3 Need-To-Know Tendencies of 2023. AI expansion, sustainability emergency, and purpose-focused campaigns in the spotlight

Society is evolving by leaps and bounds, and so does the public relations industry — one of the pillars shaping communities’ beliefs and opinions. While last year we witnessed a market of influencers, personal brands, or mainstream adoption of podcasts, the year ahead will introduce us to AI, sustainability in PR, and meaningful purpose-based campaigns. We decided to share thoughts on the key issues PR practitioners have to be mindful of in the year ahead. Catch up with the latest PR tendencies that will define 2023 to create impactful campaigns this year and beyond.

Trend #1. Emphasis on meaningful, well-thought purpose focused campaigns

Lately, the market was overwhelmed with purpose-focused stories, which did not always respond to the company’s long-term goals, such as building a strong message or giving a company voice in the media space. Instead, these stories were aimed at receiving short-term benefits such as increasing audience engagement, which, eventually, was hardly beneficial for a company’s credibility.

In the year ahead, PR practitioners, instead, should be mindful of the impact their stories have and deliver messages as a part of a long-term strategy that aligns with their business goals, offer consistent, repeated communication, and provide a clear call to action, which every well-thought PR campaign holds. By offering a clear purpose and perspective, a business builds transparency and credibility in the eyes of a wider public.

Trend #2. Focus on the global environment among the PR community

Sustainability is no longer an option, it is a must. This year will result in an increasing number of “green” claims, and proper government guidance addressing sustainability in communications — we’ll see more moves in that direction both in the UK and abroad.

PR specialists will have to strictly follow guidelines and deeply understand the nature of their campaigns. They will have to be really conscious of what the guidance says and have to be willing to challenge internally to convey the proper message.

Currently, many companies are making net zero commitments — reducing greenhouse gas emissions to a possible minimum, with any remaining emissions re-absorbed from the atmosphere, by oceans and forests — with most of them having to do some form of offsetting to achieve what they’ve set out as their goal. However, offsetting should never be the first choice. And if doing offsets, one has to deeply evaluate what they actually are, how they’re being calculated, and how they’re being verified.

Trend #3. AI being commonly used in the PR industry

Numerous AI-powered applications and software are now being developed to cover tedious and monotonous tasks PR specialists currently have to manage themselves. Many AI solutions, however, are currently being used already to perform analyses of large volumes of data, create targeted media lists for pitching, or generate content plans. Such tools as TrendHunter or ChatGPD, for instance, are widely used to collect and analyze data or assist in copywriting of press releases.

Even though public relations have always been about human interaction, these technologies will be used and further developed to take over routine and time-consuming tasks to provide PR practitioners with opportunities to cover strategic and creative tasks instead.

Summing Up

Since PR communications define the audience’s opinions and beliefs, specialists are to be informed of the leading tendencies at all times. Be it a sustainable approach gaining momentum among the PR community or AI applications being firmly incorporated into the industry. This year, the focus will be on meaningful, well-thought campaigns with a deep understanding of one’s business goals. Communications will also further include the global environment agenda while AI-powered software will be smoothly incorporated into the daily workload — these are the tendencies that will define the year 2023.

This post included highlights from the PRCA and Agility PR solutions webinars on the PR trends in 2023.