NEW YORK: Stagwell Marketing Cloud’s State of Comms Tech report has detailed six predictions for the industry this year.
In the past, PR pros could rely on their ability to shape compelling stories and develop relationships with journalists who would be interested in them, but that’s no longer the complete picture. Now, it’s more difficult to reach an audience or launch a campaign that creates an impact, and there are hundreds of tools that can help communications professionals do their jobs, from media monitoring and social listening to influencer management and generative artificial intelligence.
Stagwell predicted that generative AI will be particularly impactful, helping to draft pitches, press releases and social copy, while making work more efficient and allowing for increased output.
The holding company also said AI will play a role in predictive pitching. Predictive pitching tools will make media blasts obsolete while increasing the likelihood of coverage by reaching the journalists who are most likely to be interested in a story.
Brand safety will continue to be important, as consumers have high expectations of the brands they use. Marketers will need to think carefully about how and where they share ads and stories, as they use tools from ad verification and content moderation to sentiment analysis and social listening.
Another major trend Stagwell expects to see is increased optionality for comms tech tools. With the rise of cloud-hosted, no-code and low-code tools, as well as point solutions, PR pros will no longer be dependent on legacy workflow platforms, but will be able to choose tools that best suit their needs.