New Beginnings: PR Predictions and Plans for 2023
What does the future hold for the PR industry?
As we enter into a new year, the world of public relations is changing rapidly. With technological advancements and an ever-evolving digital landscape, it can be difficult to predict the future of PR in 2023.
However, it is essential to plan ahead and stay ahead of the competition. In this blog post, we’ll look at some of the emerging trends and predictions in PR from a panel of experts across the industry (see blog conclusion to learn more about the speakers).
How do you build up your reputation within an organization or industry that may have been tarnished over the past few years? What makes this time different when it comes to trust-building in the media and public relations as a whole? These are just some of the fascinating insights offered by these seasoned professionals.
Key predictions for PR in 2023:
Trust.
Most of your audience is focusing on trust as it relates to PR and success in the industry, both this past year and moving into the new year. If you want to be an effective leader in 2023, the importance of building trust is absolutely critical. It has always been critical, it became more important last year, and it becomes more important as we look to the future.
I've had a lot of conversations with my PR agency leadership clients about how to lead specifically through times of uncertainty, which we expect to see in the coming year. From the agency perspective, because of the uncertainty, the ability to prove our worth with metrics and be able to add value to our clients’ businesses and client reputation is absolutely essential. - Ken Jacobs, Principal, Jacobs Consulting & Executive Coaching
DE&I.
This continues to be a concern for companies and organizations, and something that a lot of larger companies and organizations still aren’t getting right. And it's going to continue, probably into 2023, to be an area of focus for agencies, organizations and corporations alike, as they continue to find their formula to be authentic, inclusive and equitable across all the different audiences that they serve, as well as their internal audiences that are helping to create these messages.
We have to keep working on our communications and messaging as communicators. For example, we have to stop saying, ‘these people,’ ‘those people,’ etc. DE&I in communications is not going to change until us as counselors change. We have to step up and be the conscience for our clients and proactively push them to get where they need to be. - LaTricia Woods, Founder and President, Mahogany Xan Communications
The rise of affiliate content.
We are continuing to wrestle with the affiliate piece and strategize around its prevalence. As you look around, it's growing and growing. If you look at Wirecutter and The New York Times, those are all affiliates. I would say that this is going to extend beyond market editors and anyone covering CPG, and that it will bleed over into B2B, and just about everything. Because publications are all trying to figure out how to monetize, and this is a way to do that.
We’ve been able to see some great success for a lot of our clients in that area, but we anticipate that this will just continue to grow as more publications have to shift tack to figure out how to stay alive and continue to support themselves and the journalists that work for them. - Nicole Ravlin, President & CEO, Junapr
Pitching challenges.
Those of us in the trenches know that it's getting harder to pitch journalists and get stories placed, there’s no doubt about it. And I think there are a lot of factors that contribute to this, but I think one of the things that we really need to be mindful of is that the pool of journalists is shrinking and the number of pitches they get is growing.
Because we’ve got link builders out there now, we’ve got a lot of people who aren't really doing research on who they're pitching and on creating a thoughtful pitch for those people. You really shouldn't be spamming out the same pitch randomly to hundreds of journalists at a time– it doesn't work. It doesn't work for the person doing it, the journalists hate it and they talk about it all the time, and it also makes it harder for the rest of us. This is something that we really need to be talking about as an industry now and going forward. - Michelle Garrett, PR Consultant & Freelance Content Writer, Garrett Public Relations
This is only a glimpse of a much larger conversation we had with this amazing panel on PR predictions and planning for 2023! To tune in for the full discussion, check out our webinar recording on demand.
About the speakers
Michelle Garrett // PR Consultant & Freelance Content Writer, Garrett Public Relations
As a public relations consultant, writer, and speaker, Michelle works with B2B clients helping them create content, earn media coverage, and position themselves as thought leaders. She co-hosts a weekly session on Twitter Spaces, #PRLunchHour, and is the founder and host of the popular weekly Twitter chat, #FreelanceChat. Michelle was once again named among the top ten most influential PR professionals in 2022.
Ken Jacobs // Principal, Jacobs Consulting & Executive Coaching
Ken Jacobs is the principal of Jacobs Consulting & Executive Coaching, which helps empower PR and communications leaders and executives to become more effective. His company also helps agencies grow business, manage for profitability, improve client service, and enhance team performance, communications and leadership skills, via training and consulting. Prior to launching his companies, Jacobs spent 25 years in management and leadership positions with a number of PR agencies. Jacobs discusses leadership with some of the PR and comms industry’s most respected leaders via “Taking the Lead,” his quarterly leadership column in PRSA’s Strategies & Tactics, and the similarly named video podcast on his website and YouTube channel. He’s a regular presenter at PRSA Counselors Academy and various PRSA chapters, and loves living “Down The Shore” in Asbury Park, New Jersey. No Bruce sightings yet.
Nicole Ravlin // President & CEO, Junapr
For more than two decades, Nicole Junas Ravlin has advised companies of all sizes on their communications and marketing strategies and helped put those plans in motion. Having worked both in-house and on the agency side, she brings a unique perspective to the table and an understanding of how marketing can be used to drive sales, increase brand awareness, and attract the right talent to work on your team. In addition to her work with clients, Nicole speaks across the US on the ever-evolving field of public relations and has taught as an adjunct professor of public relations at Champlain College. She serves at the executive level on the Board of Directors for Vermont Public Radio and resides in Shelburne, VT with her two sons and their dog, Boggs.
LaTricia Woods // Founder and President, Mahogany Xan Communications
LaTricia Woods received both a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications, with an emphasis in public relations and a Master of Arts degree in Communications with an emphasis in organizational communications from WSU. She has had a 25+ year career in public relations that includes experience with nonprofits and government agencies. She founded her public relations and public affairs firm in 2012 and transitioned from full-time employee to full-time entrepreneur in 2013. Her new journey has included speaking to organizations across the country on topics including communications best practices, entrepreneurship and empowering your personal brand. She is a member, and former Kansas chapter president of PRSA and recently achieved her Accreditation in Public Relations (APR).
