PR professionals are now required to advise business leaders on how to achieve savings , how to drive digital marketing , how to use digital and online platforms to achieve sales and guide operations . That covers the whole business cycle . PR and communications pros can therefore take advantage of this new key advisory opportunity to create greater influence and impact within the business and the profession .
Business models and ways of working are also changing meaning that there may soon be more opportunities for communications consultancy services . Many organizations have realized through this pandemic that they need to talk to their audiences more . Marketing has been on a downward trend and has mostly lived on digital leaving space for PR and communication to thrive . Organizations that have not made use of PR in the past except when doing events have now seen the need for communication services .
Most of us have spent a lot of time at home with the main source of information being the news , where PR rules . Companies that have used PR and corporate communications well in the past have managed to remain relevant and attract positive coverage . Most companies however have not achieved a mention in the papers or any news for that matter except for job postings or for the wrong reasons . This points to a gap in many companies on how they have used and understood the role of communications and PR .
When companies could no longer put up billboards , they quickly found a solution on social networks , but when they could no longer hold events and call their customers into ballrooms , most companies had no solution to that challenge . They had not set up avenues such as emailers to reach customers beyond radio , billboards and flyers which all lost meaning by a single presidential declaration .
Most organizations have kept PR pros as event managers and not strategic advisors . This will change because it will take a few months for most organizations to begin advertising after the pandemic and they will need to adopt PR and strategic communication approaches which is cheaper than marketing to reach their stakeholders .
To avoid HR related overheads such as tax and pensions many companies will prefer to work with agencies , consultants and
Corporate communication has become more critical during this pandemic given its agenda setting and stakeholder management role . Communication has been thrust into a strategic level and PR managers have become strategic advisors to business leaders bridging the gap between the company , its employees , customers and the communities they serve .
individuals to achieve this communication need . This will open up opportunities for PR pros , journalists and bloggers to advise companies on communication strategy , media placements , insights and communications planning alongside the usual PR and event services .
The profession will continue to attract ‘ magicians ’ as it has in the past . We are all looking forward to outdoor events under the sun or stars . This will become a saturated space and competition around event planning and management will increase . Companies should expect to pay a little more for these services as there will be more middlemen to go past . Most people will be working from home and organizations will be looking for communications professionals and media personnel who are more creative and more experienced in specific industries .
Already , use of online webinars has grown and they are only getting better and better . What started as zoom calls and Teams meetings have evolved into digital studio productions relaying information to hundreds of people as it would happen during a live news TV broadcast . This points to innovation in the profession that should sprout soon and will be around artificial intelligence . Artificial intelligence will be a key driver of the profession doing in 3 minutes what it will take a whole agency team to do in two weeks .
Already online platforms exist where one can write a release , brand it , add a logo and send it as PDF to newsrooms . Individuals can also brand social media posts , add photos , text and logos and schedule them for posting via online platforms cutting off the need for a designer , social media manager and copy writer . Only communication professionals who will continue to look for more innovative ways to hook their clients and profile their organizations will see value in the growth of digital for communication .
The profession is shaping and growing faster than we can grasp . There is always someone with a better idea , a better app , a better-quality streamer and an easier way to do something . PR week recently published a survey that gives the state of the profession in America . Looking at the report , I would say that the findings are easily relatable for any communications professional in any part of the world .
The growing convergence of PR and marketing has left a thin line between the two practices . Most organizations that embraced digital operations eventually integrated marketing and communications to achieve organizational goals . This just goes to show that communication will become global and the profession will become more meaningful .
A lot of people will also begin to understand the difference that PR and communication can make in a company if done well and they will appreciate that PR is not about putting up flowers and banners . We have an opportunity to elevate the profession locally and internationally , we should take the rightful place we have long waited to occupy .
Diana Obath is a seasoned Public Relations and Communications Specialist . You can commune with her on this or related issues via mail on : ObathD @ gmail . com .