Public Relation trends to keep in mind in 2020

What can we, as a communications office, expect to see in 2020 regarding the trends on our fields of work. We do believe this is important for every company that is working - or considering to work - with a PR agency or for the ones that are developing their PR front in-house.

Here are five important Public Relation topics that will keep gaining traction in 2020 and that you should keep in mind:

Agency Specialization

You can’t do a good job as an agency if you’re not fully emerged on your clients’ projects and values. This applies to everything, from lifestyle business-to-consumer (B2C) companies to deep-tech startups that are developing the next big blockchain project.

If an agency is able to show a profound understanding of a client’s business, its voice will most likely be heard and will be part of the strategic decision making. The industry specialization is a great added value for any company that wants to hire more than minions. Marketing directors and executives often find it difficult to discover professionals who can understand their operations, and when they finally do, they will most likely be happy with the outcomes.

Agency Partnerships

“We’re not specialized on that, but we can definitely help you! Let us discuss this internally and we’ll send you a budget soon”. How many times have you heard this? Depending on the subject, this is most likely a strong indicator that the end result will not be what you intend.

That’s why we’ll see a wider opening to agency partnerships during 2020. By partnering, the agencies will bring forward their expertise and offer a better outcome to the client. Hire specialized agencies for different challenges, not a Jack of All Trades (or find an agency that is willing to do the tough work of putting together the efforts of various experts for an acceptable fee).

Data-driven efforts

Data will have a greater impact on the ways PR professionals guide their campaigns and measure their impact. Data informed initiatives will be able to reach a more specific audience.

This is especially relevant to define the value a PR agency brings to their clients, who sometimes find it hard to see the full value and importance of public relations on their short-term business operations metrics.

Affordable tech tools for PR agencies

We are aware of the newest and greatest things in tech, but — just a quick question — are you guys forgetting the PR agencies? We also need technology! And you may say, “well, you guys have clipping and monitoring platforms, isn’t that good enough?”. Sure — if we were talking 10 years ago. We need affordable technology to ease our task managing and data collecting operations.

And yes, there are platforms that can do such things, but they are extremely expensive. In 2020, the trend is the introduction of new technologies, as well as more affordable tools, to make small and medium agencies competitive.

More op-eds than ever

We’re also anticipating a rise of opinion articles. In a world where media outlets are letting go most of their staff, the newsrooms will be more receptive to outside writers — giving greater importance to specialists of the different industries.

It’s also relevant to note that these kinds of pieces are a great way of approaching your target audience and creating a personal connection, while also educating them in a certain topic. If you’re working with us, expect more op-ed suggestions than in 2019.

You might be interested in: “Content Marketing trends for 2020”