1) Non-Traditional Sources Are The Norm And Require Dedicated Focus (and Budget) What is it that is having the most impact on communications today?

“Social media and blogger influencers will gain even more relevance in playing a major role in consumer opinion and spending decisions and must be part of any integrated communications strategy.“

“Public Relations will evolve into a mar-com service as paid, earned and owned media continue to integrate. People are increasingly getting their news from social media and spending more time on those sites to connect with friends and family, so I think this channel will become even more important and prominent in public relations functions.“

“Non-traditional media spaces continue to increase in size and popularity. Newspapers are no longer the arbiter of what is or isn’t “news.” As social media/blogs/podcasts continue to capture and keep more consumer attention for longer amounts of time, there’s a need for professional communicators in these spaces.“
– PEW reports 68% of all American adults now use Facebook¹
– Popular YouTubers are hiring PR firms when they have a crisis²
– PEW reports as of 2016, 21% of Americans age 12 or older say they have listened to a podcast in the past month³

“There will also be a continuing need for content updates for Search Engine Optimization purposes. That includes the ongoing need to have the client’s voice heard and its values promoted to the audiences that will resonate with those values.“

2) Visual and Virtual Reality Platforms Are The “New” Storytelling, er, Storyshowing

“For Public Relations, storytelling and communication will remain important, but the medium for that storytelling will continue to evolve with even greater emphasis on visual communication.“

“And that goes for messaging, too. Visual mediums (especially video formats and virtual reality technology) will require specialized public relations professionals who are adept at developing technical, visually compelling content with ease. Agencies today are seeing the need to amp up their own offerings in this area, both for their clients’ business and for their own marketing purposes.“

“Virtual reality will transform how our industry tells stories. As VR equipment and technology become more accessible, public relations agencies will be able to construct entire worlds for fully immersive experiences.“

3) PR Pros Need Multifaceted Skills, Including Content Development, Project Management and Coding:

“On the issues and crisis side, the industry will need to continue to emphasize the need for timely, substantive communications with tools and technology that make the process more efficient. PR agencies are embracing an even more diverse mix of professionals with specialized experience in graphic design, content development and coding, in addition to traditional core communications skills.”

“Outstanding writing abilities alone won’t cut it for the next generation of communicators.“

4) PR Audiences Are Data Driven and Demand Multiple Sources for Credibility

“As public relations pros, our future with the enduring news media will be defined and enhanced by the data we’re collecting today and how we use it. It’s intelligence that is valuable and packaged conveniently if we are doing our job. We are constantly learning more about consumers – when they’re open to new messages, what influences their behavior and how to responsibly guide their decisions. For example, we’re seeing how brands break through the incessant clutter surrounding their audiences and make consistent gains toward building trust, reputation and loyalty, as well as recover from missteps.“

“That’s an important point.  I recently joined the PR profession because of its potential to grow. Mass communication is so cluttered and increasingly difficult to sort through. Consumers will want to get real information from reputable sources, and journalists will need resources to help provide for that need. As people become more and more wary of commercial advertisements, authentic stories and real news will be what they want. And crisis PR, I think, will always be significant especially as activism continues to rise and people seek consumers’ rights.“

“Corporate blunders will never end as they have their basis in human fallibility. There will continue to be a need to protect brand and organizational reputations from accidents that happen, libel, fake news and social media rants, and journalists will need resources to be sure they have both or all sides of the story.“

“It’s critical to point out that we are not necessarily talking about just press releases. I see more and more cases of journalists asking for statements, interviews, expert opinion and testimony, data and assets.“

“Communicators and credible journalists will have to work harder and together in the name of defending our professions and promoting real news.“

“Often, too, there is the multicultural component that will require journalists and PR people to work in tandem. Agencies and brands are seeing the need for hiring community and cultural insiders, people who know how to navigate the social space of each diverse community. This new reality is also an opportunity for creative development, as the mainstream becomes more accustomed and receptive to multicultural imagery, flavors, sounds, stories and products. I think the key to multicultural communications in the future will be subtlety, as opposed to, for example, trying to engage Latinos with a mustachioed guy in a sombrero speaking Spanish with Mariachi playing in the background.“

5) Constant Data Collection Sources Means Measurement Capabilities and Tools will only Increase. Get familiar with them.

