The times are a-changing and as pop-culture icon and Clueless bestie, Tai Frasier would say, “we are rolling with the homies.” If you are not familiar with recent changes to PR life, we are coming in hot with the 2023 download.
Inbound PR
Public relations will always be about storytelling, but now you gotta tie it to data and you need to be very, very, very targeted. This freaks a lot of PR professionals out, cause they actually have to understand the digital world and do the research. Inbound PR is targeted content, based on developed personas. It’s then finding online publications that are a fit for your client’s customers. Then providing customized blogs, articles or insight to them. It ties into the integrated communication model, or as our friend Gini Dietrich has defined it, PESO.
Inbound PR and marketing go hand in hand, frankly we think they’re the same thing, maybe we just name it “inbound communications,” to encompass both. Just like inbound marketing, PR touches blogs, social media, marketing automation, website and more.
The robots will not replace us
No robots are taking our place. You can’t cheap out and hand over the blogwriting to AI. AI is a tool. As our hero Ann Handley says, “maybe we use it to brainstorm. Or refine. Or edit. Or reimagine a blog post as a social post. That kind of thing.”
AI will never replace human emotion. If you’re doing it right, every piece will evoke some sort of emotion – curiosity, amusement, puzzlement…you get the idea.
Bye, bye Zoom.
The headline is a bit misleading, because none of us are going back to in-person all the time. And when you’re coordinating national PR, it’s not like your client is going to fly to wherever the freelance writer is working from. However, the next time you’re coordinating with the media, ask if in-person is an option (if it’s local). Face-to-face is valuable in building relationships with journalists and people in general.
Video killed the traditional media
The people want to see interactive content and relatable subject matters, therefore a traditional pitch and storyline published will no longer be “enough.” Integrate your storyline with TikTok, Reels, or YouTube, if you can tie the story to a trend or viral moment, it makes it more relatable and relevant. You know, look up a few TikTok trends and maybe embarrass yourself all in the name of coverage.
According to Hootsuite, 95% of all kids 13-17 use YouTube, and the group as a whole spends about 5% of their waking hours on TikTok. Then you also have the parents how are “only” on TikTok to monitor what their kids are doing, which must be why all the 40 year olds we know are sending videos to us.
Influencers – obvs
Traditional media continues to wither. Influencers are what some might consider a necessary evil, and sometimes your only hope for reaching people over social – unless you have gobs of money to throw at advertising. According to PR Daily, brand spend with influencers will increase by more than 23% in 2023. Additionally, 80% of marketers found influencer marketing effective or very effective, and 71% say it producers better leads than other forms of marketing.
People are scrolling through social media on the daily, the audience you’re trying to reach is bound to see your product through their favorite influencer. No idea how to work with an influencer? Check out our blog on research and results. Hint: the research part is like, really important.
Find purpose
Employees, consumers, the media are increasingly demanding organizations stand up for what’s right – equality, abortion rights, LGBTQIA+, the environment, climate change and more. In other words, take your “thoughts and prayers” and shove it. Show up, or stand down.
And please for the love of God resist the temptation to be a lazy a**hole.
