Here’s our take on What’s In and What’s Out for PR Pros 2024
As laptops and offices open up after the Christmas break, 2024 PR and Marketing activity has ramped up with yet more hot topic tracking, sifting through industry reports, and searching through social media.
Speaking of social media research, one trend that caught our Social Media team’s attention is the “2024 Ins and Outs” trend – predictions by any other name but catchier! #InsAndOuts has already racked up over an impressive 27,500 posts on TikTok alone! Here at IBA, we’re no strangers to catching on to popular social media trends and giving them a B2B spin (hello, #WorkTok).
So, putting to one side the rather cynical journalist on the New York Times jest about ‘tongue-in-cheek’ predictions and regular people moonlighting as professional prognosticators, for our first Monthly Roundup of 2024 we thought we’d try jump on the social media trend!
IN – Trendjacking to keep content fresh and relevant
At IBA International, we are always following the top MSM media outlets to keep a pulse check on what’s trending now. Hitching a ride on these stories AKA trendjacking, is an excellent way of ensuring your content remains fresh and relevant. So, when the team spotted in our weekly internal themes meeting that supply chain issues were in the headlines as the Panama Canal drought, Suez Canal queues, and geopolitical problems in the Red Sea were causing issues for retailers worldwide, we sprung into action with our Data Movement client’s support!
Not only did the story have legs, it had geographical spread from the US through Europe and beyond. The placements are still rolling in. Textbook trendjacking – definitely one for our “In” list!
OUT – AI content creation for the media
With a recent HubSpot study showing that 55% of employees are using unapproved AI tools to aid their work, AI was at the center of our minds when drafting our “Outs”. Any regular reader of our blogs will know that we spent the past year tracking all things AI and ChatGPT in our AI blog series – here’s our latest instalment if you need a reminder! Companies must have a policy on the use and the misuse of AI. For the creation of media content and SME thought leadership copy, AI has firmly earned its place on our “Out” list! Not a believer? Make sure you check out our AI usage policy to keep on the right side of the AI law!
IN – Power to the press release!
It comes as no surprise that the press release has also secured a spot on our “In” list. The press release provides an important framework for your PR and brand awareness campaign. It enables you to talk about your products and services, your revenues, your growth and business momentum, your industry success – something you can only obliquely do in a thought leadership article or case study,
This month, our Aerospace and Defense client had not one, but two major press releases to share with industry media worldwide, a new CEO appointment and a new customer. The IBA Pitch & Place team secured 11 placements for the CEO appointment, and 16 for the customer story – just goes to show the power of strong leadership at the top and good customer endorsement!
Remember, when well written and aimed at the right target audiences, press releases can be one of the most powerful tools in your armory – it’s a PR classic!
OUT – Content isn’t a “one trick pony”
Thinking of quality content, our next “Out” is only using good content once! A long content lifecycle is a true sign of a well thought-out campaign. As our CEO shared in this recent O’Dwyers article. PR and Marketing professionals need to maximize the content lifecycle to hone in on their brand messaging – it’s as easy as repurposing readily available content into different formats.
The same message from more than one source is more readily believed. So, our “Out” is not to blow the full time whistle on content you’ve only used once!
IN – Research to keep your finger on the marketing pulse!
This month we’ve already brought Attention Marketing to your attention (pun intended), and taken a deep dive into industry reports such as HubSpot’s recent Marketing, Sales, and CX Pulse Check report. There’s plenty more marketing ideas to come – watch this space for the low-down on GEO (yep, here comes AI in the form of Generative Engine Optimization) and the power of Zero Click content (surely an oxymoron?). It’s all about keeping an eye on upcoming trends to keep ourselves, and our customers ahead of the competition – a definite “In” for us!
In for 2024 and Out with 2023
From trendjacking to research and timely press releases, our “In” list has provided the perfect springboard for a great start to 2024, and our “Out” list has reminded us what is better left in 2023!
Caitlin Goldsmith is PR Executive at IBA International.
Leave a comment