“Program measurement is becoming more sophisticated, accurate and meaningful as technology continues to develop. Google, for example, is using credit card transactions to track how digital ad campaigns are linked to purchases. To extend that kind of technology means that we’ll be able to track how content consumed via online/mobile/digital channels impacts consumers’ offline purchasing behavior and vice versa. So, for example, say I read a magazine article about a new product and see an ad for that same product on Instagram; then after a few weeks, I decide to buy that product in a brick-and-mortar store. Measurement technology will be able to correlate my purchase to the magazine article and the ad. We have even more ways now to measure the value of our communications, but it is just the tip of the iceberg.“

“To Karmina’s point, we’re also seeing more companies using data collection in combination with technology to measure and influence consumer behaviors in new ways. The rise of smart personal assistant devices like Alexa and Google Home have brought behavior-tracking even further into consumer home-life, but are still trying to find the balance in what kind of content they can serve to consumers before it becomes too intrusive. Google Home recently came under fire for serving unsolicited ads to consumers who had selected to have their daily news voice-read to them. While technological capabilities increase due to better data collection, its more important than ever to craft stories that consumers will choose to listen to.“

As we look ahead to the second half of 2017, Fineman PR is fine tuning our own crisis, marketing and corporate public relations programs and service offerings accordingly. Which trends and predictions do you see changing our field? Join our conversation below.

^{1 http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/11/11/social-media-update-2016/
2 https://theoutline.com/post/1472/a-youtube-family-accused-of-child-abuse-has-hired-a-crisis-pr-firm
3 http://www.journalism.org/2016/06/15/podcasting-fact-sheet/}

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Sure, having a media monitoring service in place for capturing print and online placements, broadcast segments and general mentions is crucial. But a traditional monitoring service alone (sure add Google Alerts in there to spice things up) only goes so far. You may miss conversations or shares on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and other sites rich with everyday conversation, highly shareable visuals and personal revelations that could impact your brand. This standard approach is valuable, but doesn’t take advantage of the insights a more robust monitoring system can provide.

Here are a few examples of how vigilant monitoring can feed your communications:

Facing a product PR crisis?

The outcome is not entirely unpredictable. What if you could pull timeline information and engagement stats from your monitoring plan several months back when you were observing a competitor in a similar tangle? Use those learnings to craft your own strategy and map out a plan of action. Rely on the compared stats to predict outcomes and anticipate challenges. Develop a plan that will allow you to monitor relevant information over time with a system that allows for auditing of past events. (Hint: backtracking to audit an event months after the fact is insanity-inducing and costly unless you have already been tracking an issue in real time. Identify trends and issues your team should monitor continuously in real time to build your research repertoire.) See more about how Fineman PR takes this further for clients with our custom Crisis Predictive Tool.

Never underestimate a manual search: Be creative with your search terms (product names, company names, facility names) and see what comes up. Most days the results may be tame. But on the day you pull up an Etsy link for handcrafted undergarments crafted from your company’s logo t-shirt (true story), or Facebook photos of build-your-own furniture out of your product’s packaging, or an Instagram video of a company driver hurling obscenities while transporting your product on the clock, you’ll be grateful for the opportunity to engage and react appropriately in the interest of appreciation or safety depending on the situation.

Don’t just watch, take action: Track public conversations about your brand and go a step further by categorizing these fans geographically. Make a note of their profile and location for future targeted outreach and engagement opportunities in the future. Similarly, note dissatisfaction or opportunities for improvement. Keep a log of potential customer and consumer feedback for planning considerations or messaging nuances.

Don’t just read an article, digest it: Even with a traditional monitoring service, there is more that can be done to up the value of results. What are influencers writing about? What angles have been covered that you should avoid? Which articles involving your industry or product are getting the highest visibility and readership? Which visuals are going viral? What terms are resonating with media? What do the comments reveal about the issue or consumers’ perceptions of the topic? Digesting and learning from news coverage provides you the knowledge you need to provide critical context to clients, adjust messaging, and focus your next story angle.

Read Between The Lines. Fineman PR has developed its own Crisis Predictive Tool to anticipate the lifespan of a potential crisis.

