As we enter the new year with realms of excitement and enthusiasm, let’s take a quick glance at the changing dynamics in the Public Relations industry. Public Relations, which is all about staying connected with your stakeholders and target audiences, has been a highly dynamic industry in the past few years. Today, PR holds a much higher value. With the rise of social media platforms, the way we communicate has changed drastically. Social Media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram have grown to support and help increase the reach of earned media articles and this is one of the key transitions taking place.
The speed and reach of these digital channels have made communication faster and personalised, connecting people in a way previously unknown. PR, which was earlier a one-way communication route, where press releases and announcements were shared, is now a part of a highly rapid digital and social media ecosystem. While the core of Public Relations remains media relations and time-bound news, we are in times where social media and new-age technology also play a vital role in overall communication strategy.
Brands, companies, and individuals need to use these channels to stay connected to their stakeholders and audiences, and thus the need for strategy-driven PR increases. As this continuous and fast evolution keeps happening, PR strategies now need to shift focus to long-term strategies and sustenance PR.
The Evolution
These changing aspects have brought in a high demand for Digital PR and Online Media Presence. As brands and companies continue to grow businesses in highly dynamic economics, they are increasingly understanding the need for earned media presence. Corporate Communications and Public Relations are very crucial for the growth of any company. Businesses today have a different set of challenges than even a decade ago, and with every new set of challenges, comes a new set of solutions.
Public Relations is an excellent tool for businesses to use. As the consumption of digital media increases, the scope of widening consumer base and audience base also grows, thus staying relevant is very important. Sharing timely information in media regularly ensures high recall value. Consumers are lapping new content enormously and consumer memory is very short too. Thus, with numerous articles, videos, blogs, and various other content across platforms, creating a strong recall is essential.
Consumers are inundated with a mix of multiple content, and they rely heavily on it for decisions. Thus, using PR and having earned media presence, helps build a stronger trust. PR is all about creating and sustaining a constantly evolving image with the end consumers and stakeholders. Today, Public Relations is a combination of reader consumption patterns, data trends, human psychology, and having the right mix, in a timely fashion.
The Future of PR – Integrated PR
An integrated approach is now required. Earlier an integrated approach would mean to have earned media and paid media, but today, the integrated approach stands for having digital media, print media, and social media across earned, paid, and owned media channels. A strategic combination of the PESO model will be the key and social media and PR will need to be timed parallelly.
This new-age media approach will see technology and data play a pivotal role and more informed decisions will be required. This data-driven approach will not only refine current strategies but also pave way for more informed decision-making in the future.
Looking ahead at the coming years, the Public Relations landscape in India is poised for significant shifts. Technology is set to play an even more integral role, with data analytics becoming central to refining PR strategies. Embracing the right mix of online and offline mediums will be one of the biggest challenges in the Indian markets. Along with the right integrated mix, timely PR will continue to play an important role.
The next few years will play a massive role in shaping the Public Relations industry in India and it will be exciting to see how it grows and unravels.
The views and opinions published here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publisher.
Mumbai, India. She holds more than a decade of experience in the PR and
Communications field and has worked with more than 175 clients in the field of advertising & marketing, digital and social media, health, technology, gaming, start-ups, retail, FMCG and e-commerce.
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