Staying Relevant in the Changing Public Relations Industry

Public relations is a changing industry, working more closely with marketing than ever before. Some experts even predict that it will ultimately integrate into marketing and become its subset.

Nowadays, PR is being remade by analytics and instant access to ROI metrics. Every aspect of an integrated communications agency’s business can be optimized in real time. While that eliminates some of the guesswork and uncertainties, it also brings forth new challenges.

With the changing technology and an increased influence of marketing, it’s more important than ever for integrated communications agencies to stay relevant.

Repositioning and Ensuring Goals Are Achieved: PR agencies need to reposition themselves, set clear goals for businesses and ensure that they are met. The first requirement is to ensure that digital is being used to improve the quality of PR services. That means using all the information available to make new strides in digital storytelling, social listening and more efficient use of big data.

Recruiting new talent for PR is another thing the industry has to tackle to reposition itself as a highly sought-after service and career. However, that isn’t going to be possible without developing more efficient ways to measure variables that PR helps accomplish within every brand’s business goals.

For example, the improvement of brand reputation, its perceived industry leadership, and creativity are all essential outcomes for PR, yet it is difficult to measure them accurately.

PESO Method: The PESO method integrates the four types of media into a single, seamless approach. They are:

- - Paid media
  - Earned media
  - Shared media
  - Owned media

In the past, PR professionals concerned themselves mostly with earned media. That was the area of PR that provided the tangible results for brands. However, as the industry evolves, it’s extremely important for integrated communications agencies to start seeing themselves as the driving force behind a business.

With the PESO method, you can achieve that easily, and provide much more value to any brand. It’s essential to developing an integrated marketing campaign that can reach its intended audience through multiple channels.

Reputation Management: For PR agencies that don’t want to get swallowed by the growth and diversification of marketing, some trends might naturally align with their purpose. For example, integrated communications agencies might find a strengthened position in new forms of reputation management.

With rating websites becoming more critical for the formation of a consumer’s opinion and their decision-making process, it only makes sense for PR communicators to focus on digital reputation management.

In fact, PR agencies have already recognized the importance of websites like TripAdvisor and Yelp. Nowadays, reputation management includes:

- - Staying on top of online reviews;
  - Securing good media coverage;
  - Managing any leaks or fake news.

In a world where we tend to rely on AI to give us generic answers, brands might benefit more from having a socially intelligent human behind the keyboard to deal with any dangers to the brand’s reputation.

Public relations professionals and agencies today need to be nimble enough to adapt quickly for the near term. Only that will help them deliver the best possible results to the clients.

At MCA Group, our mission is to ensure our clients benefit from our strong media relationships, broad reach, and innovative communications strategies while keeping the core approach to PR intact.

Staying Relevant in the Changing Public Relations Industry

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