PR continues to evolve at a rapid pace and subsequently, brand storytelling has evolved as well.
Cynthia Srednicki, CEO of Dreamweaver Brand Communications with over twenty years of experience in marketing and public relations recently sat down with her team and shared her thoughts on emerging PR and marketing trends and what to expect in the future.
1) Marketing and PR Converging
Marketing and PR professionals have now begun to see PR attribution as a mechanism for marketing measurement. Cynthia believes “For the past decade PR professionals see about 4% to 5% of the traffic and actions their public relations campaigns drive because traditional marketing attribution only tracks PR earned media mentions when there is a backlink. With new technology tracking all brand mentions across social media and other platforms, backlinks to a company’s site are not the only forms of attribution now.” Social media mentions and earned media backlinks both improve SEO furthering the convergence of PR and marketing.
2) Brands Now Own the Narrative
“According to our data, brands are now beginning to see more traction with integrated owned and earned media strategies,” said Srednicki. To leverage owned media, brands large and small must partner with experienced integrated marketing and public relations agencies and their team of digital storytellers. Integrating owned media via smartphone storytelling on social media, utilizing B2B and B2C blogs and incorporating earned media which is dependent on experienced PR professionals and their contacts instantly doubles the brand’s awareness and increases ROI. Strategic digital storytellers and savvy brands understand the importance of dominating both the owned and earned media space.
3) Public Relations Is No Longer Linear
For decades PR professionals built relationships with the media, pitched them and utilized event marketing with little quantitative proof of how PR campaigns moved the needle. Today’s PR strategies and tactics are focused around a brand’s narrative, creating a continuous loop where outcomes continuously are measured and strategic insights incorporated back into the integrated public relations and marketing strategy.
4) Social Amplification Via Influencers and Your Brand’s Community
It is always best to meet and engage with your consumers where they currently congregate, not where you want them to be. Srednicki states “You can have a great brand narrative, but if you are not part of the conversation, focusing on what makes your community thrive, and engaging with members of the community, you are not able to build brand affinity or loyalty. Become part of their community through micro-influencers whom they already trust.
5) PR Is More Than Just Brand Awareness
Brand awareness will always have a high value. However the words “brand awareness” have become a catch-all for any and all public relations outcomes. PR’s value lies in the quantitative outcomes. According to Scrednicki “PR technologies continue to evolve at rapid speeds and simply brand monitoring is not enough.” PR professionals must utilize both qualitative and quantitative data to make strategic decisions and refine campaigns as the data warrants.
Contact Dreamweaver Brand Communications to utilize an integrated PR and marketing approach to help your company reach quantifiable goals and brand aspirations. Contact Dreamweaver Brand Communications to utilize an integrated PR and marketing approach to help your company reach quantifiable goals and brand aspirations.
