MsinterPReted: PR Trends to Leave in the Dust

November 7, 2023

In this episode of MsInterPReted, Fletcher Marketing PR Vice President, Sarah Merrell, and Director of Media Relations, Allison Lester discuss public relations trends that we want to leave in the dust.
As 2023 winds down, we are looking ahead to the new year and new strategies. These are some of the common strategies and trends that are outdated or unnecessary.

 

We discuss:

  • Overuse of buzzwords/industry jargon
    • Marketing/Public relations firms often throw around the word ROI without tying any real meaning to it or a clear, measurable path to achieving it or what exactly the ROI is. There’s also the issue of throwing around words that the client may not know without fully explaining it in plain English, and why they should care about it. Clients don’t need to care about XXX,XXX in reach or impressions – what they care about is what it means when that number has increased and how it translates to meeting their goals.
  • An overemphasis on media placement quotas without attention to the quality of placements
    • Sometimes one great placement with a specific reach is better than 100 placements with a scattered, unfocused reach
  • The public relations trend of overly complicated metrics or Vanity metrics
  • Vanity awards/paid awards
  • Hiding/Burying negative news
  • Reactive crisis management vs. proactive strategies
    • Too many company cultures hope mistakes go unnoticed and want to fly under the radar. But in today’s information age with so many outlets from social media to Google Reviews, you can’t wait to respond. You have to control the message.
  • Mass/impersonalized pitching
  • Overly complicated press releases
    • Media need press releases that are easy to digest quickly: just include key details and resources. ALWAYS include pictures, and don’t make the media download them. You can always offer a high res image in addition, but just paste that sucker right in the body of the email

We address these outdated public relations trends and the better way to approach metrics, media relations and crisis management. 

RELATED: 2024 Public Relations Obstacles

 
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