PR ON THE GO June 23, 2022

Public Relations Hacks: How To Stand Out In 2022

How to stand out from the crowd?

We raised this question with our PR and growth experts and asked them for their top PR tips for 2022. Find great examples of PR campaigns from this year to learn what kind of PR campaigns people would like to see and experience more often. Our experts offer advice on how businesses can stand out from the crowd in 2022 by doing good and incorporating social responsibility and employee well-being into their corporate DNA and PR.

Find out here how to stand out in 2022.

Inclusivity Is Non-Negotiable.

Frederic Linfjärd, Director of Growth Marketing of Planday

"People now expect brands to take a position on social problems. According to the survey conducted by Sprouts Social, 70% of consumers demand more than a "no remark" when it comes to significant social issues. Make place for diversity in your PR strategy for 2022 and forget about stereotypes. Your public relations initiatives should focus on a wide range of people, including people of different ethnicities, sexualities, genders, disabilities and beliefs."

Human Touch

Joe Troyer, CEO & Growth Advisor at ReviewGrower

"In my opinion, the best PR advice for the year 2022 is as follows: Embrace your individuality and make it your own. Humans, despite their diversity, have one thing in common: a need to be seen. Consequently, a 2022 PR campaign must be tailored to the specific needs of the target audience. Sending out press releases and hosting events should all be done with a human touch. Don't forget to include that essential ingredient in your social media content, initiatives, and communications. Also, be selective with the language you use. Similarly, in terms of handling the media. Cut through the clutter instead of sending out boilerplate email pitches."

Authentic Influencer Alliances

Ellie Shippey, E-commerce Growth Specialist at EZContacts

"I would say that consumers make purchases based on their faith in a company, and strong influencer alliances and campaigns may increase brand social proof, raise engagement levels, and drive success by having a trusted individual address his or her audience. For the majority of PR initiatives, understanding of TikTok and video-reel production is also important. To accomplish this, we must shift our perspective from influencer as a job title to influence as a result. The issue that I observe at all levels of business is the confusion of content writers and anyone with a social media audience with the term influencer. Authentic partnerships begin with the identification of who AND what is truly affecting your audience, followed by the development of long-term, mutually beneficial relationships. In fact, the strongest partnerships rarely entail monetary transactions."

The Expansion Of Affiliate Marketing

Adam Wood, Co-Founder of RevenueGeeks

"I would say that if you are selling a product or service but are not on ShareASale, Skimlinks, Rakuten, or a similar platform, you should investigate it. Affiliate opportunities assist generate cash for media outlets, influencers, and retail partners, prompting the majority of media outlets to actively seek them out. Journalists, editors, influencers, and podcasters are bombarded, as are company owners and leaders. Exhausted. There is so much background noise that we must learn how to cut through it, get a reporter's attention, and stand out. Make your pitches concise. Utilize an effective headline. Even some journalists love brief bullet points on Entice, a journalist or influencer, and they will typically want additional information. Alternatively, you can hyperlink further information, but do not include any text in the email's body."

Cross Promotion

Dr. Frederik Lipfert, Founder & CEO of VPNCheck.org

"This year's buzzword is Cross-Promotion. This is a certain approach to getting noticed by a new audience and receiving a lot of exposure. Cross-promotion is the practice of sharing content with a larger audience across multiple platforms. Guest blogging and podcasting are two common forms of cross-promotion."

Involve Yourself In Philanthropic Activities.

Alex Savy, Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief of ComfyNorth

"The best method to boost a company's public image is to get involved in a philanthropic cause. You'll not only be helping the cause you're supporting, but you'll also be enhancing your company's image. Participating in a neighborhood health walk could be an option for a business. They may go on a walk with other people and businesses in their work shirts. This has the potential to significantly enhance the company's public image. It's also a lot easier to get involved with these kinds of events because the foundations are always looking for fresh helpers."

