In The Know on the Top PR Trends for 2023

Can you believe it's already November? It's about that time to start planning for 2023 and we're excited to share some of the top trends we've identified for 2023 to help inform your campaigns next year.

I'm Grace Hallen, Digital Marketing Specialist at Brandpoint, and in this edition of In The Know, I'll be sharing three of Brandpoint's top trends for the PR industry for 2023 along with examples of companies doing a great job of acting on those trends.

Read the full PR Trends for 2023 eBook here.

Social media as a search tool

Social media is the hallmark tool of this generation, a tool that fosters communication and community building. It's a hub for people to learn, find comedic relief, get creative and share their lives. It's no wonder people are turning to social media channels as a search tool, especially with the popularization of TikTok. Just last weekend I was searching for "Halloween activities in Minneapolis" in my TikTok search bar.

TikTok has already started to address this function by making site content easier to search for through keywords and SEO.

So, what does this mean for you? First of all, make sure you're paying attention to your content on social media sites and optimizing it for SEO - if people are searching a topic related to your content, you'll want your content to show in the results. You can also use social listening to get an understanding of consumer sentiment and promote your content on social platforms.

A great example of optimizing your post for search is this TikTok from Hunter. I searched "public relations" and their video on working at a PR agency was the first result, earning them great PR and giving them the opportunity to show off what it looks like to work at their company. They used relevant hashtags to optimize their post for search.

Leveraging user-generated content

Influencers and user-generated content go hand-in-hand. In this world of social media, anyone can be a content creator, so making sure you're monitoring your channels for content that mentions your brand is crucial to holding up your brand name. You never know what someone might say about your brand - good or bad.

User-generated content can provide you with an awesome opportunity to engage with the consumers or enter a new brand community on social media. It helps you tune into what people like or don't like about your product or service and can even give you an in on popular trends.

Don't be afraid to promote successful UGC, but be picky about which types of content you align your brand with. Commenting on posts without thinking about the potential backlash can result in just that - backlash. So be careful when engaging.

Bottom line, users are jumping on social media to talk about just about anything, and that probably means talking about your product, service or brand in some way. Just be aware of these mentions so you know when to intervene or provide a positive response.

Whenever I think of this topic, one TikTok in particular comes to mind:

This user quickly went viral after sharing this video, and both Ocean Spray and Stevie Nicks reacted positively to the video. They played up the video by Ocean Spray giving the creator a new cranberry-colored truck and Nicks creating her own video singing along to "Dreams" with a bottle of Ocean Spray in the video frame. Needless to say, this video created a lot of positive energy around the Ocean Spray brand and the company was equipped to jump in and respond.

Corporate social responsibility as a PR focus

When your consumers' expectations of your brand increase, what do you do?

You show them exactly how your organization is making an effort to better society! Consumers are demanding corporations take a stronger stance on initiatives that matter, things like sustainability and DEI. Companies that can appeal to the consumer and actually make an impact are the ones that will continue to succeed.

Take Patagonia, for instance. Patagonia is widely recognized and commended for its dedication to reducing its carbon footprint and working toward combatting climate change. The key to their success is not only talking about their initiatives in a ton of their external communications, but also their willingness to work with their customers and their dedication to their mission - they're actually putting in the work to make a difference.

I remember a post I saw on LinkedIn about a year ago where someone shared their story of sending in their ripped Patagonia jacket to the Patagonia repair team where they repaired the jacket for free. This is a prime example of a company willing to do what it takes to stand by their mission - they're putting profits aside by fixing a jacket for free rather than encouraging the customer to buy a new jacket. Their commitment to sustainability is clear.

This post, along with the 134,016 reactions it garnered, is proof that consumers are more likely to purchase from a brand whose values they align with.

What does that mean for you? Listen to what your customers are asking of you and figure out how to align it with your mission and values.

Whew, that's a lot of trend analysis for one newsletter! If you're looking for more, make sure to check out our Top PR Trends for 2023 eBook to see what else is in store next year.

Thanks for reading and happy planning!

-Grace Hallen