I zealously perused several impressive 2019 public relations trend articles and tips today. Here are my seven favorite tips. Most of them list who said it and an associated Twitter handle.
Some of them are evergreen; others are more timely. Happy reading!
1) Create your own news.
“Creating news that promotes thoughtful discussion of your brand is possible by commenting or riding on the waves of current news.”
Source: Critical Mention Blog
Follow @criticalmention
2) Artificial intelligence will continue to be a theme.
“AI will continue to be a theme in the new year, as we get a clearer idea of the role it will play and how it can help enhance what PR pros do.”
Who said it: Michelle Garrett
Source: Meltwater Blog
Follow @Meltwater and @PRisUS
3) The micro-influencer finally gets some respect in PR.
“I’m thinking that 2019 will be the year that the micro-influencer finally gets some respect in PR, particularly for those who toil in the B2B sphere.”
Who said it: Lou Hoffman, CEO, Hoffman Agency
Source: Meltwater Blog
Follow @LouHoffman
4) The lines between marketing, PR and fake news blur.
“Another big challenge is how to produce effective storytelling as the lines between marketing and PR blur and fake news and fact continue to battle it out.”
Who said it: Melissa Hoffmann, Editor, PR News
Source: B2B PR Sense blog
Follow @WendyMarx
5) You can’t wield influence with freebies.
“We all know you can’t wield influence with cookies or taco lunches. You’re not buying a journalist’s favor by doing what most business folks do on a daily basis. But don’t shower journalists with freebies. It’s awkward, so it’s best not to place you or your client in that kind of position.”
Who said it: Ms. Kyle Niederpruem
Source: PRSA blog
Follow @PRSA
6) Make Siri and Alexa your friends.
“PR pros must become knowledgeable in how their clients can use AI for online chat and when their clients should not use it. We’ll be relied upon to help guide the flow of the text being used and when the chatbots should pass the conversation over to human employees.”
Who said it: Ebony Grimsley-Vaz of Above Promotions quoted by Michelle Kane
Source: Ragan Communications blog
Follow @RaganComms
7) Content will always be mobile first.
“The average American looks at their smartphone 52 times per day, according to Deloitte research, and more than a third admit to using their smartphones for work purposes ‘very/fairly often’ when they’re not officially ‘on the clock.’ More screen time means more opportunities for you to reach your (audience). But smartphone screens and mobile experiences are vastly different than what buyers get with a desktop or laptop.
B2B marketers, in turn, are going to be rethinking the way they approach content experience and design.”
Who said it: Alicia Esposito, Content Strategist
Source B2B Marketing Zone
Follow @content4demand
8) Press relations alone won’t cut it in 2019.
Great public relations professionals will need to understand a myriad of modern communications techniques and adapt accordingly in 2019, if they haven’t already. These include blogging, quality social media engagement, thinking about online communications as “mobile first” and a hyper focus on images and videos. Yes, this means that a PR practitioner without a social media profile head shot or a private Twitter account should be sent to marketing jail.
Who said it: Michelle McIntyre of Michelle McIntyre Communications LLC
Source: Michelle McIntyre Communications LLC blog
Follow @FromMichelle
(C’est moi!)
By the way, it is “who said it” and not “whom said it.” The trick for figuring out which word to use is to replace “who” with “she” and “whom” for “her.” Then ask, which one sounds better? Since “she said it” sounds better, I went with “who said it.”
Have a phenomenal 2019.
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Michelle McIntyre, founder of Michelle McIntyre Communications LLC, is an IBM PR vet. A 2018 Ragan.com article says she’s one of the Top 50 PR professionals to follow on Twitter. @FromMichelle
Photo credits: The top three representing chatbots, storytelling and mobile images are from Canva and the bottom one is mine.
––––––––––– MMC ––––––––––––– Michelle McIntyre Communications 