PR professionals work to obtain publicity for their clients. They do this by developing and sending press releases to journalists with information that makes for a great story. If successfully pitched and the story is picked up, it is then featured in the media and two successes are claimed. The journalist fulfills a requirement for news and the business or cause gets exposure.  How professionals do PR has changed a lot in the past decade. 2019 will be a great year for PR if you know what to expect in 2019 and how to combine a little of the old with a lot of the new. Understanding the right formula will reap big rewards for your agency and your clients! Here are 5 PR trends to embrace in 2019.

Media Relations. There is so much marketing chatter today about establishing and building relationships to win business. Your target audience wants to be known and cared for, and they need to know, like and trust you. The same is true of relationships with the media. Journalists are looking for stories they are genuinely interested in from professionals they know, like, and trust.

Integrity. Integrity is more than telling the truth. It is also about being upfront about limitations. Authenticity and transparency are often undersold and underestimated. You don’t have to look far to find business professionals with success stories that generated because they were open and honest about their limitations. Part of being a professional is marketing what you do, and doing what you are genuinely good at and passionate about. For areas where you fall short, you have a few options. Be open and honest about the shortcomings, partner with others who ARE proficient in those areas, or enroll in the courses and become the pro. Weigh the costs of each option and take action. Your future clients are waiting.

Digital. Embrace digital like never before! Embracing digital PR requires an understanding of digital PR and the technology it rides on. A 2018 article by Bulldog Reporter takes a closer look at the role of technology in today’s PR. Among the areas of technology mentioned is the repeated sentiment that the growing number of avenues available for communicating quickly, widely, and effectively makes it necessary to stay on top of technology. Be careful not to use technology to exploit your audience, but rather use it to reach them with content that makes your agency and your client’s businesses easy to know, like and trust.

Contribute. Do you love PR and find yourself talking and writing about it whenever and where you can? Learn how to get your expertise featured in top industry publications. Become a known and trusted contributor. Top publications give you another avenue to share content and get the attention of those who know, like and trust the publication. Are you seeing a trend here?

Mentoring. Mentoring and being mentored. There is a surge in business coaching professionals and business owners who seek them out. Also growing is the number of industry-specific coaches, or mentors, and business owners seeking them. I will argue that no matter how long one has been in business, there is always something to learn and always room to grow personally and professionally. The most valuable relationships to business owners are those in which one trusts another to help during challenging times and to be a cheerleader when successes happen. On the other end of this idea, there is always something you can teach one who aspires to be successful in an industry where you have traveled some bumpy roads and experienced successes along the way. Seek out opportunities to sit on both sides of the desk.

The goals of the PR professional include working with clients to successfully create press exposure and brand awareness for clients. While the goals remain the same through the ages, the methods and techniques used to reach PR goals are changing fast. The professional who understands and embraces these trends will continue to create wins for their agencies and for their clients.   

Chris Kuban started Chemistry PR and Multimedia with a vision to effectively formulate corporate and non-profit brands across the country. In doing so, he has become an expert in Media Relations, Event Management, Social Media implementation and video production.  He engages, coordinates and oversees a diverse team of local and national suppliers, vendors, employees and consultants, allowing him to successfully coordinate over 120 national events focusing on overall logistics, media relations and his clients’ expected ROI. Follow him on Twitter or connect with him on LinkedIn.