4 PR trends to build into your 2022 communications strategy

 

 

2021 has been a mixed bag. While we’ve returned to some form of normality, it’s been an “eerie” normality for the PR industry. We’ve witnessed drastic shifts in the media landscape, and have adopted new skills along the way.

 

With a new year on the horizon, here are some PR trends that we’ve got our eyes glued to.

 

1. Crisis communication will remain important

Crisis communication has had quite a year. In the midst of a pandemic, when life as we all knew it changed shape, brands were in uncharted territory. Luckily, uncharted territory is exactly what crisis communication experts specialise in. As the past two years have brought waves of dramatic change to various industries and companies, consistent and confident communication to stakeholders is key. All companies should take a closer look at crisis communications in the new year. How about starting here?

 

 2. Influencer partnerships will be a PR deliverable

Did you know that a whopping 90% of survey respondents said that they believe Influencer Marketing is an effective form of marketing? The rapid rise of this type of marketing points to two things: consumers crave a “human element” when being marketed to, and they are more likely to be influenced by someone they know and like. At SOCIATE, we’ve seen Influencer Marketing blossom over the years. We believe in its potential, which is why we launched our sister company SOCIALITE – an Influencer Relationship agency. 2022 will see more brands expecting influencer partnerships to be a part of their PR and Marketing mix.

 

3. Strong, intuitive PR writers will be in demand

As redundancies swept across the world during the pandemic, the media industry was no exception. Deflated budgets, burnout, and dramatic career pivots have left the media industry short-staffed. And what does this mean for PR professionals? A demand for sharper writing and pitching skills. PR professionals will be expected to “add more meat to the bone” if they want their story published. PR writers with journalism experience or an intimate understanding of the media will rise to the fore.

 

4. PR and Digital Marketing will join hands

One of the goals of PR is to promote a brand. One of the goals of Digital Marketing is to promote a brand. So logic would dictate that the two industries would work together. But despite this seeming like an obvious way to go, PR and Digital Marketing continue to operate as independent industries. SMEs understand the importance of both, and tend to have a cohesive team working on their PR and Digital Marketing. But collaboration between the two industries is yet to go properly mainstream. 2022 will see this collaboration get stronger.

 

At SOCIATE, we understand the value of an integrated communications plan. We strive to get our clients featured everywhere – from print publications to social media. We launched in 2015 as a PR company in Dubai, and have evolved into a communications agency that also specialises in Social Media, Content Creation, and Copywriting. Did we mention that we’ve also won an award for our work?

 

If you’d like to get ahead of the curve in 2022, reach out to [email protected]