With 2017 now in full swing, and the campaign #MerryBackToNormal dominating our TV screens, it’s time to look to the year ahead and assess the major trends that are set to cause a storm in the PR world this year.

As music to our ears, earned media will be the king of content in 2017, with businesses putting less emphasis on advertisements, opting instead to develop strong relationships with the media. With a little help from a JAMming PR agency, this means companies can create a powerful sense of authority and credible presence within their industry.

There seems to be no slowing down for digital growth in 2017, with more and more organisations looking to develop their digital footprint. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and increasingly, Virtual Reality (VR) saw massive growth in the latter half of 2016, sparking major investments from the likes of Samsung to get VR products to the every day consumer. As we truly embed into what’s been dubbed the ‘fourth revolution’, I think we can safely assume that 2017 will bring even more interest and investment into digital, meaning lots of exciting opportunities for PR too.

The unprecedented growth in digital has caused more measurable and meaningful statistics for practitioners. With digital and online public relations growing, the way in which practitioners are evaluating their work is changing. Unique impressions, social media engagement and unique monthly visits will be more important than ever before when it comes to evaluating the success of a campaign. However, traditional evaluation is still key and AVEs and OTS will still be key indicators to success.

While live video streaming has increased in popularity over the past 12 months, we’re expecting further growth in 2017, after all, as a society, we are becoming heavily reliant on visual content. With the likes of Facebook, Periscope and Instagram putting aside huge budgets for live video this year, and with video set to make up 75% of mobile traffic by 2020, massive growth is inevitable. So, PRs must harness the power of video, building it into their campaigns to ensure client content is being seen.

Here at JAM we never compromise meaningful content for SEO. However, with the way in which SEO is changing and Google’s algorithms rewarding high-quality content over those packed with links and keywords, it is inevitable that PR and SEO must continue to work hand-in-hand. By creating high quality content and great thought-leadership pieces for clients, PRs will aid SEOs to deliver top ranking websites for the businesses they work with.

Although seen as an ongoing trend in the last few years, 2017 is set to be the year of the great social media influencers. 92% of individuals said they trust recommendations from online influencers with strong social media followings1. So, it is essential brands and PRs build relationships with online bloggers, Vloggers and all other kinds of social media sensations to develop a great awareness for their products, particularly those that are consumer based. Additionally, with social media followings being a key indication of trust for many consumers, PRs must continue to focus on building their clients’ online presence.

2016 saw headlines being dominated by the fake news agenda. With Facebook making it their aim to tackle fake news articles on their platform in 2017, it means the media will be more attentive than ever when it comes to facts and figures. As always, PRs must remain vigilant, ensuring their data is coming from reliable sources and they have the evidence to back up their stories.

To find out how JAM can help you have an excellent PR year in 2017, contact our award winning team on 0161 850 0565.

1. http://www.cision.com/us/2016/11/4-pr-trends-for-2017/