PR Close-Up: What are 2016 Trends?

At Chaloner, we work extensively in the realm of public relations across all services and industries. We get an inside look at how PR is changing and growing. Here are some exciting emerging trends:

Thought leadership is a priority
As John Halls said in a recent Forbes article, increasing emphasis is being placed on thought leadership in the PR sphere. Thought leaders are experts in their space, and bring innovative ideas into fruition in a repeatable way. Not only are companies looking for ways to bring thought leaders in as a service, they are also looking to hire thought leaders to join their companies. Putting resources and money towards thought leadership means that audiences will be exposed to relevant, exciting, and innovative content—and that’s good news for everybody.

Healthcare gets the spotlight
In the current political climate, healthcare is a hot topic. There’s no doubt that healthcare will be heavily discussed on the campaign trail, which means that healthcare companies, particularly pharmaceutical companies, need to focus on telling the right story. “Drug prices are an easy target and clearly in the cross hairs, look for pharma companies to promote initiatives that demonstrate their willingness to experiment with pricing models and align industry, payer and patient interests,” says Kym White, who is Edelman’s global healthcare practice chair.

Social media still reigns supreme
As the social media landscape expands and changes, many companies incrase their output of content to make sure their message is heard. However, flooding channels with content isn’t necessarily the right approach in 2016. PRNewser predicts that one 2016 trend will be curating content for each channel. Instead of cross-promoting the same content on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, companies should consider who the audience is for each platform and share content accordingly.

Another big trend for 2016 will be the continuation of millennials entering the workforce. For more information on how they think about job evaluation, read here.

Chaloner

Chaloner, founded in 1979 as Chaloner Associates, is a national executive search firm that focuses on recruiting mid- to senior-level communications, public relations, marketing and investor relations professionals.