Here we look at our top 6 PR predictions for the new year, from the demise of the Non-Subscriber to app development becoming standard practice for PR companies.
1. PR campaigns will shift to a global targeting audience over domestic sectors
Globalisation and global technologies have shifted the market and allow us to target media and bloggers internationally, well as long as we can speak their language! Combine this fact with the shifting financial state of several countries, and the need to diversify PR over a global community is necessary. Where there may be a few businesses which remain true to their country of origin due to import and export restrictions, those businesses which do not have restraints on their products or services will seek to target their audiences not by geographical PR and marketing but through age, gender, and other consumer market data.
2. The Demise of the Non-Subscribed user
The number of subscription based pages will boom. The subscriptions will not only encompass traditional social media sites such as YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+, but even the everyday single page site. It will not be surprising to see blog sites require your Facebook or Google permissions just to view the content. And while there are a few sites which are set up in this way, these sites usually have a means in which you can enter as a guest or preview the services before you commit to submitting your personal information and data to the site PR will have to be oriented in a manner that brings people to a client’s site and encourages engagements and subscriptions. As the subscription market will increase, the PR professional will be expected to understand current email and web subscription tactics in order to keep a competitive edge. PR professionals will need to be able to tactfully sway the public into participating in subscription based webpages and platforms
3. PR will have to tighten down on their email strategies
New strategies will need to be implemented in order to avoid the ever evolving Spam and Bulk mail filters of the email campaigns. Because such sites as Mailchimp have made it very easy for the lay man to produce their own marketing campaigns, many have done so. The downside is that a great many have flooded the email marketplace resulting in new spam and bulk mail blockers to be put into place. PR will need to adapt standard practices to offer inventive ways of presenting PR through email.
4. Mobile App Development will become standard in PR practices
With Android and iOS applications dominating the social media and mobile device market, PR professionals should be considering Mobile App creation as part of their arsenal, as they create more user engaging content, whether that is in the form or a webpage, app, or email campaign.
5. Google will develop its own OS
If you follow Google trends, you will see that they have been playing around the edges of developing their own OS system for a while. Should this OS system come into play, PR may be required to shift even further from the traditional PR to that of a marketing based heavily upon Google Algorithms. Again, a knowledge of SEO, App development, and in this case Google’s algorithms will be needed.
6. Live PR video will become rarer as live connect discussions grow
Due to the growth of live chatrooms with the ability to have HD video quality, do not be surprised if PR starts to veer to supporting clients with their live broadcast strictly through digital feeds. Live Q&A PR in video rooms will be in demand because it allows for more user engagement. PR integration into live channels in YouTube, Apple Connect, and even Skype may become the norm over more traditional methodologies of PR.
