. Although an incredibly smart technology, researchers recently discovered that LLMs like ChatGPT “create distortions, factual inaccuracies and misleading content”.

Plus, search engines like Google are actively penalising AI-generated content in some instances, a major disincentive to brands relying too heavily on AI.

If a brand gains the reputation for providing inaccurate and sensationalist content, journalists won’t engage and it could backfire.

Brand Alignment Is Equally Important

When ideating, ask yourself what the brand’s most valued initiatives are. A great example is InsureMyTrip’s annual index of the world’s safest destinations for solo female travellers. This campaign has secured hundreds of media placements, leaning on the brand’s specialism in safe travel and insurance, providing genuinely useful information.

So, the question is, does your spokesperson have the knowledge and authority within the context of the campaign you are proposing? Would you trust and follow allergy advice from a casino brand? Probably not. Would you trust electrical advice or guidance from the technical director of the UK’s leading certification body for the electrical industry? Absolutely.

Digital PRs have an ethical imperative to not provide content that misrepresents their client’s knowledge, which can mislead the public and erode trust in the brand or industry at large.

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The Future of Ethical Storytelling

This isn’t about ditching link building; it’s about doing it well and with integrity. So, what could the future of ethical storytelling in PR look like?

The future of digital PR is complete transparency, where each campaign clearly outlines the data and methodologies used while presenting credible spokespeople to the media.

Human oversight will prevail. When a campaign needs to take a nuanced and sensitive approach, it is human oversight that will always take precedence over an LLM’s ability to process huge volumes of information without truly understanding it.

Ironically, AI programmes now monitor AI written content. Perhaps these tools will become industry standard across all sectors, giving rise to greater risk in the use of generative AI.

As research continues, distrust in AI will grow. Just recently, the BBC revealed its findings that AI chatbots are distorting news stories and generating misleading information. You don’t need to look further than The Guardian’s website pop up to know fake news is on everyone’s agenda and many are taking an unfavourable view of the “AI Slop” overtaking media.

If digital PRs are looking to build successful campaigns, it requires looking beyond AI and into our own human ingenuity for something that really stands out.

Investing in surveys, reports, research, and whitepapers provides valuable insight, credibility, and relevance for journalists and readers alike. This is especially true in the B2B sector, where top-tier coverage requires more than a strong press release; it demands data-driven content that offers real value.

Some consumer media groups are also restricting liberal linking, Reach PLC reporters have been warned not to link to any third-party commercial websites without authorisation.

In an ever-evolving landscape, successful digital PR campaigns focus on ethical storytelling—building trust, engaging audiences, and securing meaningful media coverage through credibility, transparency, and brand alignment.