Trends to look out for during 2011, in what is expected to be a “de-fluffing” of the PR industry

People I have been speaking to recently have given me hope that PR has a key role to play in the future of social media. PR is currently in a good position of having genuine credence as a bridge to unite and lead the other disciplines in the marketing mix. Having said this some PR agencies, and indeed their clients, may not know quite what they want from social media or how to go about it, but there is some really good work going on.  Here are some trends to watch out for this year: 

• Better measurement and techniques
• AVE is dying as a metric and there is now a wealth of data out there to weight up social media reputation (socialmention, radian6, vocus, meltwater buzz). None of it is perfect though, what does it really mean? The key is to realise that PR success is all about engagement – so viewpoints, interaction, passing content to friends, contributing, transacting
• Exploiting mobile better
• Power of mobile is huge for 2011. It is so current, so instant
• Orange did the world’s most tagged photo from Glastonbury
• T Mobile have had huge success with their flash mob theme
• The blurred lines between paid and earned media
• PR people need to get their head around the concept that it’s not a drama to pay a blogger from time to time. It’s the same as running advertorials – there is a place for it in PR
• Closer collaboration
• Contentious issue this!
• There needs to be greater collaboration between ‘rival’ disciplines – so PR, SEO, DIGITAL etc
• Inevitably it will lead to more fighting for territory but nature dictates that it is survival of the fittest as it has always been. Therefore the best agencies / companies will find a way to collaborate but still earn their ground
• SEO and digital companies will certainly be looking to hire more PRs
• Social search
• The essence of building relationships
• More relevant, impactful campaigns for PRs
• Trying to achieve the social media ROI utopia

- Tim Court