Let us examine the key PR trends that will dominate 2017. Amongst a lot many of them, there are three that Leading PR firms vouch for. Here are they.
- Executive thought leadership
- Influencer marketing
- Contributor marketing.
Executive thought leadership occupies the 1st position. Thought leadership is often a very confusing term and for many, it is still just a jargon. The reason is – most of the PR professionals does not do it right. But, when done well and when your spokesperson have something brilliant to say which is unique – thought leadership works wonders. If the bosses and client can combine their industry with trending topics like data, analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning or virtual reality, their thought leadership will boom. This trend will exhibit more action over the year.
Next comes Influencer Marketing: Today’s discerning customers are fast losing their trust in advertising and mainstream traditional media. Thanks to media’s attitude towards bias and sensitization. Twitter claims – now we trust influencers as much as our friends. Moreover, a Nielson survey points out that a whopping 92 percent of us trust recommendations from individuals we may not personally know. We do it even more if that person is perceived as a “social media star”. What this implies is a fact that, if you don’t have a strong influencer marketing program set for 2017, you will fall behind.
Now comes, Contributor Marketing. It would be wrong if we say press releases work no more. You write a nice press release, fill it up with data, and distribute it to the masses far and wide via email. And then you expect good results – is something that is absolutely not possible in today’s world.
More and more media outlets are now cost cutting, laying off seasoned journalists along with the non- performing ones, Given such circumstances, contributors, both paid and unpaid are rising. Assuming that the thought leaders have something interesting, new, valuable and controversial to say, such contributors and their contributions will rise in number.
In this 24X7, 365 days a year media cycle, everyone needs really good, crisp, hard hitting and relevant content and that can come in the form of something you have developed internally. As long as such content is targeted to the publication’s readers and is valuable enough for them to want to publish and share, your job is done.
Furthermore, if you have engaged social networks in your deal and can prove that you are influential enough, media outlets will continue to work with you. If in case you manage to multiply their page views and maybe even their audience base, your job is done.
PR offers clients a mind, body, spirit approach to their business, in order for their audience to resonate enthusiastically with who you are and what you have to offer. Top PR agency should be personal and deeply transformational in its essence and scope.
It is a well-known fact that, PR as a marketing and communication strategy existed before the typewriter. Internet and Web 2.0 has transformed PR into something very different from what it used to be in its erstwhile days. Evolution is natural and is welcome.
