I know what you’re thinking, “isn’t it a bit early for the 2020 trend blogs?”
I hear you. I walked into my local supermarket this week and was greeted by ‘Last Christmas’ blaring out the speakers.
However, with an industry that evolves as quickly as digital pr, you can never be too prepared.
Traditional PR is dead. As a result, more and more businesses are realizing the benefits of digital pr and using it to build exposure with their target audiences and grow their digital footprints.
Therefore, your business needs to stay ahead of the curve and know what to expect. I’ve got you covered. Publicize grouped together and decided on the digital pr trends your business should look out for in 2020.
Let’s get into it:
Increased measurement of your digital PR efforts
In the past, measuring your digital pr efforts was a difficult and ambitious venture.
However, the increasing reliability of real-time data alongside the insights we can pull from that data has given us greater autonomy over our digital pr output.
We’re able to understand exactly how our message is received and who by. Moreover, we can use this information to adjust our communication and optimize its impact.
The growing availability and use of metrics are great for startup pr. The more data your startup or small business measures, the more effective your campaigns can be. Not to mention it’s a darn sight easier on your budget than traditional pr methods.
Here are a few ways your startup can measure the success of your digital pr campaigns:
- Check the domain authority (DA) scores of your backlinks, brand mentions, and own website
- Track your email opens
- Monitor spikes in your inbound traffic
All this data can be downright overwhelming. We think it’s best practice for you to set some SMART goals or KPIs for what your digital pr campaigns are looking to achieve. Or – if you want some outside help – let’s have a chat.
Integration with marketing
Yes, I may be biased by saying this. However, I believe that 2020 is the year that public relations are seen as an ally to marketing.
There are a number of ways that forward-thinking marketing and PR teams can integrate and grow their results by working alongside each other.
What’s a working example of marketing and PR combining?
Well, one way your business can merge the two is by sharing your most relevant and successful earned media wins across your paid and owned media channels. This provides you with more credible content and gets further recognition for your earned media content. In turn, this builds your brand recognition and as well as your target audience.
A rise in storytelling
It’s been a rough few years for press releases. Journalists are inundated with press releases every day and spend less than a minute reading them. In 2020, they will still be effective but should be used sparingly and through the right press release distribution service.
However, as a startup, one digital pr method that will be used more and more is storytelling. The 24-hour-news-cycle has put added pressure on journalists and publications. As a result, they’re in dire need of higher quality content.
That’s where your startup steps in.
Producing engaging content that is automatically ready to publish is invaluable for building relationships with journalists and gaining media coverage for your startup.
Not sure what content you could be producing? Here are some ideas:
- Guest posts
- Infographics
- White Papers
- EBooks
Earned and owned media being adapted for social media
In 2020, the way brands interact with their target audiences on social media is going to continue to evolve.
The way social media users engage with their timelines has drastically shifted over the past couple of years. A recent report of the world’s top 100 brands revealed that stories have overtaken the main feed. Therefore, in 2020, you need to ensure that you’re thinking of how your earned and owned media content can be adapted beyond the news feed.
Furthermore, Facebook’s recent algorithm update has resulted in a drastic fall for organic reach for businesses. Therefore, as any digital pr agency would tell you, this upcoming year it’s more vital than ever before that you have a well-thought-out social media pr and marketing plan that uses a variety of paid and organic content.
An increase in voice content
This year it was announced that over 100 million Alexa devices have been sold. Voice search is officially taking over. Furthermore, these virtual home assistants are no longer being used for playing music or turning on other electronic devices. There is an increasing number of people using them to consume news and other information.
These are two factors that digital pr firms will have to consider in 2020. The increase in voice search has lead to companies such as Proctor and Gamble researching the differences between consumer behavior voice, in-person, or online.
You’ll also need to consider earned media wins with voice content. That means podcasts. Podcasts are not only a great way for you to learn more about your industry, but they’re also great thought leadership content that can build your authority within your industry.
There are thousands of podcasts aimed at startups and entrepreneurs. We advise you look to make a guest appearance on as many as possible in 2020.
As anyone who has ever played fantasy football will tell you, predictions are difficult. However, due to our understanding of digital pr metrics and our wide-ranging experience, these are five predictions you can hang your hat on.
