PR in the age of social media

PR basically stands for “Public Relation” which has always focused on delivering the right image of brand/organization. PR has a changing nature and has moved from traditional coverage, celebrities and ambassadors to influencers who have enormous reach and are trusted within social, demographic or value-driven networks. There are different branding companies in Delhi or around the world which offers PR service because they think PR is as important as social media marketing for a brand/organization. PR is limited to publicity or media or media coverage or news, which they feel will offer them great outputs. But in today’s world of social media, these PR practices are getting disrupted.

India has become digital, we can get in touch with a person via a click and know the history, live feeds and also latest updates of every second on our phones and laptops. It is because of social media that the support got transformed and is changing the way PR campaigns are distributed and measured. The success of a PR campaign today is no longer measured by the weight of clippings it has gathered, but by the number of blog posts, conversations, comments, retweets, Instagram comments, etc. From traditional practices, our industry has evolved rapidly to accommodate constant change and new digital tools, creating opportunities for new campaigns. This will eventually help in brand awareness and popularity of that particular organization or brand.

There are many social media marketing agencies in Delhi and around the world delivering excellent social media services to their clients. And, due to high demand of social media marketing services, it has transformed the role of PR and made it more challenging to create interesting and appealing content for their brands. Successful PR campaigns are now increasingly dependent on their ability to create content that people want to share and talk about online i.e, via Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc. This has ultimately forced the PR agencies to work and focus a lot more on new channels and to be more open to things, not only in terms of measurement but also in relation to deliverables, promoting better marketing tools with better outcome. This does not mean PR has died; it is still a major platform that is an important part for many companies/brands. It has just changed its outlook and has now become more digitally focused to help PR experts explore new areas to research and use tools that can be integrated within their existing PR practices.