 PR Measurement Smorgasbord
Let’s say you are representing a fashion retail brand. Conducting a few random internet searches or scanning Google Alerts isn’t going to give you, or your client, a comprehensive picture of your brand’s online presence or the conversation happening about them or the industry. (Nor will it likely bring up photos of your products!) There are dozens of programs PR and marketing professionals can use as a means of monitoring issues and measuring impact. Below are some of the outlets we depend on every day to refine our monitoring for clients and to ensure we have the bases covered:

• Hootsuite – This informative and efficient dashboard allowing you to simultaneously manage your various networks across multiple social media platforms
• Topsy – Do you want to know how many times an online article was retweeted? Simply plug in the URL to this site
• Statigram – Instagram has been a booming outlet for consumers to express themselves. Statigram allows you to gather information on the conversations happening on Instagram
• Compete, Quantcast – Use these programs to get information on web traffic for certain sites including unique visitor count, site ranking and how the site traffic compares to competitor sites

For our PR team at Fineman PR, a truly robust monitoring system uses real eyes to assess trends, continuously tracks and notes industry trends and competitor developments, identifies real time conversations by consumers and employees, and uses that information to improve communications. No doubt, building a custom plan will take time and manpower, but the final system will contribute to invaluable insights that will help steer and satisfy your organization’s communications strategy for years to come.

To learn more about Brand PR, Crisis PR, our social media program and Crisis Predictive Tool, contact Fineman PR at 415.392.1000

The post Hungry Eyes: Using Social Media Monitoring for Crisis PR, Brand PR and Corporate Communications Strategies appeared first on Fineman PR.

Thanks to social media, most of us are “friends” or LinkedIn with colleagues and contacts online that we’ve never actually met face-to-face, who may not have the benefit of knowing our likeable quirks through water cooler chit-chat. Studies show that those of us on our computers daily have social networks of around 700 people, never-mind potentially thousands of professional contacts.¹ That’s a lot of competition for attention! Making meaningful personal impressions in a deceivingly personal online world is more critical and advantageous than ever. Here’s a quick refresher for all of us (myself included) on making impressions that count in our daily work.

5 tips for making meaningful PR Impressions:

1. Make A Sandwich
Honesty is good. Brutal honesty? Not so much. Even the most constructive feedback on a decision, program or project will fall on deaf and likely fuming ears if delivered in a harsh or rushed way. That extra time and thought put into how you deliver your feedback often results in a much more receptive response. Try a “PR sandwich.” Offer genuine feedback of what worked or what you agree with, then provide constructive comments on what will get this project to the next level, then top it off with a mutual agreement of timing, note of appreciation, etc. But if you can’t be genuine, don’t. Just be polite.

2. Know your audience
Basic, but bears repeating: be thoughtful in your correspondence. Show your client, media contact, colleague, vendor and industry that you understand what they do and how they do it. Your background knowledge will add substance to your work and lead to more meaningful conversations.

3. If you don’t have time to send a thoughtful response, DON’T. SEND. ONE.
Split-second typing is dangerous. If you don’t end up with a typo or a mortifying auto-correct selection, you end up cc’ing your spouse, mortgage broker or worse. That is, if you auto-select the right person in the first place. Even with the best of intentions, rushed responses to a client, colleague or member of the media will likely – if not always – do more harm than good. Being responsive is great, but not at the risk of quality or tone. Why waste an opportunity to engage meaningfully in your very best light?

4. Less is More
Do you know that it takes 64 seconds for our brains to recover from reading one email?² Ouch. Avoid strings of emails that could have been addressed with a concentrated initial approach. Provide context in your writing to avoid easily anticipated questions. Your recipient (and their brain) will thank you.

5. Connect.
One of the easiest ways to make a memorable impression professionally is to connect. Ask questions that show your care and interest. Use someone’s name and their professional title when appropriate to show respect. Take the time and make the room for friendly conversation.

“Public” = “People”
At the end of the day, our profession is about helping people. Let’s keep that in mind when we are tempted to tally “impressions.”

¹ Study: Social networking site users have more friends and more close friends
² Study: Evaluating the effect of email interruptions within the workplace

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