This blog is brought to you by Holly Brennan, Account Coordinator, MAVERICK

What a year to end the decade! Between a federal election, college scandals and the remix to ignition…wait I mean incarceration, 2019 never ceased to have a dull moment.

However, as we jump feet first into a brand-new decade, the first few days haven’t shied away from requiring the attention of PR professionals.

Australia is being ravaged by the worst wildfires seen in years, Justin Trudeau’s facial hair is growing out of control, Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex “step back” from their role as royals and well, an impeached President Donald Trump may have initiated World War 3 -- and we’re not even two weeks into the New Year. My 2020 vision tells me that this year PR will play a crucial role in keeping the world from moral panic.

With that, let’s look at three PR trends that are on this horizon:

1. Data-Informed Campaigns

We all know that the media loves a good survey. Numbers play a crucial role in getting key messages to stand out in the news cycle. Data will continue to play a large role in guiding campaigns and measuring their impact, but I anticipate it will be even more important in determining the value of PR in 2020.

2. Increased Accuracy, Transparency, Authenticity and #FakeNews

Authenticity is arguably more important than ever and us communication professionals will need to stay vigilant against fake news and other forms of misinformation. We continue to see consumers growing increasingly wary of the information they are exposed to. For this reason, I suspect mirco-influencer relations to become even more popular this year. Influencers can tell a brands’ story authentically and organically through their own voices.

3. A rise in storytelling

Journalists inboxes are inundated with press releases and pitches every day and if you’re lucky, they MIGHT give yours a glance. I have found producing engaging content that is automatically ready to publish is invaluable for building relationships with journalists and securing earned media coverage.

This can be done through:

· Op-eds

· Infographics

· Whitepaper

· Guest posts

This coming year is bound to be an exciting one and I’m looking forward to seeing what PR strategies come from it.

Top PR trends to watch in 2020