Client Use Cases

Brian Case, Director of E-commerce & Retail at Selkirk

"Customers should be involved in your public relations initiatives. Most bloggers and reporters aren't looking for companies to write about; they want stories to tell. And, I'm afraid to say, your tale might not be what they're looking for. What about your customers, though? That's a very different story. Consider which is more interesting: what your firm does or how a specific customer's life has been impacted as a result of utilising your service. Use case studies and champions from your client base for public relations."

Action

Veronica Miller, Digital Marketing & Growth Director at VPNoverview

"I believe that by 2022, public relations will need to deliver information on climate change, racial concerns, and social justice. Entrepreneurs, wake up! The egocentric perspective has ended. In my experience as an agency owner, clients continue to neglect their social responsibilities and the reality that they stimulate public interest when they bring genuine added value to society as a whole. Numerous clients assume that their product or service alone is valuable enough to warrant prestigious media recognition. The effectiveness of billboard advertisements is rapidly declining, and business owners are seeking media coverage as their new-age billboard advertisement. This strategy does not produce the intended quick outcomes for the client. Public relations will be the most important tool for corporate development in 2022 for those who get its fundamental significance. Communications (PR for short) as a discipline must try to foster a transparent environment and cultivate open, trustworthy connections. PR techniques give the ability to evaluate one's actions, enhance them, and increase their positive influence."

Social Conscience

Gerrid Smith, E-commerce Growth Specialist of JoyOrganics

"The significance of social consciousness to consumers will only increase. In my opinion, both B2C and B2B buyers believe that businesses must have a strong social conscience. Some people are more inclined to make a purchase from a firm that demonstrates empathy, and some people think businesses need to take more responsibility for their role in society. Additionally, those customers are pressuring businesses to do more than simply talk about social concerns; they want them to actually act on them, not merely donate money or mention them once a year. In order for PR activities in 2022 to be successful, brands that haven't stated their social ideals clearly will need to do so right away. The majority of consumers no longer want to give brands the benefit of the doubt. They want to know that the businesses they do business with genuinely uphold the principles they claim, even—and especially—when doing so is difficult."

Develop Your Brand.

Joanne King, Company Director at ICMP

"Particularly when it comes to brand and content generation, several businesses have been quite quiet lately. Who can blame them, though? The majority of our industry was in a panic. It might be time to break out of that mode, though, and start making plans. Where you would like to take your business in the upcoming year should be reflected in your branding and content."

Realistic Experiences

Kyle MacDonald, VP of Marketing and Business Development at Force by Mojio

"I would love to see more PR campaigns rooted in authenticity and realistic experiences. So many companies rely on celebrities or influencers to give their brand an edge over the competition, but this is so silly to me. The average consumer of a product or service is not a celebrity. We want to see how this product will affect and benefit our lives, not someone who is living in a different reality than ours."

Be A Friend In Times Of Crisis

Daivat Dholakia, VP of Operations at Essenvia

"One of the best PR campaigns I've seen this year comes from LEGO. They've created a custom set that children can use to build their very own MRI machine, so they can learn how they work and what will happen during the scan. The set isn't even available to the public, but LEGO will send the set to hospitals where children need to undergo an MRI for any reason. Sometimes the best PR isn't targeted at the public as a whole, but at that small minority that really needs a friend in times of crisis. Well done, LEGO."

Creating Memorable Experiences

Chris Anderson, teacher and writer, Symbolism and Metaphor

"I remember when I was first starting out in public relations. I was fresh out of college and eager to prove myself. I worked tirelessly on media lists and pitch angles, but it felt like I was constantly spinning my wheels. Then, one day, I had a breakthrough. I realized that the key to standing out in public relations is not about working harder, but about working smarter. By leveraging the power of relationships and focusing on creating memorable experiences, I was able to position myself as a thought leader in the industry. In the years since, I've seen firsthand how these strategies can help businesses of all sizes to break through the noise and get noticed. As we enter a new year, I believe that relationship-building and experiential marketing will continue to be essential for businesses that want to stand out from the crowd."

