Three PR trends to look out for in 2022

19 Jan 2022

Industry Insights
Throughout 2021, the way that brands and consumers engaged continued to be highly digitised. These days, you're not relying purely on traditional media to gain insight into your company's brand awareness. Rather, if you wanted to know how your business is being perceived by its customers, you'd check social media and online publications. 

This shift in information flow is just one of many trends that have arisen in the public relations field over the last few years. But what does 2022 have in store for you, dear PR practitioner? 

Let's find out: 

1. Greater PR and marketing integration 

Oftentimes the lines between PR and marketing can be blurred, despite these departments having completely different objectives. Public relations is centred on generating publicity and a positive brand image, while marketing is about promotion, advertising and generating sales. 

Despite this, it is expected that we will see greater integration between these disciplines in 2022 and beyond. This is because PR and marketing really do bounce off each other. 

And it seems that PR professionals agree, with 47% believing that PR will be 'more aligned' with marketing in the future. 

Think about it like this: If your client has a horrible public image, it's likely nobody will buy their products, even if it's amazing. In the same vein, if your marketing efforts are bland, but your brand's image is great you will struggle to get your brand to take off. 

As audiences continue to demand authenticity from the brands they support, marketing and publicity teams should work side by side on a communications strategy that will blow the consumer’s socks off and earn their trust. 

This integration will result in more engaging content marketing, unified brand messaging and to offer further insights of consumer behaviour to sales teams to refine their approach. 

These departments are working towards the same goal, after all: To generate revenue. 

2. Image is everything 

As society becomes increasingly digital, brands are regularly placed under the microscope that is social media, and scrutinised. As 'cancel culture' shows no signs of slowing down, it is crucial that your clients put their best foot forward, always

With this in mind, it is always a good idea for brands to make their values and mission clear to consumers.

For example, if your client is particularly passionate about sustainability, you could work on a campaign that is centred on raising awareness about climate change. 

Want to take things a step further? Why not measure the success of these campaigns to see if you're hitting the nail on the head with your audience. 

At Newsclip, we offer campaign keyword tracking. This enables you to track campaigns and product launches so that you can adapt your strategies based on the feedback you receive. 

3. Let's get analytical 

In 2022, more PR agencies are projected to start measuring the efficiency of their efforts and digging into the analytics of it all. Proving that what they do work has never been this important. Enter media monitoring. 

Whether your client chooses to utilise aforementioned campaign keyword tracking, competitor analysis or sentiment analysis to gauge how their brand is perceived in media coverage — the insights are endless!

Utilising a media monitoring service can help your client refine their targeting and plan campaigns that will resonate better with their audience. Additionally, by analysing your competitors, you gain insight into your industry and what is currently trending. But it doesn't stop there

If you need help identifying influencers and journalists for your clients to work with, the insights gathered from analysis can help you spot the right fit. How so

Well, sentiment analysis helps to uncover your audience's sentiment around a particular topic, and whether it is positive, neutral or negative. 

This will give you insight into journalists whose opinions hold a lot of weight in your industry and influencers with large followings in your field. 

All in all, utilising a monitoring service will help your clients to maintain a positive public image and build a stronger brand with time. 
For more on how utilising a media monitoring service can benefit you, PR pro, be sure to read Three questions PR pros should ask their media monitoring provider.