In the not-so-distant past, businesses didn’t know how to effectively measure the impact of their PR strategies. Their online reputation was a bit of a mystery shrouded in guesswork and hunches. Brands would issue announcements, publish some press releases, and hope for the best.
Influencers continue to crop up in every corner of the web, from micro-influencers on TikTok to influencers with millions of followers on Instagram. What’s more, they’re creating entry points into niches that might not yet be on your radar. When companies are truly invested in creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace, they can easily share the things they’re doing to uphold their DEI initiatives. Vague and generic statements are traded for action-packed evidence that shows instead of tells. What mattered to consumers three years ago might look incredibly different today.
PR Trends Your Brand Should Be Dominating in 2025
The line between PR and marketing will continue to blur in the coming years, even more than it already has. Given this, teams will need to keep refining their roles, processes, and project leads to minimize confusion and prtrend maximize ROI. With the advent of AI in things like search results, and the outputs from services like ChatGPT, many companies are realizing the value of original thought-leadership. Industry leading thought leadership content can help you stand out and, if written strategically, can be harder for AI to replicate. It’s also very promotable from a PR standpoint, especially if written by (or ghost-written for) an executive.
Why It Pays to Pay Attention to PR Trends
To fully leverage influencer marketing, PR teams need a good understanding of the influencer’s audience, niche, and content. These aspects go several layers deep and are full of nuances that can vary from one influencer to the next. Without learning about these nuances, you could end up doing more harm than good to your online reputation. In 2025, tracking the impact of your public relations efforts with a data-driven PR strategy will be key.
PR teams need, at a minimum, basic KPIs like brand awareness and favorability, social media engagement, and quality web traffic. And by employing the right PR strategies at the right time, you can maximize good PR while making bad PR matter a lot less. First is the growing use of AI technologies to create personalized digital experiences. While technology allows us to learn more about a target audience than ever before, many agree it lacks the special connection that only humans can create.
Continued Industry Consolidation
It steers away from one-size-fits-none pitches and instead presents an eye-catching idea that’s hard to miss. This helps to create instant trust and credibility when pitching new sources, and deepens the trust you already have with media outlets and professionals. Our social influencer marketing solution help brands identify, collaborate and pay influencers. If they are currently struggling to build an audience, consider making it part of your PR strategy for 2025 to promote them and get their name out there in a positive light. You could engage influencers or podcasts for interviews or get a quote in a respected publication to help establish their name and encourage their socials to grow.
Data and Analytics Take Center Stage for PR Strategies
- Just like in marketing, the public relations industry experiences trends and changes.
- Brands would issue announcements, publish some press releases, and hope for the best.
- Given this, teams will need to keep refining their roles, processes, and project leads to minimize confusion and maximize ROI.
As we say goodbye to 2024 and welcome 2025, these top PR trends can help to guide your strategy. Reach out today to discover more about Meltwater’s media monitoring solution and PR tools to learn how we can set you up for success in the new year and beyond. One way to avoid potentially damaging influencer experiences is to add dedicated influencer resources to your PR team. Someone who is well-versed in influencer campaigns and relationships can do your heavy lifting for the best results.
For example, a local radio DJ, podcaster, or online blogger or vlogger could be an influencer. These individuals may not have the name recognition or audience size of a celebrity. But they have enough credibility and followers to sway the opinions of those who are listening. Influencer marketing has been a central force in PR trends of the past several years, and 2025 will be no different.
The Data-Driven PR Playbook
- Micro-influencers have led companies to pull back on celebrity endorsements and mass media channels in favor of tapping into smaller niches.
- Vague and generic statements are traded for action-packed evidence that shows instead of tells.
- As more marketers and PR pros are using technology to develop custom experiences, it’s essential to maintain the human element that makes personalization authentic.
- For example, a local radio DJ, podcaster, or online blogger or vlogger could be an influencer.
- More companies are doubling down on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and for good reason.
Now, let’s dive into some of the top public relations trends we’ve seen explode in the past few years. The need for good PR is increasing while head-counts in PR departments are decreasing. Having data and analytics to support your decisions and their results will help PR professionals appeal to the C-suite regarding job performance and resource requests.
To navigate an increasingly complex landscape of global conflicts and crises, PR professionals must craft purpose-driven strategies rooted in empathy and integrity. In the same vein as DEI and personalization, authenticity continues to shape the expectations of consumers and PR agencies alike. Micro-influencers have led companies to pull back on celebrity endorsements and mass media channels in favor of tapping into smaller niches. And since it works so well, PR campaigns will continue to lean on influencer promotions for brand growth. Many companies see a DEI workplace as being a competitive advantage, especially during the ongoing Great Resignation.
Continuing in that vein, PR firms should be thinking more and more along the lines of purpose-driven communication. Companies today are judged not only by their products and services but also by their values and responses to societal and environmental issues. In marketing, personalization serves to build customer loyalty and increase sales because it meets the customer wherever they are in their journey.
More companies are doubling down on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and for good reason. When employees can show up in a workplace where they can be their true selves, employees are more engaged, productive, and satisfied in their jobs. What’s more, having data-backed insight into your PR strategies can help you see where and how you’re moving the needle. And yet, many marketers and PR pros still aren’t sure how their investments are paying off. With today’s analytics and PR reporting technology, data will play an increasingly essential role in PR strategies.
As more marketers and PR pros are using technology to develop custom experiences, it’s essential to maintain the human element that makes personalization authentic. As more consumers and employees raise their expectations of brands to embrace DEI at work, PR teams can expect it to be a recurring theme in their PR campaigns. Seemingly overnight, consumers increased their expectations of the companies they do business with. They expect brands to walk the talk, be transparent about ethics and values, and go beyond “marketing speak.” Authenticity is the intersection of these things. It’s no longer enough to spew generic phrases like “We’re in this together,” but rather back up your statements with actions. Tailoring PR pitches to individual journalists or influencers helps you create messages that speak directly to their interests.
