Digital & Technology

Muck Rack recently surveyed over 800 PR professionals, ranging from coordinators at boutique agencies to Chief Communications Officers at major global brands, to take a pulse on the state of PR in 2019. Among its questions, the survey looked at how communicators are spending their time, their money, and what software they use. Muck Rack will drill deeper into these results at PR News Google Bootcamp for Communicators, taking place on July 17th at the Yale Club in NYC. Looking at these survey findings, it’s easy to see why a base level of tech literacy is not only helpful, but necessary for PR pros— the results remind us that measuring success remains the number one challenge for our profession.

There is always more to the story of data collection than just a consumer’s well-being. For Amazon, and marketers everywhere, emotional-recognition voice software could help provide the most specific personal insights to date to promote product recommendations, targeted ads, and eventually, the creation of products that could impact and relate to mental and physical health.

Earlier this month we asked questions of communicators who were honored as PR Professionals of the Year during 2018’s PRNEWS Platinum Awards luncheon in NY. We asked about improving relations with journalists, how brands can maintain a human touch in a tech-driven world and several other topics.

We are in an age when many artists and creators complain of their narrative intentions being twisted in the interest of pandering to algorithms, demographics, or stilted rollout strategies around marketing their new release. Still, one of the foundational services offered by full-service PR firms includes an client bio and one-sheet for the new release or product. How does our profession make peace with this disconnect?

Seven years ago, Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin launched TheSkimm from their living room couch. Both were 25 years old, working in the news industry as producers, and found themselves in the midst of a crisis: How could they move forward in an industry that they loved, but in which they didn’t see a lot of innovation or routes upward?

Andrew Davis humorously pointed out we have a “FOMOOASP” problem: fear-of-missing-out-on-another-social-platform. “The marketing pie isn’t getting bigger, it’s just getting sliced more ways,” he said. He noted that brands’ budgets and time haven’t kept pace with audiences’ multi-channel content diet.

Are you neglecting email marketing in pursuit of shiny objects (like social media)? Jon Chang, global product marketer for IBM Watson and lecturer on NYU’s adjunct faculty teaching social media and web analytics, still sees email as a crucial channel for marketers and communicators in 2019. Here are seven of Chang’s tips and reminders for communicators looking to strengthen their chops as email tacticians.

Search and location tools can provide help for consumers according to their saved data preferences. Your browser always seems to find the right ads for you for things you may want to buy, but don’t necessarily need at that moment, thanks to search data. Data can be useful to consumers, but can feel kind of icky, when users realize where it is going.

What can AI do for communications measurement? Plenty, is the short answer. The larger question, of course, is whether or not AI will replace humans or augment them. Edelman Intelligence’s global measurement lead Pauline Draper-Watts weighs in on this important discussion.

Our regular roundtable feature includes honorees from the 2018 PRNEWS Platinum PR awards and speakers from The Social Shake-Up. Among the questions we put to them: What qualities does a successful communicator need? With the onslaught of technology, how can brands ensure customers have a human experience? And what social media trends are you eager to learn more about during the Social Shake-Up?