March 22, 2023
Clients Expect More from PR
As the media landscape fragments and brand trust continues to fade, organizations and executives want more from PR professionals. Clients need counsel to help them navigate complex multichannel approaches as audiences look beyond traditional news outlets.
Increasingly, earned media coverage is no longer the gold standard—clients expect strong social media strategies and branded editorial content. With PR budgets more vulnerable during uncertain economic times, consultants should frequently communicate value, return on investment, and measurement of their work.
The Fight Against Disinformation Continues
Half of journalists recently surveyed cite disinformation as a top concern. It remains a growing threat across traditional and social media with emerging technology providing more opportunities to mislead. And while online platforms have begun reporting how they’re fighting the spread, recent tech layoffs have significantly downsized teams designated to combat disinformation.
The age of AI is also refocusing the fight against disinformation. With more companies implementing generative AI, attention has shifted to preventing its misuse. Cybersecurity experts are sounding the alarm on the need for meaningful regulation while more educators are incorporating digital and media literacy into instruction.
Search Engines Disrupted by New Tech
Search engines are facing the biggest wave of disruption since their inception decades ago. Younger generations are increasingly turning to social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram for search instead of Google. And while Microsoft’s Bing has incorporated OpenAI’s GPT-4, many are bypassing search engines altogether in favor of AI (artificial intelligence) chatbots like ChatGPT. Google has responded by releasing its own AI chatbot, Bard.
SEO (search engine optimization) is also changing. Google recently modified their search quality standards to weight author experience, likely to differentiate human- and AI-written content. However, since AI chatbots answer questions instead of delivering ranked results, boosting SEO could become less important for brands over time.
Sequence Summaries: PR Expectations, Fighting Disinformation, and Search Engine Disruption
Tweet
Sequence Summaries is a weekly series summarizing the top news and takeaways in PR and strategic communications. Sign-up for direct delivery to your inbox.