PR can quake in its boots in the face of new tech challengers. The internet was set to erode media relationships, social media was lauded as the new business promoter, and now generative AI has taken on the mantle of ridding the profession altogether.
There’s no question companies need to adapt and evolve to stay relevant – innovative methods, technologies and societal expectations demand it. And the modern world of PR requires a wide-ranging digital strategy that encompasses a variety of these elements.
Yet trends come back around and the best tried and tested products and processes always pull through. In the music industry, for instance, the vinyl market experienced an 11.7% year-on-year rise in sales in 2023, as people hark back to authentic sound quality and vintage album designs. They’re just sometimes ‘re-engineered’ for the best experience.
The cream of the crop embrace innovation while holding onto the fundamentals that truly work; if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. As PR services expand ever further, the profession’s core characteristics of surveys, reports and press releases still play a fine tune. Here are some recent examples.
A flow of inbound for eflow
eflow Global is a RegTech innovator that provides financial firms with technology to help them comply with regulatory requirements in a more streamlined, efficient and robust way. The fintech company appointed CommsCo last summer to raise brand awareness and promote its Series A investment win.
Over the last three months, the team has built on this momentum through profile building and the launch of eflow’s Global Trends in Market Abuse and Trade Surveillance report. Results of the campaign included:
- 56 pieces of coverage, with research conducted to supplement the report findings and generate two key news stories
- Thought leadership articles in leading trade publications Finextra, The Fintech Times and Trade Finance Global
- Shortlisted as a finalist in three categories of the RegTech Insight Awards
- Multiple inbound leads and boosted SEO and media share against eflow’s key competitors (a show of how ‘traditional PR’ supports ‘digital PR’)
But above all, these results resulted in increased brand awareness: the eflow team reported an impressive number of report downloads and feedback from their customers and the internal team declared that eflow appears to be ‘everywhere’.
A carefully-executed expansion strategy delivers for CareLineLive
CareLineLive works with home care agencies to digitise workflows, improve efficiency and ultimately help carers provide excellent care. The healthtech company supports home care providers in the UK and beyond and wanted to promote the launch of its platform in Australia earlier this month.
Taking on the traditional approach of drafting, pitching and promoting a press release, the team achieved various pieces of coverage, including features in notable trade publications Home Care Magazine, Inside Ageing and Home Care Insight.
Most importantly, in an example of traditional PR’s power, coverage in Australian Ageing Agenda led to a lead for CareLineLive from a large Australian organisation.
A clever move by Clevertouch
Marketing technology (martech) consultancy company Clevertouch opted for a traditional survey of marketers in the industry to promote its message on the state of martech. For the survey, 250 marketing professionals across the UK were quizzed about their martech stacks.
The press release for the survey secured a number of coverage hits with a total reach of almost a million unique monthly visitors. And in a sign of melding the older ways with the newer ones, the survey gained significant traction and shares across LinkedIn and X.
Traditional PR holds its own
Traditional PR still stands strong. And if stories about AI hallucinations, bias (and over-compensated bias) and regurgitated, copyrighted content exemplify anything, it’s that there will always be a need for human input in the PR system: it relies on human relationships, awareness and opinions.
To conclude? A note to self: ‘traditional PR still delivers’. And if it makes our clients happy it has the same effect on our PR team.
If you would like to hear more about how PR could help support your business, you can make a note to yourself of our contact details here.
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