Live Sessions With influencers

Kimberly Silva, CEO of FindPeopleFirst

"Do live sessions with influencers: Host live Q&A sessions with influencers in your industry to debate a topic and collect questions from your audience on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. By having influencers on video chats, companies can talk to their potential customers in a human-to-human way. They will help in connecting with your audience and use their networks to help you build relationships and gain interest. With video the most interacting sessions online and connecting with a good engagement influencer, you can improve your PR in no time."

Contributed Articles

Dr. Prav Solanki, CEO at Prav.com

"Public relations helps build a positive public image of your business. And here are some hacks to stand out in 2022:

Media outlets rely on contributed articles as full-time staff continues to shrink. Online content creators and writers are often relegated to more complex topics where freelancers are not a workable solution.

Quantifying business impact from PR will be easier. Businesses want to know how their PR efforts change brand perception and convince clients to make purchases. Thanks to PR analytics, these things are easier to measure.

Social consciousness will continue to become more important to clients. Data supports the idea that buyers think businesses need a strong social conscience. People are saying they are more likely to purchase from a business that shows empathy."

Pause Breathe Reflect and Michael O'Brien

Elaine M. Pardi, Media Support for Rise2Ripple

"Let me introduce the 2022 PR campaign Pause Breathe Reflect of coach and speaker Michael O'Brien for inspiration.

Competitive cyclist Michael O'Brien refers to July 11, 2001 as 'His Last Bad Day,' when he was hit head-on by an S.U.V. traveling ~40 miles per hour during a training ride in New Mexico. Despite a full-body break, his first question upon regaining consciousness was, "How's my bike?" While doctors were amazed he survived the collision and didn't think he'd ride again or even walk with comfort, Michael was determined to get back on his bike.

Now 21 years (and a knee replacement) later, Michael created the Rise 2 Ripple Challenge, a plant-fueled bike ride spanning over 4,300+ miles and 10 states across the country – from Astoria, Oregon to Yorktown, Virginia, to celebrate life, gratitude, and to demonstrate what's possible when we live mindfully and with gratitude.

Michael believes that rising from a traumatic accident is difficult, but all events in our life are neutral, and it's up to us how we label them. His ride, which will take place this summer (June 14-July 31), will raise awareness and funds for 45 charities (one per day), as he explores what connects us rather than divides us."

Frida Baby Real Reviews

Alexi McKinley, CEO & Founder at Upwest Social Agency

"The best PR campaigns are the emotional, raw, vulnerable, REAL HUMAN campaigns that connect to real human things. We spend so much of our lives trying to hide our humanity, and that campaigns that specifically call it out are so powerful because they bring us together.

An example of this would be the Frida brand's postpartum campaign that targets new mothers specifically (wearing the diaper, cleaning their birth canal, etc). I truly think the key to a good PR campaign in 2022 is finding a way to connect brands to common humanities."

Audiences Become Part Of The Initiative

Victoria Mendoza, CEO of MediaPeanut

"This year, the demand for experiential campaigns where target audiences are not merely spectators but are part of or the actual participants of the campaign.Today's audiences do not want to hear or watch CSR activities or social responsibility outreach but they also want to be part of it. For environmental activities, as an example, audiences want to be part of the solution by being part of clean-up drives, recycling events, and tree planting activities rather than just reading, hearing or watching it on mainstream and social media channels. For small businesses to tap into this trend, they should find ways to let their target market/audience be part of a movement or initiative as compared to traditional PR methods."

Newsjacking

Paige Arnof-Fenn, Founder & CEO of Mavens & Moguls

"Newsjacking is a great way to get your story to align with breaking news and boost your chances of a press mention. Connect your story to a viral event and piggyback on its coverage to get attention. Can you/your company solve this current issue? Are you an expert in the field being discussed? Do you have any data that’s relevant to the current events? Find a connection to align your story with what’s viral to stand out.. Krispy Kreme promoted selling a dozen doughnuts for the price of a gallon of gas, brilliant way to make news/get noticed!"