3 PR Trends On the Rise in 2019

I can’t believe that it is April already, where has the time gone? Hopefully though, this means the sun is on its way – yippee! Just like any type of marketing (and the British weather), the trends for digital PR are ever changing, and while some traditional PR methods are going out of the window, new and exciting methods of gaining coverage are coming in for us to take full advantage of.

Here are three digital PR trends that I’ve noticed are on the increase already in 2019:

Influencer Marketing

I have clients that are a lot more open to product placements than they were last year, simply because they can see how effective it has been for their competitors. It is a simple, strategic way to gain not just a strong following, but hopefully conversions too.

I still think the whole influencer thing is crazy. I mean… people quit their full-time jobs to share photos of products that they receive for free from a brand. I can’t even explain how many emails I get per week from bloggers and influencers that ask to promote some of our clients’ products in exchange for a mention. Mad.

I think having strong relationships with influencers is equally important as having strong relationships with journalists, and here is why: An influencer’s Instagram account may work in the same way that a magazine does.

For example, let’s take a clothing brand, and say that brand wanted to use a style influencer to promote a t-shirt to their followers. The only followers of that account will be those with an interest in fashion, similarly to those people purchasing the likes of ELLE and Vogue. PR professionals know that these influencers are able to get these products seen by hundreds of thousands in the same niche, and brand awareness is definitely pushed as a result, and often conversions too!

Integration Between Digital Marketing and PR

Before Liberty, I worked at a traditional PR agency that didn’t really focus on digital. However, I recently spotted on LinkedIn that the agency is pushing digital marketing as one of their skills after learning more about SEO and link-building.

The word has definitely got out to traditional PR agencies about the importance of digital marketing, and I really wouldn’t be surprised if, by the end of 2019, the majority of PR agencies in the UK offer both digital marketing and PR as a service, rather than stand-alone PR.

In other words, there will be a lot more competition on the horizon throughout 2019 as traditional PR agencies now understand why digital PR and link-building will benefit their clients.

PR professionals now need to ensure they’re checking in with journalists more frequently. Whether this is to check in to see if they can help them with anything they’re working on, or whether it is just a ‘hey, how are you doing?’ (if you have that type of relationship). Journalists will have contacts in every niche, so it is important to make contact.

Incorporating Visuals in Press Releases

I don’t know why this hasn’t been a thing forever, really? I mean, I get bored after reading a paragraph or so, never mind reading a whole press release bombarding me with information. We’ve started incorporating graphs and infographics into our releases, just to make things a little more exciting for journalists.

Journalists are on a quick turnaround when it comes to writing web stories, as sites constantly need refreshing, so they want something that they can look at quick and get an understanding of what is going on, without having to read paragraph after paragraph.

Infographics are great as they display all of the information without asking someone to spend time reading an entire release. Plus, journalists also understand the importance of visuals, so it will give them something extra to add when it comes to writing a web story.

Also, as journalists are working at such a fast pace when it comes to writing web stories, it is worth sending a Dropbox or WeTransfer link in the original email to cut out any unnecessary chasing.

So..

In my opinion, this industry is on track to becoming seriously competitive, and most agencies will make the jump from focussing on traditional PR to focussing solely on digital PR and link-building.

Not to worry though, if you can manage to keep up with the ever-changing digital PR trends, such as influencer marketing and stepping away from the standard text-only press release, then your digital PR strategy should remain top form!

If you’re in need of some link-building and digital PR help, then get in touch with the Liberty team!