Four Key PR Trends to Watch in 2018

So, Christmas and New Year celebrations are over which means that we are now officially in 2018. As we are already watching 017 from the rear mirror, it is time now to sit down and to look for the trends that we will enjoy in 2018. We believe that 2018 will set new trends in every field and there will be trends as well that will affect the PR practitioners. Let’s find out the trends that we believe can affect PR in 2018.

Brand Reputation will be the key:

According to Akshat Thapa from NewswireNEXT: “You might be thinking that brand reputation has always been a key in PR so what will be new in 2018? We believe that brand reputation will be the most valuable asset in 2018 then the past few years. We have already seen that people these days are going for the known names instead of experimenting with the new names. Although this will make the process of branding more difficult but to stay ahead in the market you have to build up your brand’s reputation. This will let people know that they have someone to trust upon when a crisis hits. So, make your move today and start working on the online newsrooms, websites, social media accounts, and blogs.”

Brands are going to express more social good messages, which can backfire:

 Another strategy that brands follow to appear more and more in the social media news feed is that they express a socially good message. We have seen in 2017 that many brands have tried to counter the negativity with what they hoped would be perceived as positive messages. It has worked wonderfully for some of them, but it doesn’t mean that it will work for all of them. We have seen a consumer who rejects such campaigns from the brands, and sometimes those brands end up on getting bashed at the social media. So, brands have to be very careful when sending a good social message. If you are not very good at doing that, then it is advised to focus on what you are best at.

Relations with the pure media might not work:

 We have seen in 2017 that more and more companies have tried their way to get in complete touch with the pure media and journalists. But newsroom has already in the phase of thinning out since 2016 and in 2018 it will further thin out. Because of that, more and more journalist will lose their jobs, and they might not be able to get in the position when they were before. And this will impact PR practitioners as they will then unable to get their brands in the reputable media outlets. The effects of this will be more complex on b2b brands PR because they will not have any source to trade in media. This simply means that media relations have to be more creative in 2018 and brands have to look for the new ways to support the journalists although relying 100 percent on media might not work but this change will present an opportunity for PR pros as they will move to the paid media.

Ad agencies will join the game strongly:

 As relations with pure media might not work for the brands, ad agencies will start to work hard to get more clients for themselves. They might support their efforts with the earned social media and other platforms through press coverage.