By Liz O?Donnell, Topaz Partners
Never a dull business, the public relations industry has been especially challenging ever since the recession hit in 2008.
As newsrooms were decimated, the call for content went out. As the blogosphere exploded, budgets were slashed. And as the whole world went crazy for social media, communications professionals ironically felt more and more antisocial?unable to lift their heads from their screens where they tweeting, texting and pitching.
And while we can expect 2012 to bring just as much change and as many challenges for communications professionals, the good news is 2011 provided plenty of signposts to guide us next year. Expect the new year to bring an even louder call for content, more social media integration, more visual storytelling, fewer product stories and plenty of politics.
Here are the top 12 PR and communications trends to watch for 2012.
1. In-house content channels will supplant print/online media. We often talk about the role content creation, placement and curation plays in PR today, but recently this concept has taken on new importance.?The driving factors continue to be the media consolidation and the proliferation of social media and networks. Expect corporate content ? company blogs, podcasts and online videos to play an increasingly important role in delivering news in 2012.
2. Page views will kill product news. The name of the media game is page views. And product news doesn?t drive click-thrus unless the product is being launched by Apple, Google and a handful of other media darlings. Savvy marketers will need to find find a way to make their news fit into the stories of the day.
3. Press releases will return from the death?s door. Despite what the inbound marketing guys say, the press release is not extinct. The release will become more important as search continues to dominate and fewer news outlets cover fewer topics. The key for PR pros will be to turn the press release into the press package complete with graphics, videos, and data.
4. Data driven news will dominate. Companies are sitting on a wealth of useful and relevant information?from consumer purchasing habits, to pricing information, to user feedback. The winners will be those who can mine that data and share it in a succinct and compelling format.
5. Infographics will infiltrate mainstream media. We?ve seen the infographic rise in popularity over the last few years and that trend will continue. Sharp graphics that pack a punch and tell a story will move from the pages of Mashable to mainstream media.
6. Visual communications will drive more viewers. The popularity of social sites like Pinterest signal a new era of visual communications. In addition to infographics, we?ll see an increased use of graphics, images and videos used to communicate a message and tell a story.
7. Gamification will grow. Gamification, the practice of integrating games into technology applications in order to drive adoption, will spill over into non-technical areas. Look for marketing campaigns that engage users through fun interactions, challenges and prizes.
8. Politics will play a role in everything. It doesn?t take a soothsayer to know the presidential election will dominate the news cycles. PR practitioners should find a way to tie into the story of the year while managing to stay above the fray of the inevitable discourse.
9. Good news will make a comeback. Consumers of media, tired of the recession and turned off by nasty politics, will crave good news again. Happier headlines will emerge and positive news will find a home again.
10. Email marketing will maintain its rightful place in the marketing mix. Like the press release, many have read last rites to email. But their prayers were premature. Email will continue to dominate as an effective 1-to-1 marketing tool.
11. Agencies will thrive again. As communications professionals are called on to deliver more integrated, social and creative campaigns, collaboration will be critical. In-house marketers will look to outside agencies to spark new ideas and execute intricate plans. As a result, the agency business will see an uptick.
12. Metrics will matter. No longer will clients tolerate the old meme that PR is too difficult to measure. Metrics will dominate the discussion about any communications initiative and PR pros will be called on to count everything from sentiment analysis to brand awareness to retweets and Likes.
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Liz O?Donnell has more than 20 years of PR and marketing experience and puts this background and her communications skills to work to help companies and individuals tell their unique stories. In addition to her PR agency work on behalf of both technology and consumer clients, she was the head of marketing for a green building company, where she developed an integrated marketing and communications plan that drove business growth. Liz is also an avid writer?her byline has appeared in The Boston Globe Magazine, Gatehouse Media News Service, The Atlanta Journal Constitution and Skirt, and she?ll often blog about topics that spark her interest.
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