While disruption should not be seen as a bad thing, new technology comes with new hurdles. The effects of disruption generally include threats to a company’s long-term viability by more agile competitors, increased regulation, changes in consumer tastes, and new technologies. Developing good disruptive PR skills can help brands face these challenges head-on. For this reason, PR agencies are expected to deliver more strategy, content, channels, creativity, and measurements. Additionally, there is a growing concern about attracting the right audience, adapting to new technologies, and increasing investment levels. Content creation, social media, and brand reputation are just a few factors that have driven the growth in PR.
Let us look at how some companies and PR professionals can overcome disruption.
1) Always consider the audience first
Rather than basing business explanations in terms of key demographics, price points, or distribution platforms, businesses need to focus on their audiences’ needs and wants before all else. This approach has been the foundation of many successful PR strategies.
According to Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen, some companies succeed due to their understanding of people’s needs and their ability to develop products and services that fit those needs.
2) When times change, change your business
This does not mean changing a business’s brand image. It merely means changing business strategies to fit with the trends. In traditional PR, the news chain can be broken up into newsgathering, distribution, and selling of the news. However, these days search engines, blogs, and social media have become the leading platforms for people to consume and create information. Companies need to shift their PR efforts to encompass more digital strategies and stay relevant in the industry.
3) Build capabilities for a new world
Disruption has caused PR specialists to think about repurposing their core skills to create new, high-demand services that businesses and their target audiences are looking for. Digital PR skills now include content marketing, curation, brand journalism, social media research and analysis, social marketing, and social media management. All these requirements may seem overwhelming, but these PR tactics can boost a company’s media coverage.
According to New York University journalism professor Jay Rosen, every company in the digital age has become a media company. In order for them to succeed, PR should be a central part of their business plan.
4) Risk management
Finally, another way to overcome disruption is to have an effective crisis management plan. Risk-taking is a big part of what makes companies successful. Even so, companies need a plan to fix unforeseen problems. With previous PR and marketing, companies may have been able to get away with planning for various outcomes. With disruption, that is no longer the case. The problems companies are facing now have become more complex and span many different platforms. For this reason, the need to respond to sudden changes effectively is critical. Rather than being too rigid and only addressing specific parts of the problem and solution, companies need to be more flexible in addressing the issue.
Conclusion
Disruptive PR might seem daunting, but more companies need to embrace it rather than run away scared. The digital world is continually changing, and companies and PR professionals must adapt to recent trends and adopt new technologies if they want to survive. To stay relevant in their industry, companies need to fully understand the impact of disruption and keep up to date to stay ahead of current trends, be competitive, and use it to their advantage. From a PR perspective, trouble has provided new ways of communication, new ways to use channels, and changed how content is generated and distributed.
While companies may be able to create content on their own, sometimes it is a good idea to hire PR agencies, like Pressfarm. Pressfarm is has a team of experts in the industry who are up-to-date on current trends.
With a professional press release, some engaging guest posts and an eye-catching media kit, you can create a memorable brand image. In addition to helping you create this quality content, Pressfarm can also help you to distribute it, thus putting it in front of the right eyes.
By submitting your content to the right media outlets and startup directories, Pressfarm can help you rank in relevant search results across different search engines. Additionally, our media database of 1 million+ journalists can help you connect with expert storytellers to help you share your brand story.