Pierce Mattie Public Relations New York

The start of a new year usually marks the start of many new beginnings. Businesses get the chance to make a fresh start and have the big year they have been working so hard for. We all watch television, read magazines (OK, read blogs) and spend time online looking for this years latest fashion and food trends to keep up with our progressively changing world. The public relations market is no stranger to changing trends. In fact, it should always be ahead of the newest trends and ready to catch the incoming wave that will carry them to higher success.

Here are some PR trends to watch for and become a part of in 2012:

Metrics are the name of the game. ROI has always mattered in PR, and for a while there didn't seem to be any true way to measure the value of social media as part of a PR campaign. With everyone's obsession over infographics, numbers continue to show the effectiveness of our campaigns (just visually now.) However, one thing to note is that the metrics of social media are ever evolving (a Like today doesn't necessarily equate to the same thing that it did a year ago) so keeping up on web measurement is vital.

Social Media. The platform in and of itself is not a trend, but certainly the networks that arise and the transitions that the current networks go through are something to monitor and learn more about. PR has definitely incorporated knowing, understanding and utilizing social media in order to deliver the most effective campaigns for clients.

Proactive not reactive: In the past, firms could handle a PR crisis AS it arose and due to the turnaround time in print and broadcast media, this could buy us some time. Not so since the emergence of the power of social media. Crisis' are not just reserved for weekdays, 9-5 with holidays off...a PR crisis can happen at 2am on a Saturday night (PR has learned since the Motrin and Nestle debacle, right?) And it can't just be left to sit on a Facebook fan page for the entire weekend just awaiting for all parties to discuss on Monday at 9am. This means that from the get-go a plan needs to be set in place for how to handle everything from that disgruntled customer venting on Facebook to your competitor dissing you on Twitter.

Are there any other prominent trends you see for this year? Tweet us @PierceMattiePR.