In today’s digital landscape, PR has evolved almost beyond recognition. Once upon a time we relied almost exclusively on traditional media outreach, events and press releases. But now there are many different channels and types of media to choose from, driven by shifts in consumer behaviour which are increasingly demanding a revaluation of PR approaches.
This might be good news for a number of reasons – but it also makes navigating digital PR more complex for B2C brands. With the rise of social media, online news platforms and influencer marketing, consumer-facing companies face a myriad of new challenges and opportunities.
Adaptation, uptake and evolution are some of the key obstacles the digital age has presented for traditional PR practices. And whilst traditional methods still have their place – unless they’re implemented alongside contemporary approaches, reach and results will be limited. Businesses who fail to adapt to these changes will quickly find themselves left behind by those who do.
So embracing new digital PR strategies is essential when trying to communicate to your customers in the modern era.
The evolution of public relations
As is the case within many industries, the characteristics and capabilities of PR have evolved significantly over time – but the point of difference is the speed of change. All industries now need to adopt an agile and open-minded approach, accepting and embracing the changes driven by the emergence of new technologies. But in PR we are subject to constant change – with a rapidly updating, dynamic environment making it hard for B2C brands (and even some PR professionals) to keep up.
Within the last decade, we’ve seen remarkable shifts in the way we live and work, due to new technologies that have transformed every aspect of daily life from what we eat and the ways we interact with one another to how we shop. Almost every aspect of modern life is different from just 10 years ago. And this in turn influences buyer behaviour, which in turn impacts how brands interact with their customers.
One of the key challenges for brands has been following these new trends and developments and ensuring they continue to show up in the right place at the right time. Social media has played a vital role in reshaping communication and has had a major impact on the PR space, bringing social media into the spotlight as a communications channel as well as a promotional tool.
Some mediums, such as press outreach and TV advertising have stayed the same despite being consumed in a different way. They are also being incorporated into a wider strategy as opposed to being the only strategy. But there are also a few key differences between traditional PR practices and the strategies required for the digital landscape – including:
Expanded selection of channels and mediums available: Including influencer partnerships, podcast features, social media, email and websites
Global reach and accessibility: Previously PR professionals were generally limited to the audience or readership of specific platforms which had to be carefully selected based on historic data. Now real-time international exposure can quickly be secured with the same amount of time and effort as promotional content can be viewed anytime, anywhere.
Targeting and personalisation: Traditionally this involved assessing publications, media outlets and journalists based on a mix of independent third-party data and an assessment of their own demographics. Now we can access highly personalised, targeted communication thanks to the advancement of audience profiling, data segmentation and personalised content delivery.
Interactivity and engagement: Way back when, PR was very much a one-way street. We were focused on putting stuff out, but beyond data which could indicate how well a campaign had performed there were limited opportunities for direct interaction or audience feedback. Now the opposite is true – as digital PR facilitates (and harnesses the benefits of) two-way communication and engagement, made possible due to social media interactions such as comments, likes and messages, interactive content and live communication channels.
Content formats: In the past we had set formats we could employ to attract attention for the brands we worked with – press releases, media pitches and printed collateral. Digital PR has significantly diversified content formats with an array of multimedia from video and animations to live streams and podcasts. This is great news for B2C brands as there are more ways than ever before to connect with consumers – but it has represented a steep learning curve for all involved.
One unexpected outcome of this evolution is the increased amount of crossover and collaboration between the world of digital PR and digital marketing – but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, PR professionals now work closely with digital marketing firms, enabling brands to benefit from a much more holistic and efficient approach.
Digital storytelling techniques
The significance of storytelling in PR has long been recognised and utilised – and in the digital PR context it’s become even more essential to perfect the skill of creating a compelling narrative.
Storytelling is essential in the digital era because it cuts through the noise and builds a relationship between business and consumer. It humanises brands and enhances engagement – it fosters a deeper understanding of who you are and what you have to offer in an easily digestible, accessible way. But effective storytelling is deceptively difficult – and it usually takes a lot of effort and expertise to produce something that feels organic and simple to follow.
Some key areas to consider when focusing on storytelling for your brand include:
- Visual content – videos, images and infographics
- Animation and motion graphics
- Data visualisations – graphs and charts
- Audio content – sound bites, podcasts, music, voiceovers
- Interactive content – quizzes and polls, competitions requiring brand engagement
- Interactive experiences – using AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality) technology
You should also consider where you currently have a presence and any other platforms that align with your audience. Then think about how the features of each platform can lend themselves to better storytelling.
