Public Relations: Ten Trends

Is all publicity good? In the new free world, it takes a single employee having a bad day to bruise your business badly.

1. As social and traditional media merge, control over information in the marketplace has weakened considerably. Is all publicity good? Ask those brands that have suffered when tweets and Facebook criticisms have destroyed their campaigns or brands. In the new free world, it takes a single employee having a bad day to bruise your business badly.

2. The difference between PR professionals and journalists used to be clear. It no longer is. In many publications, press releases are quoted verbatim without verification. Journalists write advertorial content on the side, which surely undermines their professional credibility? If the content is fresh and relevant, we all assume it is ethical. If it isn't, it could damage the brand once it's too late to back off.

3. When DTP was first introduced, writing and publishing standards dropped considerably. They have never really recovered because we are all able to DIY. The same goes for user-generated content, websites and blogging: more content, less quality. Using only the web for research purposes produces sometimes suspect information because most is unchecked and much is PR-related. Facts should be checked properly.

4. Consumers are no longer alone. Because communication is so easy, an unsatisfied customer can find thousands of others in record time and become part of a mob. Because consumers are better informed, their expectations are higher. Promises not kept or expectations not met can make for disastrous public relations and be used against their source by competitors.

5. Businesses often fail to research their buying markets adequately. They set about defining target markets rather like buying a new suit: 'I like this one, I'll have it'. Ego should not come into it. Your markets critically define strategy and more media options require in-depth knowledge of now more fragmented markets.

6. The only real way to guard brand reputation, which has become more fragile than ever before, is to be prepared for any crisis, be able to mobilise your team at a moment's notice and be strategically extremely smart. Customer service, particularly, is an area where many companies are caught out, which means employee training in all outlets should be better than ever before.

7. Analytics and measurement tools have become essential tools to PR professionals in the process of justifying budgets and collaborating with marketers. SEO experts will play a huge part in every campaign, to ensure that knowledge goes beyond basic automated metrics to include sentiment analysis that captures additional nuances that could be easily overlooked.

8. Measuring any promotion is complex. From counting smiley faces to the number of tweets, blogs and articles; from hits to conversions and calls to purchase. The more points of sale, the more figures to collect, analyse and report on. Content is no longer only where it's been placed or sent. Affiliates take it wherever they choose.

9. PR is becoming increasingly mobile worldwide. This totally changes the length and quality of what we put out, but also explains why defining target markets correctly is so essential. What grabs a teen could irritate her father and disgust her grandfather; your mobile market is highly fragmented (and not only by location), although event marketing and graduated PR promotions have become easier to target.

10. As more online communities and social networks seek exclusivity we have to be able to find every influencer and what makes each tick. Influencer marketing is in a growth phase.

What makes all of these items more interesting and challenging is that defined groups have changed incredibly since the worldwide recession began in 2008. Many have changed groups. Some mindsets and spending habits have changed irrevocably. We are all thrust into a new learning curve and every client is as new.