Define “public relations” – what does PR mean in 2023?
To help you understand what public relations looks like in 2023, we asked marketing experts and CEOs this question for their best insights. From collaborating worldwide to defining company values, there are several viewpoints that may help you determine what PR looks like today.
Here are definitions of public relations according to PR professionals:
- Collaborate Worldwide
- Educate Customers on Products
- Spread PR Responsibilities Over Multiple Departments
- Engage With Your Base
- Prioritize Visibility Online
- Be Ready to Manage a Crisis
- Use Data to Drive Your PR Strategy
- Focus on Accessing the Candidate Pool
- Initiate and Develop Connections
- Define Company Values
Collaborate Worldwide
Today’s consumers across the globe want to know that the brands they buy from are giving back to local communities. For this reason, worldwide collaboration is crucial when it comes to competing for brand mindshare. More and more companies, large and small, are now operating in multiple marketplaces around the world. And they’re finding a one-size-fits-all no longer works when it comes to a public relations strategy. Global campaigns involving regional partners in your good deeds build trust, momentum, and consistency in your overarching efforts to build greater brand awareness.
Chris Gadek, AdQuick
Educate Customers on Products
Our PR mission is education. We’re showing our customers sustainable, healthy ways to live. Consumers are more informed than ever about the quality and origin of the ingredients in their products. As the climate crisis grows, they’re reducing their waste. In building relationships with our customers, we’re working together to create and consume high-quality products. PR is knowledge-sharing and teamwork.
Hector Gutierrez, JOI
Spread PR Responsibilities Over Multiple Departments
Traditionally, PR was a separate entity, having its own department, staff and budget, but what has become increasingly apparent is that it has now become a total business effort. PR’s original intent was to foster relationships within the community, enhance branding, and create public awareness, however, now it has extended into other areas, including talent recruitment, inter-company relations, and marketing to your target audience. As we continue to move through 2022, there will be more effort placed on creating PR apparatuses within each department, to both help them in reaching their objectives, but also to create a cohesive and consistent company message. In 2022, PR will mean complete company involvement, in which all departments will be required to have a public relations strategy as a part of their overall responsibilities.
Adelle Archer, Eterneva
Engage With Your Base
As the business world seems to be evolving at a quicker and quicker rate each year, it becomes apparent how important connecting with your customer base is in regards to public relations. The rise of social media in business has made it much easier to access your audience as a brand, while also making it that much more important to connect with them. The communication process should be open and clear, while working within your brand’s vision for the future.
Joe Spector, Dutch
Prioritize Visibility Online
PR in 2022 essentially equates to online presence and visibility. We get the majority of information and do most of our shopping on the internet in some form or another. PR today essentially focuses on how to stand out online. Social media presence, SEO, website traffic, and rankings are the goals of PR in 2022.
Ann McFerran, Glamnetic
Be Ready to Manage a Crisis
An entrepreneur’s reputation is their most important asset but in some cases, an entrepreneur may face a PR crisis. This can be anything from a product recall to a data breach. In these situations, it’s important to have a plan in place for how to respond. PR professionals can help an entrepreneur to create a strategy for dealing with the crisis and communicating with stakeholders. They can also help to track the progress of the crisis and ensure that the company remains on message. In this age where information speeds faster, proper public relation is crucial.
Marc De Diego Ferrer, MCA Assessors
Use Data to Drive Your PR Strategy
In 2022 data-driven PR is being used by forward-looking brands to devise a more targeted PR strategy which delivers results based on real information. This is infinitely better than doing things the old-school way and relying on gut instinct. The foundation of this strategy involves tracking the key metrics of your existing PR strategy. These can include views, engagements and click-throughs. By analyzing this data, you can identify where your press releases perform best and discover the optimal days and times to post them. When used correctly, data-driven PR will make your overall PR strategy much more effective.
Dean Kaplan, Kaplan Collection Agency
Focus on Accessing the Candidate Pool
Previously PR was focused solely on business branding or community outreach, yet with the Great Resignation, the priority has shifted to candidate engagement. The pandemic exacerbated conditions that were already in place, causing a massive change, in which the market is now employee driven, requiring companies to compete for a shrinking talent pool. Highlighting the benefits a business provides, featuring a modern workplace culture, and creating campaigns solely for social media platforms that cater to prospective talent, will become a mainstay for PR in 2022. As the competition for talent only increases, marketing departments will continue to highlight their company’s reputation to candidates, in hopes of bringing in and keeping the most qualified workforce.
Zach Letter, Wonder Works
Initiate and Develop Connections
In 2022, public relations is all about initiating connections in your industry and beyond and then running campaigns that assist in developing these connections. In an age where a brand’s connection with an audience defines its reach and influence, it is crucial that PR campaigns use tools and technologies that cultivate existing relationships while simultaneously initiating and adding new ones.
Larissa Pickens, Everfumed
Define Company Values
Public relations is an aspect of marketing that serves as an essential strategic communications process that helps create and maintain interdependent relationships among organizations and their audiences. In 2022, this means defining company values as part of the company’s branding to increase employee retention and improve communication with customers. As we move forward, PR will continue to adapt to the changing media landscape and the future of your business will be dependent on how relevant your brand stands with employees and consumers alike.
Liz Donahey, Red Pocket Mobile
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