The narratives you create are even more powerful when shared, and storytelling is an excellent way to attract and introduce new customers to your brand. This may involve encouraging social media sharing, employing shareable visual content, or sparking a wider conversation in the press.
As we mentioned above, storytelling is one of the most effective ways to establish a relationship between your brand and your audience. In today’s oversaturated consumer space, with so many brands vying for audience attention and retention, this relationship can be the defining point that encourages a customer to buy in a crowded marketplace.
Influencer collaborations in digital PR
The impact of influencers on digital PR success cannot be underestimated. The market value of influencer marketing stood at 21.1 billion US dollars in 2023 – with the size and value of influencer platforms expanding each year. This popular marketing medium is something most businesses are aware of and want to leverage – but in the absence of regulation and clear guidelines it can be tricky to get it right (and easy to waste money). Despite this, influencer marketing has skyrocketed and expanded to become an industry within a very short space of time.
Aligning influencer choice, campaign structure and creative content with brand values isn’t straightforward – and requires a considered and well-thought-out approach. Successful influencer collaborations should feel organic. To achieve this you must select an influencer that is a natural choice because they resonate with both your audience and your brand values.
Identifying the right influencers begins with some careful analysis of your audience, their likes and dislikes, wants and needs, and shared values. You should have a pretty clear impression of what makes your audience tick (and what puts them off), so start with that in mind. If you’re struggling to know where to start when looking for influencers, try online platforms and agencies who can ‘match-make’ for you based on your brief.
Many B2C brands mistakenly think that influencer marketing is a numbers game – so they work with as many individuals as possible to maximise reach. But true success lies in nurturing authentic relationships with influencers. Whether it’s a one-off campaign or a continuous partnership, there’s a lot to focus on both before any influencer activity but also during and after.
This is another overlooked aspect of integrating influencer marketing within digital PR – as the key to ensuring sustainable success is in the measuring of promotional activity through metrics like reach and engagement. Influencers (and/or agencies) should be keen to work with you on this and produce verifiable data that provides insights into how well a piece of content has performed.
Integration of data and technology
It’d be remiss of us to write about digital PR without exploring the intersection of data, technology, and PR strategies which currently drives many promotional campaigns. Technology is more advanced than ever before – and that’s opening up various new tools and channels PR professionals and brands can take advantage of. This is a huge and complex topic in and of itself – and because of the fast-moving nature of new technologies, any evaluations of the ‘latest’ tech and tools quickly go out of date. PR is also personalised to each company, so there’s never a ‘one-size-fits-all’ toolkit which works wonders for every brand.
Generally speaking, the advancement of analytics tools contributes significantly to data-driven decision-making in PR campaigns. We now have access to much more information on consumer behaviours online – with customer journeys becoming entirely trackable in some cases. Companies can even use artificial intelligence and machine learning to enhance the efficiency of PR efforts, through simplified audience profiling and segmentation and data collation. Technology also has a role to play in personalising PR strategies for diverse audiences, enabling creative teams to more easily adapt content for different platforms.
It can be easy to get caught up in collating and analysing organic data from your own campaigns – but there’s a lot to be gained from leveraging big data insights, too. Understanding audience behaviour can enable you to more effectively target your content and refine messaging as well as driving platform selection, positively influencing communication strategies.
Real-time communication strategies
The importance of real-time engagement in digital PR is often underestimated and neglected by B2C brands – in part because it’s not easy to keep on top of. Ensuring proactive, productive real-time engagement across multiple platforms requires a strategic approach and dedicated professionals who can manage communications with your customer base appropriately.
Real-time communication is crucial in the digital landscape for a variety of reasons. It usually feels more authentic and fosters a deeper, stronger connection with your audience – it can also build trust and credibility as consumers can see clearly that it’s easy to get in touch with you and receive a genuine, human response. Communication channels offer opportunities for your audience to ask questions, request assistance or express concerns.
This modern, more responsive method of communication within digital PR also differs from traditional approaches in a number of ways – usually due to the implementation of new tools and working with new platforms frequented by target audiences. Monitoring online conversations is easier said than done – especially when the presence of B2C companies is usually spread across multiple platforms, each with their own methods of communication. This can make timely responses and effective crisis management more tricky to manage.
