Published by Sue Johns-Chapman
Published Date 24.11.2025 
ICS-digital celebrate two shortlisted campaigns.
I’m sure like all finalists, the ICS-digital thrilled to have two client campaigns shortlisted for the UK Search Awards this year.
These are two campaigns that are wildly different in industry focus, but with common factors in terms of the principles that underpin the success of digital PR outreach, earned links and media coverage.
The goal for both campaigns was the same: to earned media coverage that would support both brand visibility and sustainable SEO growth. However, the mix of methods across reactive comment, exclusive data and timely perspectives were different, even though tenacious outreach was a common factor.
The Data-Driven Wedding: Bridebook
The wedding industry is intensely competitive and highly emotional. Bridebook, the UK’s leading wedding planning app, needed to stand out and build authority. Our approach here was rooted in data journalism.
To earn coverage, a press release can’t just announce a product or service; it needs a compelling news hook.
For Bridebook, we found this hook in their vast proprietary data. We didn’t just tell journalists what the app does; we leaned into what journalists want from exclusive insights and told them what Bridebook’s data reveals about the nation’s changing wedding landscape, with expert insights from Bridebook’s leadership to ground data in real-world wedding expertise.
The Power of Data Hooks:
The ICS-digital PR team worked closely with internal Bridebook experts to sift through internal user data to find genuine trends – like shifts in average wedding costs, the most popular engagement months, or the increasing age of couples getting married.
These aren’t just interesting facts; they are newsworthy, quantifiable data points that local and national journalists can utilise across a range of stories around personal finance, lifestyle, and social trends along with traditional wedding features.
This is the key takeaway for any digital PR professional is clear: look inward for your golden material. Your own data is often the most unique and powerful asset you have – and is intrinsically exclusive.
Presenting it clearly – in simple, well-sourced numbers and trend analysis is a timeless best practice that ensures a higher pick-up rate but the insights must be relevant and up-to-date. The data must say something about the current news agenda and support journalist priorities to go beyond ‘interesting’ to ‘unmissable’ – and to provide greater leverage to link-focused campaigns.
The Voice of Trading Authority: ActivTrades
Moving from the romantic (and only occasionally stressful) world of weddings to the sharp-edged-but-aspirational reality of finance and trading requires a different discipline and level of industry insight combined with audience empathy. ActivTrades needed to build authority in a field where trust, accuracy, and expertise are paramount.
For this client, longer term data journalism was less viable, as the financial market moves quickly and journalist (and customer) audiences are more focused on time-senstiive, actionable insights rather than lengthy internal analysis that could go out of date.
Instead, our strategy focused on expert commentary and speed.
Mastering the Reactive Hook: in media outreach the ICS-digital PR team positioned ActivTrades’ experts as reliable sources for immediate comment on major economic news – from global financial movements to market reactions, the key is to not only be insightful, but to be dependable and reachable to take advantage of time-limited opportunities.
To make this work, the PR team had to make use of team member expertise and fluency in the language and mechanics of the financial markets to identify and respond to opportunities, and to cultivate meaningful relationships with journalists and publishers based on their own gravitas.
This is where the importance of deep sector understanding comes in. You can’t write a convincing quote about complex financial news if you don’t grasp the basics of not only how things work, but how journalists report on such news and how end-customer audiences respond to content.
To make such campaigns a success, we suggest brands (and agencies) invest time in subject matter training for PR, SEO, content and marketing colleagues.
The ability to speak confidently and accurately about complex and diverse topics – whether it’s the fine print of a trading platform or the average cost of a wedding dress – is crucial for earning the respect of a specialist journalist.
For finance, this means being ready to pitch comments within minutes of a major news announcement, ensuring the client’s voice is part of the initial news cycle.
Diverse Brands, Common SEO and PR Goals
Ultimately, the campaigns for Bridebook and ActivTrades prove that effective Search PR is less about generic outreach and more about becoming a specialist in the client’s world – and utilising client-side talent and expertise to deliver shared success.
Whether you are using data-led storytelling to talk about social changes in the wedding sphere or providing fast, credible expert opinions on volatile financial markets, the core best practices remain:
- Understand the Journalist’s Needs: They need news, not marketing copy.
- Focus on Uniqueness: Use data or expertise that only your client possesses.
- Become a Student of the Sector: An agency PR team must be able to pivot their knowledge base quickly and confidently between diverse and competitive industries.
We’re extremely proud of the hard work and deep collaboration with both Bridebook and ActivTrades, and we look forward to the ceremony! Good luck to all the finalists.
