In three short days, 2016 comes to a close and people across the globe will toast 2017 as they welcome in the New Year. This time marks a period of reflection and promises of self-change for many people, while others take advantage of the time off work to celebrate accomplishments from the prior year.
For public relations professionals, the start of a new calendar year should also spark a need to think about industry successes and trends that will continue into 2017. What are anticipated PR trends for the New Year? What is working for reporters and what isn’t? And what should communications professionals be thinking about as they get to work on 2017 PR programs?
Below is a shortlist of trends in the communications world that are expected to dominate the next 365 days:
Data Journalism. According to Technopedia, “Data journalism is the use of data and number crunching in journalism to uncover, better explain and/or provide context to a news story.” This type of journalism isn’t new – reporters have covered data since the inception of the media – but today there are reporters solely dedicated to interpreting and reporting on data trends due to the vast volume of information available in this digital era. The data journalism trend hasn’t gone unnoticed by PR gurus and brands, many of which are hiring specialized “data scientists” and other number crunchers to analyze market trends and create stories that resonate with the media. Companies such as A Place for Mom, Mastercard, Southwest Airlines and many others are leveraging big data for content development and media outreach purposes with great success.
Battle for Social Media. When a younger co-worker left the company recently, she provided contact details for reaching her in the future. Beyond calling or texting her directly, she only gave SnapChat account info for connecting via social media – and everyone in the office over 30 realized they’d probably never speak to her again. This example showcases the challenge that many PR firms and brands face today: How does one reach a target audience segmented by so many different communication platforms? New social media platforms pop up daily, while others just as quickly rise and fall in popularity. For PR professionals, understanding the right social media platform – or more importantly, integrating communications across all major social media platforms – is vital to a successful program.
Personalization. The days of developing one pitch for mass distribution to hundreds of reporters are over. Journalists want to know that the person pitching him or her knows their beat, reporting expertise and the publications’ focus, and the pitch reveals all of these things. In fact, a recent article featured on Muck Rack discusses how one reporter rejected 95 percent of all the pitches he received in one week because of the following issues: 1) pitches were not personalized; 2) the contact was not flexible with their angle; 3) the story was too self-promotional; and 4) the outlet had already done a similar article. The fact that 95 percent of the pitches this reporter received in one week didn’t meet a certain criteria needed for consideration should be startling to any PR professional. But, more importantly, the industry needs to do a better job of developing personalized pitches for journalists – a little due diligence and research can go a long way in getting a story placed.
Contributed Content. Media outlets are continuing to cut staff but the need for content is greater than ever. To fill this void, editors are turning to contributed articles to ensure they are securing content that is valuable, educational, and engaging to their readership. This development is music to the ears of many PR experts and represents much opportunity for clients. For example, thought-leadership industry bylines should be a mainstay of most communications plans. Not only do publications need this type of content to attract readers and are more likely to accept pitches around these opportunities, but it allows leaders to brand and position themselves as experts in the space.
The one constant about PR is that the industry is forever evolving. From the days of looking up contacts in thick directories to the advent of social media in general, the industry has changed dramatically in just 10 years. Will 2017 be remembered for such seismic shifts as well? Only time will tell but you can be assured of one thing: PR professionals will adapt and excel to whatever is thrown at them.
###