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Public Relations predictions of 2019

By November 16, 2018April 1st, 2019No Comments
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By Lucy Harvey, Account Director at Eskenzi PR

Working within the cyber security industry means that at the end of every year we ask our clients to make predictions on what they believe will happen on the threat landscape in the year ahead. This year we thought we would apply the theme to our own industry and do some crystal ball gazing into what may be set in store for Public Relations in 2019.

Here is Eskenzi PR’s take on what we expect to see in the PR industry in 2019:

1. Our role will diversify…..even more

There can be no denying that PR has evolved from being solely about reputation management. Today’s PR consultants are skilled in crisis management, Search Engine Optimisation, social media, content creation, media, influencer and analyst relations, and as our role continues to diversify, we will likely be adding more new skills to our CVs in 2019. But what will they be?

Well one thing we have recently noticed at Eskenzi is the desire from clients to produce more digital content, such as videos and podcasts, which has been putting our production and editing skills to the test.  The podcasts and videos have been a huge success so far and we anticipate this will continue well into 2019 and beyond.  This is also one of the reasons why we just launched Eskenzi Digital – a new creative growth agency, which is dedicated to producing content on various digital platforms to help our clients build awareness.

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2. Coverage will be king

Despite our efforts focusing more on social, one thing that we don’t expect to change is the importance of coverage. Whether it’s print, broadcast, radio or social, a well-earned hit in a top media outlet will still be the number one goal.

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3. Social, social, social: All PR activity will continue to have a social element

It has long been known that social is a critical part of our job and this will definitely continue next year. Every piece of content we create will have a social aspect, whether we are producing podcasts for our clients or writing articles specifically for LinkedIn. Social will play a part in everything we do. We also predict that the rapid response process could become more social. Why send out written comment to media when you can send a Facebook Live video instead?

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4. Content creation will become an even bigger part of our job

As our jobs are increasingly driven by content, it should come as no surprise that content creation will continue to be a huge part of our jobs next year. Whether it be writing whitepapers, articles, comments or blogs, we will continue to showcase our writing skills next year and beyond.

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5. We will focus even more on SEO

Whether it be links back to client’s sites or links to social media, every piece of content we produce will have to deliver SEO value.

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6. It will become increasingly difficult to sell the value of PR

This is undoubtedly a challenge every PR agency will continue to face. What impact does PR have on the bottom line? What sales growth are we seeing for PR? How is PR different from advertising? When we get these questions, and we will, we need to assure clients that PR can be critical to the success of a company. People can very easily spot the difference between a paid for placement and true editorial, and a good piece of PR coverage is one of the best ways to build trust and reputation between an organisation and its target audience.

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So that’s our take on what we expect to see in the PR industry next year. Roll of 2019 and let’s see if we are right.