It was not too long ago when Public Relations was considered mainstream. Traditional PR tools used to create key impact only to the marketing teams. Press releases, authored articles, industry story participations were the top priority in any PR campaigns for businesses, and deliverables were measured on the outcome. The volume of media clippings will be immaterial in no time and businesses will have to engage with new generation audiences to deliver their messages.
It did not take much time for PR professionals to make an impact not only across the marketing heads, but directly make a board level impact on building reputations and managing crisis related issues across business divisions. At the time of crisis the company’s value get majorly impacted, but if its internal and external communications is effective and well maintained the company can deliver relevant messages to its stakeholders.
PR Pros today, are not type casted as reputation building tools or rather public relations is not about building relations or influencing the influencers! And with the digital wave their target audience are widened.
In the next decade, the way PR will deliver company messages – will undergo a phenomenal shift.
- The new type of media which has already started making impact will shift gears and the role of validation will evolve.
- Privacy and relevance will act as digital media tools to evaluate authenticity of the message.
- Brands will no longer hold exclusivity as we enter an era of building relationships with individuals and not the brands they are associated with.
- Businesses will have to earn attention on a real time basis and communication specialists will require necessary skillsets to fit into timelines in order to stay relevant
With these evolving trends, it is important for businesses to revisit their PR strategy and plan the course ahead accordingly.
The author, Husainali Gandhi is a PR Account Manager at Proglobal Media. Reach out to Husain at h.gandhi@proglobal.ae