B2C companies can also harness real-time communication by using contemporary technologies and platform features to connect more closely with their audiences. This includes utilising live streaming on social media and installing chatbots on websites.
Adapting to the fast-paced nature of online communication is no mean feat – and it requires a strategic approach. You’ll need to assign roles and responsibilities to trained and trusted team members, put together guidelines and protocols to enable them to handle interactions and escalate effectively where necessary. Usually, companies outsource this entirely or enlist expert support by creating agile teams in-house that can manage multiple channels on a continuous basis.
Measuring PR success in the digital age
Evaluating the effectiveness of digital PR campaigns through metrics is absolutely essential – because without clear data that can be interpreted to understand how your PR efforts are performing, you have no way to know which direction to go in or what to do next. Keeping a close eye on your progress gives you the vital opportunity to build on existing success or switch out a failing strategy in time to save precious resources from being wasted (and the wider impact of poor promotion on your company).
That’s why we talk a lot about measurability and analytics here at Smoking Gun – and also because we believe the companies we work with should be able to see tangible, authentic results from the support we provide. Although the number of ways we can view and collect data has made PR more accessible and targeted, it’s undeniably more complex to measure success due to the sheer amount of data and the constantly changing metrics to be analysed.
Gone are the days when PR success was solely measured by the number of media mentions or press clippings. While traditional metrics still hold value, they can’t provide us with a comprehensive picture of a brand’s reputation or influence. In the digital age, PR professionals need to leverage a diverse set of metrics to gauge their effectiveness.
Firstly, you need to focus on defining key performance indicators (KPIs) for online visibility and engagement to understand what exactly you want to achieve. You can’t determine whether something has worked or not if you’re not sure what success looks like! Only then can you identify the various metrics which will give you a clear picture of how your digital PR activity is performing. There are basic indicators you can use to get an overview at a glance, but it’s also advisable to drill down on each aspect of your strategy, such as social media, influencer marketing, press outreach etc.
Some of the metrics we use now are the same as they’ve always been, or represent an evolved version of what we’ve traditionally used. But there are also new methods and insights to get acquainted with – including sentiment analysis, which helps monitor brand perception and identify strengths and potential weaknesses, and tracking online mentions to determine penetration and reach.
The numbers side of PR certainly isn’t as sexy as the creative element – but investing in the continuous optimisation of future PR campaigns based on data insights and impressions is one of the most crucial aspects needed for sustainable PR success.
Adapting to emerging technologies
The rate at which consumers are embracing the role of emerging technologies in daily life is one of the most influential driving forces shaping the future of PR. Let’s just say it – generally speaking, humans don’t like change. Embracing and adapting to emerging technologies, especially at work, is many people’s least favourite thing to do. But as we’ve touched on above, it’s absolutely essential to make this a habit if you want to excel at digital PR.
We’re seeing sci-fi style developments we never thought we’d witness within our lifetimes being integrated within our day-to-day lives – like AR and VR. This rapidly evolving space is opening up the possibility of immersive storytelling experiences, which offer unmatched emotional engagement compared with traditional media.
Then there’s the rise of smart devices – with over 60% of people with smart speakers in homes according to Ofcom* and 125.2 million voice search users in 2023. Integrating voice search within communication strategies is now imperative for some companies, where buyer behaviours dictate a shift towards voice-prompted search and ordering.
Adaptation to emerging technologies also includes the more day-to-day tools and platforms we use – such as social media channels. Navigating the constant changes in the dreaded algorithms often proves difficult and frustrating for businesses – so it’s well worth investing in strategies and ongoing training to enable you to leverage new platform features.
Bottom line
The future of digital PR is bright – and as expected, it’s filled with new technologies, mediums and methods to get our teeth into. The fast-paced, rapidly-evolving landscape of PR is constantly diversifying and becoming more complex – but also more exciting! This is why it’s crucial for PR professionals to continuously adapt and stay abreast of industry changes – anyone who fails to do so could quickly be left behind.
For old-schoolers who have already experienced countless transformations in the digital space, embracing these changes can be challenging. Learning new skills and implementing them at the same time is never easy – but in fact, it’s often a case of applying existing knowledge to new channels, mediums and tools. Adopt a proactive approach to navigating the dynamic digital PR landscape and keep investing in ongoing learning and embracing new strategies. For B2C businesses, too, embracing the role of digital PR in shaping the future of effective communication is key.
For more on digital PR take a look at our Resources Hub – or for dedicated support for your company get in touch with our talented team.
