As we look ahead to 2022, I want to share my predictions for the public relations industry.
I also encourage you to check out this blog post titled 2022 Public Relations Predictions From PR Experts. The Business Wire content team included one of my predictions, along with those of other agency owners and leaders.
My full list includes the following:
- Remote work will remain the norm and impact PR firms and department operations. As such, PR leaders and professionals need to look for ways to avoid burnout. Small changes can make a huge difference in the quality of one’s work-life balance. For instance, unless there is an emergency, make it a policy to avoid sending emails during the evening or on the weekend. Leaders should model taking time off and encourage team members to follow their lead. They also should identify ways to keep morale up and continue to build skills around effective online team meetings and collaboration.
- Crisis communications activity will remain high in 2022. This activity will be driven by more significant storms, wildfires and heatwaves, new variants of COVID, and ongoing issues with the supply chain. The beginning of the year is an excellent time for PR pros to make sure they have robust crisis communications plans and contingency staff on hand to be ready if a crisis arises.
- There will be more worldwide collaboration. With the increased adoption of Microsoft Teams and Zoom, collaboration with colleagues around the globe has never been easier. In the past year, Communiqué has seen an increase in global PR campaigns with teams in Australia, Singapore, France, Germany, India and Japan, which has been beneficial in driving brand awareness and thought leadership for our clients. We expect this trend to continue and are grateful for Business Wire’s global distribution of news.
- The lines between internal and external communication will continue to blur. Internal emails, videos, text messages, and other private correspondence can be made public. PR pros must continue to remember this and educate executives about it as well. They also need to ensure that internal and external messages are consistent and align with an organization’s mission, vision and strategies. Finally, all communication should demonstrate emotional intelligence, compassion, and an understanding of the landscape.
- There will be an increased focus on DEI within the PR industry. Many companies began to implement diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the past few years, but there is an opportunity for more improvement in this area. In the coming year, I believe PR teams will continue to hire more diverse talent and invest in DEI programs that improve overall company culture and the well-being of employees.
And, if you’re curious to look back at the 2021 predictions to see how many of them materialized, I encourage you to check out one of Business Wire’s most popular blogs, 5 PR trends for 2021, from last year.
If you have a perspective on how the industry will continue to change in the coming year, drop me a line. I’d love to hear from you on how communications teams will continue to evolve strategies and tactics, especially as it pertains to storytelling, message development, crisis communications and fake news.