Published by isobel.regan@dontpanicprojects.com
Published Date 19.06.2024 
Being shortlisted for the Low Budget Campaign of the Year at the 2024 UK Digital PR Awards is a remarkable achievement for the Artefact team. This recognition underscores our commitment to delivering impactful results through innovative strategies, even when working within constrained budgets. It reflects the dedication, creativity, and expertise of our SEO and Digital PR team, who continually strive to push the boundaries of what is possible in the digital marketing space.
Artefact’s SEO and Digital PR team is a dynamic group of professionals who excel in crafting data-driven strategies to enhance online visibility and drive business growth. Our team combines technical SEO expertise with engaging content to create digital PR campaigns which secure high-quality backlinks, boost search engine rankings, and generate significant online engagement. We are dedicated to staying at the forefront of industry trends and leveraging cutting-edge tools and techniques to deliver measurable results for our clients.
The campaign “The World’s Cheesiest Nations,” executed in collaboration with Mintel, was designed to promote Mintel’s food and drink category by generating high authority backlinks and increasing the visibility of key landing pages. This campaign aimed to achieve a cumulative domain rating (DR) target, increase conversion rates, and boost sessions.
Our strategy centred around a creative, data-led approach. We utilised secondary sources to identify and rank the world’s cheesiest nations. By creating engaging content and eye-catching infographics, we successfully captured the interest of journalists and consumers alike, resulting in widespread media coverage.
The primary objectives of the campaign were to:
- Secure strong backlinks to key pages on Mintel’s site.
- Increase clicks and conversions.
- Improve rankings for targeted keywords.
Despite being a low-budget campaign we achieved strong results. No additional funds were allocated specifically for this campaign, showcasing our ability to maximise existing resources effectively.
Our target audience consisted of individuals interested in lifestyle and food and beverage topics. Through a thorough backlink audit and analysis, we identified key regions and publications lacking in our client’s current backlink profile. Furthermore, we discovered that competitors were receiving higher percentages of links from markets such as Germany, the Netherlands, and France. We took into consideration the client’s desire to build organic visibility in markets outside of the UK and their desire to reach audiences in new places and spaces. This insight alongside the backlink analysis shaped our outreach strategy, allowing us to target key publications in these countries effectively.
We leveraged the universal appeal of ranking countries based on their cheese consumption and production, tapping into national pride and interest. By creating a narrative around which nations are the “cheesiest,” we successfully engaged publications and readers in our target markets.
One of the significant challenges we faced was the restriction on using Mintel’s proprietary report data. To navigate this, we relied on secondary data sources and strategically linked internally to relevant product pages. This approach not only preserved the integrity of Mintel’s reports but also enhanced link equity and user flow to key transactional pages.
Another challenge was the client’s internal PR team’s “gold list” of publications, which we were asked to avoid contacting. This list contained hundreds of top-tier publications – most of which we would normally contact as part of our outreach process. As a result, we created a highly tailored outreach strategy, which we successfully executed, resulting in diverse, high-authority backlinks.
Results and Evaluation
The “Cheesiest Nations” campaign exceeded our expectations, achieving numerous backlinks and pieces of coverage with high domain ratings.
Key achievements include:
- Securing a high cumulative domain rating with a large number of links from key markets.
- Obtaining an average domain rating that surpassed our target.
- Achieving substantial views, audience reach, and engagement.
- Increasing sessions and conversions for relevant reports.
- Improving the average rank of the food and beverage insights page and enhancing visibility for cheese-related search terms.
This recognition by the UK Digital PR Awards is a testament to the hard work and ingenuity of our team. Winning the Low Budget Campaign of the Year award would not only validate our efforts but also inspire other businesses to achieve excellence in digital PR, regardless of budget constraints.
At Artefact, we are immensely proud of this campaign and what it signifies. “Being shortlisted for this award is a huge honour and a testament to the dedication and creativity of our team,” says Nick Shread, Account Director and lead of the Mintel team. “It shows that with the right strategy and execution, even a low-budget campaign can achieve exceptional results.”
Allie Haywood, Digital PR Manager said, “We’re very excited about this award nomination. It recognises the hard work we put into this campaign and reinforces our belief that innovative thinking and collaboration can lead to outstanding outcomes.”
Being shortlisted for this award is an honour that reflects our dedication to delivering exceptional results for our clients. At Artefact, we are proud of our achievements and look forward to continuing to push the boundaries of Digital PR and SEO.
