The past years have marked a monumental transformation in the manner in which we all live. Both consumers and businesses have had to adapt to a world that highly relied on remote technologies and communicating through a digital space.
Brands and businesses had to overhaul and rethink how they communicate with their target audiences, forcing themselves to adapt so they can continue to effectively communicate with their consumers.
Why PR Matters in 2023
PR and marketing have never become more crucial than now for brands to generate business and promote their growth. Add to the changes in lifestyle that were caused by the global pandemic, and the alarmingly quick increase in the prevalence of fake news has also changed the way audiences consume and assess information.
There has been an increase in demand for brands and companies to show authenticity since it’s become more difficult for consumers to simply trust a brand for the things that they say. Effective marketing and PR needs to be in play so brands can continue to use messaging that highlights a brand’s social conscience that can help humanize brands for wary audiences.
How PR Will Look in 2023
That said, it’s important for brands and publicists to understand how the PR landscape might evolve in 2023 and the years ahead. Here are just some of the things we might expect to see in the coming years that we all need to look out for to maximize our PR and marketing efforts.
PR will shift into a quality-over-quantity approach
We can expect the days when publicists send out pitches en masse to come to a close. Leaning more towards a more niche approach to communications, publicists will more likely connect with and use outlets and channels that resonate well with a brand’s identity as well as its target audience.
Highly targeted media opportunities are more likely to connect with a brand’s target audience and niche. In contrast, although a shotgun approach may have a higher likelihood for brands to get featured, like a shotgun, their intended message may not hit the mark as effectively.
Face-to-face opportunities will make a comeback
While we probably won’t be saying goodbye to Zoom meetings and interviews anytime soon, 2023 will likely mark the reemergence of face-to-face media features. Though digital correspondence can get a message across, the human element that comes with face-to-face interactions. Not only can it boost a brand’s authenticity, but it also gives a brand a chance to give a physical face to its audience.
Social media will remain the quickest way to spread messages
The high rate of interaction in social media is undeniably the fastest way for brands to communicate with their target audience. Interaction can be quickly generated and spread rapidly in the form of a post, blog, video or a modest comment to a member of the audience.
Among the social media platforms, Twitter remains to be the fastest channel for brands to disseminate news and updates to its consumers, whereas TikTok is the fastest-growing social media platform in recent years. That said, journalists and content creators often frequent these platforms in search of stories to feature or generate content about — making it a viable place for publicists to connect with media members.
The popularity of alternative channels and media platforms will increase
Concerning the paramount importance of social media to a brand’s PR and marketing strategy, it’s also very likely that alternative channels such as podcasts, vlogs, YouTube channels and blogs will play an even bigger role in PR in the coming years.
In contrast to larger, tier-one publications that communicate to a very wide audience, smaller platforms are more niche, usually with a more dedicated audience. Brands can highly benefit from these alternative channels since they’re often hotbeds for building consumer trust.
Personalized PR pitches and communication will become more prevalent
Personalization essentially tailor-fits your communication strategy such that you can meet and communicate with your target audience from where they are. Instead of speaking to a general audience, targeting specific individuals or a niche in your audience can generate a stronger bond between a brand and its target audience.
This holds true with reaching out to journalists and members as well. Generic messages, comments and outreach methods are often overlooked by media members. With the tons of requests they receive in a day for features, they will likely ignore or scrap anything that sounds too ordinary. they feel more appreciative however of messages that are more personal that resonate well with their personal brand or the publication they work for.
Adding a personal touch to messaging and communication allows brands to add a human element to their communication efforts, effectively making them more trustworthy and authentic.
Social conscience and authenticity will drive consumer perceptions
The current demographic, especially millennials and gen Z are very passionate about brand authenticity. With the prevalence of fake news and disinformation, the digital community has increasingly grown wary of whatever’s posted online.
It’s become critical for brands to communicate to their audiences authentically and transparently. This is more true concerning a brand’s social conscience. Though it’s a generally accepted and effective method to increase brand awareness through the practice of corporate social responsibility.
What brands need to be aware of is that they need to walk whatever they talk about. Any statement on social consciousness or social responsibility will only backfire if brands use unbacked statements solely for PR and marketing. Brands will need to back their statements up with hard facts and figures to prove their authenticity and dedication to giving back to the community.
Influencer relationships will only grow in importance
Similar to alternative media channels, influencers play a crucial role in creating an effective niche PR and marketing strategy. They may be smaller than celebrity endorsers, but their highly involved following is more impressionable to whatever they are endorsing or advocating for. This precisely is the reason behind brands opting for influencer opportunities over celebrity endorsements.
Partnerships with micro-influencers will become critical
In influencer marketing, there are two categories specialists talk about, macro-influencers and micro-influencers. As their name suggests, macro-influencers cater to a wider audience, often about a more general topic of their expertise; micro-influencers on the other hand are smaller-scale influencers with a smaller following but are usually more niche and specific in the things they talk about and share.
Not only are micro-influencers easier to book and cheaper, but their smaller audience is also usually far more dedicated to following their influencer’s opinions as compared to macro-influencers. Establishing micro-influencer relationships will become critical in developing a highly potent avenue for brands to generate visibility, which will likely grow their consumer base.
Owned media will become critical for brand visibility and messaging
In recent years, the media industry and the many publications within it have been suffering a decline in employee retention. Essentially, it’s becoming harder for publications to pick up on stories.
In this age, it’s becoming increasingly popular and important for brands to focus on homegrown content in the form of blogs, videos, newsletters and other forms of owned content.
As the name suggests, owned content is content that a brand has full control over. This means that brands can communicate as themselves to their audience. Owned media is also a great tool for brands to elevate their social proof and establish themselves as thought leaders and industry experts.
Analytics and measuring the impact of PR will be simpler
With the growing popularity of social media as an effective marketing platform, it’s only natural that tools have been developed to measure the success of marketing and pr campaigns over social media.
Analytics tools have already eased the way brands and publicists determine the success of their campaigns. As they evolve, it’ll only make crafting more effective PR and marketing strategies more effective. Although brands need to remember that these tools aren’t instant solutions for research and analysis. The establishment of reliable KPIs and metrics to determine the success or failure of a campaign should always precede the use of analytical tools.
What this means for you
PR has evolved and will continue to change as the years go by. We’ve already seen a drastic change in business and consumer behavior after the pandemic, and marketing and PR professionals should have done their best to understand the new business landscape.
Putting importance on PR in this age where authentic communication over digital platforms is essential for a brand’s growth and success. Effective messaging and communication will remain key to gaining presence and authority in this new age.
If you need help determining whether it’s time for you to enlist the help of a PR agency, you can check out our guide to hiring a PR agency.
Parting Words
We’re hoping these words will make you reconsider the importance of having a PR plan in place for your brand. We can’t emphasize the importance of effective communication enough for a brand’s success. In a few days, the world will be met with a new year, and along with it comes a flurry of new challenges and opportunities for brands to face.
Now that you know why it matters for your brand to make PR a priority in the coming years, it’s time for all of us to crush 2023 and start our PR journey effectively!
