Social media listening is one of the top digital trends transforming — and improving — public relations, new research reveals.
The three most important digital trends in PR include: social listening, digital storytelling and real-time marketing, according to The Evolution of Public Relations report by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) in conjunction with the USC Center for Public Relations at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
Digital techniques are improving the quality of public relations, as they allow immediate outbound communication and inbound feedback, the ANA report emphasizes. Findings from the survey of ANA members were integrated into the USC Annenberg’s Global Communications Report, based on a comprehensive survey of more than 800 PR executives.
Interlinked Digital Trends
It is important to note that the top three trends are interlinked: “I heard something” (social listening), “I need to tell a story about it” (digital storytelling), and “I need to do it fast” (real-time marketing).
Social media listening, also called social media monitoring, has recently become both more sophisticated and more accepted last year, writes Ulrika Bo Larsen, CEO of customer experience platform Falcon.io, in MarketingProfs.
“Brands need to further incorporate social listening into their larger marketing and social media strategy,” Larsen says. “Those who fail to do so risk falling out of sync with, and failing to grow, their core audience.”
The survey of marketers and PR executives reveals other important industry trends.
Convergence of PR & Marketing
PR is converging with marketing. The borders between public relations and marketing are breaking down. They are no longer separate disciplines. More than half of ANA members polled believe PR will become more closely aligned with marketing over the next five years. Most (72%) say PR will either become more closely aligned with marketing or become a subset of marketing.
The next generation of talent entering the job market interested in public relations needs a broader skill set that recognizes that marketing and public relations are increasingly commingling.
Increased Staffing and Spending for PR
Marketers plan to increase both internal staffing and overall spending on PR. Internal staffing and spending to support public relations are on the rise. Over the next five years, 62 percent of respondents expect internal staffing to increase and 75 percent expect spending to increase. Over the current year, 16 percent said they planned to increase internal PR staffing and 25 percent said they planned to increase overall spending on PR.
It’s all About Results
Measurement is paramount to demonstrating PRs value to the organization. Survey respondents agreed that PR can demonstrate its value most effectively by:
- Demonstrating how public relations programs achieve measureable business objectives and
- Improving measurement of results.
“Public relations as a discipline is clearly evolving and becoming more important to marketers,” said ANA group EVP Bill Duggan in a statement. “And PR is being fueled by the rise and omnipresence of digital communications. Digital has put PR front and center, as it allows immediate outbound communication and inbound feedback.”
Bottom Line: Social media listening, combined with digital storytelling and real-time marketing, is increasing the importance of public relations. PR can obtain larger budgets and more staff. However, it’s critical for PR demonstrate its contribution to its organization through measurement.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
