Top PR Skills and Trends to look out for in 2021

 

By Shifa Sarguru, SOCIATE’s Copywriting Intern

 

PR is the foundation of your brand’s reputation and relationships. Sure, you’ve got a killer product and a spot-on marketing plan, but if your communications strategy is lacking, it will take away from all your hard work!

 

Why is PR important?

 

PR is all about the interactions your business has with its clients and stakeholders. 

 

PR plays an important role in an organisation. From maintaining its presence across digital platforms and improving its brand image, to preventing and managing a crisis – it’s key to an overall successful marketing strategy.

 

So, what does PR look like in the future ahead? What skill-set will PR professionals need? Will robots take over? Let’s dive into the future of PR to find out!

 

What skills does the PR professional of tomorrow need?

PR professionals will need to keep up with trends, incorporating them into campaigns and making sure that everything aligns with the brand’s value and TOV.

As you’ve probably noticed, PR is taking an ever-more digital path. From images, videos, GIFS, TikToks to IG Reels, it’s clear that future PR professionals will need the ability to adapt to many mediums. 

Staying on your toes has never been more difficult.

In the 21st century, there’s always something happening. Whether it’s a new trend or emerging technology, it’s never been more difficult to keep track of all the changes! The PR team needs to educate themselves on the issues that concern their specific audience and incorporate them into campaigns if they want to remain relevant.

The PR team’s consistency to adhere to brand values throughout the campaigns will also be noticed and appreciated by the audience. 

Managing a critical audience 

 

If this year has taught us something, it’s that people care. This year, PR has been at the forefront of bringing attention to diversity in the workplace, driving organisations to address issues and make positive changes.

 

Diversity in the workplace not only looks good, but it also helps businesses grow. Statistics show that companies with a diverse workforce gained 19 percent higher revenue on account of greater innovation. 

 

Connect with digital and IRL events 

 

Virtual events and Zoom conferences might have replaced most of our physical communication during the pandemic, but that doesn’t mean it will stay that way. With more and more people slowly returning to the office, a hybrid workforce will start to become our new normal.

 

Virtual events could accompany physical conferences. This means future PR professionals will have to be on their A-game, shifting between the two mediums when needed.

 

What does managing hybrid events look like:

 

– Sending a list of instructions to the host and camera crew

– Having a dry run before the event

– Mailing a brief to the reporters

– Preparing a transition video in the event of an issue

 

Will robots take over the PR industry? 

 

Artificial Intelligence has always been posed as the biggest threat to our jobs. It’s the epitome of 24/7 productivity and perfection; something we can’t be 100% of the time.

 

Don’t be scared though – automation is here to help us! PR still needs that human touch, so it’s unlikely robots will completely take over the industry. What they will do is help make a PR professional’s job easier, automating some of the more mundane admin tasks, so the focus can be on building valuable relationships with stakeholders.

 

Automation tools can take care of sorting emails, posting schedules for social media, and inbound marketing. They can spot trends and search what topics will resonate the most with your audience. 

 

Automation provides tools that can advance our work processes and make things smoother, but the core values of PR will still remain in need of a human touch. 

Gini Dietrich comments, “If we don’t embrace the change—like we had 10 years ago with social media—it won’t be AI that puts us out of jobs. It’ll be ourselves because we just haven’t kept up.”

The future demands PR to be diverse, acceptable, and innovative. 

 

For a team that always stays in tune with the latest trends, get in touch with our PR experts at [email protected].