Dr. Georg Kolb gave Brian Pittman of The Daily Dog a really great interview on what he foresees as the public relations trends we’ll be seeing come 2008. Most of these trends are emerging now while others are trends we began to see take shape last year and have picked up speed as the role of PR has evolved over the year.
PR Trends for 2008 (as forecasted by Dr. Georg Kolb):
+ Fragmentation in the media will require PR to be more focused
+ Publicists will have to do more relationship building than pushing pitches
+ Addressing everyone on distribution lists in the same way will be ineffective
+ Discovery of and involvement in more Web 2.0 will be key
+ Word of Mouth will continue its importance and should be nurtured and supported
+ Corporate values & corporate behavior will need to be cohesive and clear
+ The value of PR will become more measurable
The fragmentation in the media has really taken shape and become more distinguishable as blogs, social media and the mass amounts of television stations have grown exponentially. Things are no longer condensed in neat little areas of media; it’s spread out sometimes creating a lot of scrambling and confusion. Know which portions of these fragments are the most beneficial to your company and stick to those.
For many publicists it’s always about the pitch and pushing the story out there. Just from a Blogging standpoint, I am bombarded with pitches all day long. The publicists who actually invest time into building relationships instead of sending out a blast of emails hoping that they’ll stick somewhere, are the ones who remain the top on my list and receive the most consideration. As I write this, I can think of only 5 publicists out of about 100 I hear from daily who do this. Don’t focus on the “right now” that many publicists fall pitfall to, focus on the many benefits a relationship can bring you time and again in the bigger scope of things. You’ll have to do more follow ups and the more personalized emails will take up more of your time, but in the long run it will reap the greatest rewards.
It seems each day there is a new social network, a new “it” blog to discover and other new online media tools that could be of great value to your company. Some of your time will have to be spent discovering them and becoming more involved in them. Or better yet, hire someone who is web savvy to bring your company’s presence online.
Believe it or not, there are still many companies and even a few magazine editors that refuse to acknowledge blogs. Blogs are critical in word of mouth and it is up to you whether or not you want to ignore what is already there or nurture a relationship that could potentially earn you leads and referrals to your firm.
We’ve been seeing a lot of “do as I say not as I do” in the industry and as companies are being held more accountable for their behavior, it will be very important to clarify what your values are and to follow them with actions that coincide with them in this time of transparency. This is also very important to monitor when it comes to corporate Blogging.
Dr. Kolb’s explanation of how PR has become measurable as well as, his interview in its entirety, are well worth the time to read (and re-read) it thoroughly. You can do so by visiting the Bulldog’s Reporter’s Daily Dog.
Posted by Shannon Nelson on September 26, 2007 9:26 AM
| Permalink
