It’s time to take an outside-in approach and uncover what really connects your brand to journalists
In 2025, PR pros met their new media engagement competitor – it’s an informed, safely bland, and uncourageous algorithm – powered by AI! It’s now 2026, and time to compete on human terms. Nothing turns a journalist off more than all that marketing speak, and it won’t sell your company. Journalists deal in ideas, and grabbing their attention among the AI content swarm means looking at communications from the outside in, not from the inside out. Uncover what really separates your story from your competitors and captures the eye of journalists.
Towards the backend of last year, we looked at the key B2B marketing lessons learned from 2025. But in an ever-changing landscape, there is no time for PR pros to rest on their laurels, it’s full steam ahead as we enter 2026, so we check out a recent Cision article to see what B2B PR Pros can utilize to make a meaningful and measurable impact to their New Year PR campaigns.
1. More of the same won’t hack it as media volatility continues
The changing media landscape has been one of the biggest challenges for PR pros for several years. The stats say 2026 is set to be no different, with 60% of respondents in a recent Cision survey naming it their biggest hurdle. With social media constantly evolving, journalist inboxes being flooded, and PR and marketing pros already stretched ice-thin, agility will be crucial to succeed this year.
But that doesn’t mean more of the same. Remember, you have the still small (usually bland) voice of generative AI competing with your media conversations and engagements
Now think personalized and powerful content, always keeping ears open with social listening tactics, and tapping into the PR data revolution. That’s where those quick wins can elevate an organization to the forefront of an emerging industry topic.
2. The new rules of newsroom engagement – you can’t beat reading what they write!
Heading into 2026, there is a new set of rules PR pros must understand for the newsroom: with pressure building on journalist’s too – it’s time to make their lives easier! Here are the 2026 top rules of the newsroom:
- Credibility is key: The biggest challenge journalists face is adapting to audience behaviors. People now trust people more than news outlets, so PR pros need to establish their brands as trusted industry leaders. This will not only help their brand resonate with their target audience but also with journalists.
- The power of personalization: Standing out in a journalist’s inbox is not easy, and it’s the job of the PR pro to do so. Generative AI can write boring generic pitches, probably slightly better than you can! It’s time to get personal and establish a relationship with them – and remember, trust is key in the B2B game!
- Relevance rules: Journalists receive hundreds of pitches daily, and PR pros stand no chance with irrelevant pitches! Not only does the story you’re pitching need to be relevant in the industry (hello, hot topic tracking), but the pitch needs to be sent to the relevant people (don’t forget the importance of understanding the journalist and their audience).
3. The human edge in a digital era
Nearly half of PR pros surveyed see AI and automation as the IBA motto articulated since the emergence of ChatGPT and LLMs: “They make good people smarter and mediocre people worse.” This year will see the top PR pros be able to leverage the best of both people and technology, and Cision agrees, stating, “In 2026, the PR ‘winners’ will be those who can balance speed with the human touch.”
Here’s where PR pros can refine their skills for 2026: a balance needs to be struck between utilizing AI for tasks such as media monitoring/data analysis and not forgetting the human element of PR, which is responsible for creative content creation, strategic storytelling, and personal media relations.
4. Pressure mounts from above to turn brand awareness into ROI
PR pros have a goal in mind, it seems – for 73% of them, it’s to drive brand awareness. However, the goal for C-Suite executives is slightly different, they want to see the business impact of PR in terms of sales and revenue.
One key lesson learned from 2025 was the power of brand storytelling and how it can be a key driver for increasing brand awareness. In an era filled with questionable AI-generated content, a B2B PR campaign can tell a story to build trust and authenticity when telling its brand’s story.
B2B audiences and consumers alike want original content that showcases brands as credible thought leaders. That’s where PR pros need to look at their strategies to ensure they are tapping into their valuable SMEs’ industry knowledge, carefully placing thought leadership in relevant industry publications, and exploiting the video storytelling revolution. Now, PR can really take a seat at the C-suite table and demonstrate how it is directly playing a role to turn leads into customers and move the business needle.
Drain the AI swamp – it’s power to the people in 2026!
In today’s digital era, the PR industry is moving at a thousand miles an hour, and the PR pros who take a step back from chasing the latest technology will be those who come out on top. As the whirlwind of AI continues to fill a crowded media landscape, PR pros need to remember the importance of the human touch to gain a competitive edge. Creating original, authentic content will be key to building better relationships with audiences and journalists, and ensuring they don’t drown in the AI swamp.
Sam Walker is a PR Executive at IBA International.
