There is no doubt that 2025 is an interesting time to be launching a PR agency. PR is at a crossroads in many ways, with technologies, including generative AI, lurching us forward and reshaping the value of PR to companies and brands. But we’re also bringing back some of the old, with a need for authenticity across communications to bring some balance.
While building the PRSENSE brand and our services, we’ve taken a long hard look at the shifts we think we’ll see over the next 12 months. Here’s some of our thoughts:
Small but mighty
It’s news to no-one that the earned media landscape globally is shrinking. Traditional print media is declining, and trade titles have mainly moved online to stay afloat. More focus on pay-to- play is helping to boost revenues, driven by more targeted content and cross platform outlets such as podcasts and newsletters.
In response, we are seeing more independent content creators and micro-influencers springing up and we’ll be advising our clients to be targeting these and building relationships. Where clients used to view national broadsheet coverage as the ultimate measure of success, they now equally recognise the value in being invited onto a targeted podcast listened to by their key audiences.
Similarly, LinkedIn is a place for organisations and individuals to build a position as thought leaders in their industry and with wider stakeholders. Yes, it is a very effective way to relay news about your organisation. But it also invites engagement and as such is the platform for sparking discussion and communicating expertise, both your company’s and your own. It is a particularly valuable podium for company figureheads.
PR 2.0
We can’t talk about the year to come without talking about how AI will be used to create more value than ever in the PR work we do for clients. It is already proven as a useful tool for conducting research and is starting to be very useful for identifying trends, news cycles and real-time insights to support client decision making in their communications.
We do of course have to be careful that we do not substitute human connection and creativity with AI, but if used correctly, AI becomes a tool like any other PR software we have acquired as they’ve developed. Think media tracking and database tools. All these tools allow us to focus our valuable time on more strategic or creative planning and communications and gives us the insight to make good decisions.
Keeping it real
Last year’s most overused word was quite possibly the word ‘authentic’. It’s been bandied about to legitimise many a campaign or speech, but essentially what we are talking about is human connection and resonance. For international or multi-national brands, globalisation has long been a focus, but we are now seeing a shift to a more localised approach. Global campaigns now need to have hyper-local strategies that for B2B audiences. Consider cultural nuances, governmental and economic differences and their impact on how products and services are sold and received.
Outreach to regional influencers and specific local messaging backed by solid tracking of regional engagement will all feature in a localised approach to PR into this year.
With the greater reliance on technology on all our lives and a political and cultural landscape that makes room for ‘fake news’, an emphasis on transparency and a personal approach is not solely for consumer brands. B2B communications equally needs to engender trust and relatability for it to succeed.
This also extends to good old fashioned in-person engagement, whether it’s through networking events, conferences, or interviews. There is a clear shift back to the value of these interactions as ways to reach key audiences, but also to present the more human centric parts of a business and its brand.
A lasting impact
Finally, we can see the industry is leaning towards a more data-driven approach, with value from data analytics.
Our clients are aware of how businesses are focusing on big data. Many of them are involved in helping companies to manage big data with their products and services. But this need also extends to PR businesses, who like all businesses, need to manage ever greater amounts of data. They need to do this to glean deeper target audience insight and to better measure the impact their communication is having on their audiences.
