PR Trends to look out for in 2022
With marketing practices ever-evolving and the lines between branding, PR, social, experiential, and influencer becoming all the more blurred, I’ve compiled a list of PR trends to watch out for in 2022.
PR continues to move away from traditional practices and instead embrace a 360-degree formula that cuts through digital, print, social, event/experience, and data insights. For small businesses and start-ups, digital PR is the sweet spot that offers wide reach, a space to show off skills and personality, and the potential to build an engaged and valuable audience.
Here’s how this year’s trends might help you do that:
Let your audience lead the way
Introducing data insights sounds pretty dull, but it just means you're paying close attention to your audience: how they interact with your business, what they want to see from you, and how you can deliver that directly to them. Spend time learning more about the people that follow/work with you, or buy your services or products. Social media makes it easy to ask directly or even incentivise them to take part in a survey.
SEO and PR continue to work together to increase visibility.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) will continue to play a big part in PR campaigns.
Use SEO (keywords!) to increase your online profile, build backlinks through media coverage, and encourage your ideal customer to find you. The more backlinks you have from credible websites, the higher your search ranking and discoverability. It could be as simple as ensuring any media interviews or product placement include the correct link to your website as part of any coverage.
Diversity, equality, inclusion
Consumers will continue to want brands and businesses they love to use their voices for change, be transparent about their practices, and be clear on social issues. This doesn’t necessarily mean joining in a conversation or speaking up on an issue just when it’s topical or in the news, it means looking inward and ensuring you’re being inclusive with the language, content, and messaging you use.
Get a grasp of crisis comms
OK, 'crisis comms' seems like a pretty scary subject, but it's really just reputation management, and implementing this as part of your PR strategy will always be important. Whether it’s creating a document ahead of an event detailing various ‘crisis’ scenarios and how they’d be handled or responding in real-time to negative feedback from clients or customers, how you handle a crisis can be the critical factor.
Digital and influencer led PR will continue to dominate
With wider reach, potentially huge impact on your owned media channels and flexible nature, digital PR is more important and accessible than ever as part of your overall comms. There’s no need to factor in the long lead times that typically run alongside print campaigns and the need for content means that there are always media folk open to hearing from you on your area of expertise.
Transparency and accountability
Clear messaging will always be important when it comes to your PR. Being transparent with your audience earns trust, and accountability garners respect. Strive to be a business that excels at both. If something goes wrong, own up to it. If you can share an honest story with your following or the media that taps into your vulnerability, and make you more human, lean into it. The need for meaningful connection, empathy and understanding will be important in 2022.
If you're ready to get DIY PR savvy in 2022, get in touch with me, I'd love to hear from you.