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[2010 trends] Doing more with less - PR's mantra this year

By Ronelle Bester

18 Jan 2010

The continued rise of online media and the corresponding decline of print means that PR is evolving. This, coupled with static PR budgets and high client expectations, means that we will need to be more creative this coming year. Here is my view on some of the trends for 2010.

[2010 trends] Doing more with less - PR's mantra this year

Digital PR: the growth of digital media creates more opportunities to get clients' messages out. The online space has become a critical communication channel, but it is also calling on PR execs to become more interactive in our approach. Gone are the days of getting an article published and simply adding the clipping to monthly client reports. The online medium compels conversations, and sometimes readers' comments are less than kind. PRs therefore need to constantly monitor what is being said online and decide whether to respond. Which brings me to the next trend.
Online reputation management (ORM): while Google Alerts are a useful tool, a more thorough tracking system is required for effective online reputation management. Tools such as BrandsEye track all mentions online and have the ability to check if the content was positive or negative, gauge the overall feel and provide an analysis about the sentiment of a brand online. As PRs increasingly recognise the importance of online reputation management for 2010 and beyond, these kinds of tools become invaluable.
The blogosphere: this trend has two components. Firstly, PRs will increasingly need to target bloggers in the same way they target journalists. Certain blogs have huge followings and the opinions of these bloggers and their readers are important for most brands. 2010 will see PRs increasingly building relationships with bloggers, and tracking their sites in the same way that we currently track publications.
The second component to this trend is content development. It is critical for clients and PRs to recognise that organisational blogs are becoming a primary PR tool. Concept development, and the decisions on what content is posted on the blog, should sit within the PR function.
Social media expertise: to date, a PR's understanding and use of social media has been seen as a specialisation. From 2010, social media as a PR tool will become standard practice rather than specialisation. Social media is mainstream, and clients will come to expect us to harness it as a critical component to our communications strategies. In addition to reading and listening to speakers on the subject, one of the best ways to brush up on knowledge and skills in this area is starting to blog.
Integration: with an increasing number of communication channels as a result of social media, an integrated approach will become more critical from 2010 onwards. For example, when a organisation launches new products, PRs should be the ones determining how the communication strategy will roll out across the various media. Timing and synergy is the key to success, and these decisions should be left to communications experts.
Conversations that count: thanks to the digital medium, organisations are having more intimate conversations with their consumers. This trend drives transparency within organisations—they are obligated to be truthful because their consumers have access to so much information online. Businesses are going to be challenged to be more human, and more real.
‘Cause'-based PR: this is an interesting trend as in some ways it contradicts what PR has traditionally attempted to do. Given some of the global challenges we face, such as climate change and sustainability, we will increasingly see collaboration between organisations to highlight particular causes, rather than a specific focus to get their messages out. In some instances the ‘cause' becomes greater than the organisation—but with positive spin-offs through brand association.
Employee focus: the retrenchments of 2009 and the potential of more to come, have left many employees feeling vulnerable. Open communication is critical for building stability and security by keeping staff informed. In 2010 and beyond, the way in which organisations go about doing this will be different. Many are considering internal social media sites based on the Facebook model, building a tool where staff can connect, communicate and interact. If implemented and managed correctly, this can be more successful than the traditional newsletter approach.
Getting wired: while wire services have been around for years, their use as a critical component of a communications strategy will become more apparent. Getting press releases out on the wires significantly increases chances of the release being published, and also aids search engine optimisation. The advent of the ‘social media release' - which leads journalists to a site containing text, photographs, supporting documents and video clips - also has a significant part to play as it offers publications the ability to customise the content of the news story to a format that suits their readers, rather than simply reproducing a standard press release word-for-word.
FIFA fever: and then, of course, there is the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Will everything in the news be coloured with the FIFA brush, or will the media be fevered-out? As PRs we'll have to be on our toes to find creative ways for our clients to get their voices heard among all the action. The focus on South Africa may mean more international media opportunities for locally-based organisations. It promises to be an interesting year for all of us...

About Ronelle Bester

Ronelle Bester, MD of Red Ribbon Communications (www.redribboncommunications.co.za), started her career in technology at Dimension Data as marketing manager of the Western Cape. She has a BTech degree in public relations from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and has lectured in public relations at both the University of South Africa and Varsity College. Email Ronelle at , read her blog at www.redsiren.co.za and follow her on Twitter at @ronelle.