Here are a few trends to be expected in the coming year with media and the public relations efforts.
PR Becomes More Specialized
If your company has a public relations team or division, expect that at some point you may need to bring in outside help. Just consider how many areas of specialization there are when it comes to dealing with the public. One of the top ones is crisis management or crisis communications. All the social media PR crises that happen these days for individuals as well as organizations of all sizes means it you are on social media, you might find that need. You might also need someone to fine-tune your social media efforts to maximize impact with current trends there. And those are just two areas. There are also management, thought leadership, event planning, and any number of other types of PR you might need. Unless your company is very large, you probably won’t have all those areas covered within your team.
Building Your Online Presence
This isn’t just about having accounts and using them on social media. It’s about owning your space in a way that brings people to you time and time again. To do that, it’s necessary to have a deep understanding of your organization, your goals, your consumers, target audience, and related fields.
A few years ago, the attention span of most people had shrunk because of their time on social media … guess what, it’s gotten even smaller. No one wants to have to shift through stuff they aren’t interested in. That means that they will go looking for more specialized websites or connections that serve their needs without all the extras they don’t want. They’ll start getting their news or information from sources that fit their needs. That means businesses and PR experts need to know how to create that environment as well as what are the popular sources already and how to operate in them.
This also translates to making sure more than the CEO becomes known on social media. Key sales people, upper management, and others may need to brush up their media training and start showing off their thought leadership capabilities to bring the maximum exposure to your organization and keep it rolling forward.
Measuring Results
As we approach a new year, measuring result for both impact and value becomes increasingly important. Those measurements should look at how efforts are meeting the goals of the company beyond public relations as well as increases in sales or brand awareness. They should also include what impact influencers are having and if they are bringing in the necessary value for what they receive from a brand.
Tools of the Trade
One final point, every year there are new apps, and better data mining uses. That’s going to continue. Keeping current on what will help you do your public relations and media work better through automated and artificial intelligence resources will free up more creative time for specialists. Look into options such as intelligent chat bots to automate website and social media conversations – or at least getting those conversations started.