Thought Leadership - 10 Essential Skills for the Future of PR

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The traditional PR skills are not dead; they are as relevant and important as ever. But in order to be successful in the industry, apart from keeping the existing skills brushed up, PR pros need to acquire and master new skill sets the industry’s future demands. We’re nearing 2020, and it’s crucial for us to adapt to the developing industry by getting ourselves familiar with what’s new and what will be new in the future.

Abridged from Arik Hanson’s post on his website Communications Conversations, these 10 essential skills for the future of PR are assurances for professional success in the industry.

1. Social advertising copywriting skills and an ability to manage social media advertising campaigns

The ability to write social media ads on networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram is important, but won’t suffice if the skill set to manage complete campaigns on the platforms is not mastered.

In today's climate, PR folks are asked to manage social media ad campaigns all the time. This requires PR pros of the future to be apt in using Power Editor, LinkedIn's ad platform and Twitter ad products; as well as understanding how to manipulate different components of ad campaigns.

2. Video and audio production skills

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With more organisations considering audio content as part of their mix, knowing only video production isn’t enough. Competency in using audio software such as GarageBand would go a long way in offering quality content for both the organisation and clients.

3. Ability to lead exploration of new media and tools on behalf of your organisation

New media tools are being developed every day and it’s up to PR professionals to look into the possibilities of putting them into practice in an effort to propel their organisations forward. As with Orchan’s underlying philosophy; “the only constant is change”.

4. Ability to create effective social media content and manage social content systems

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As with point #1 above, the ability to create social media content remains a key skill set among PR pros. As organisations stockpile content, managing all of them has become increasingly important. Tagging and taxonomy are hallmarks of this skill set. The question posed by Arik is do you know how to repurpose the right evergreen content and how to organise content so it's searchable? These are keys to the management aspect of this skill.

5. A deep understanding of traditional, digital and business analytics

Translating complex data into actionable ideas and approaches has become the absolute key in providing solutions for clients. Managing analytics should be on every PR pros skill-to-master list, and it should be learned thoroughly and deeply.

6. Understanding how to produce reports that make sense to clients

SEO skills are important, but a more crucial skillset has emerged: the ability to produce reports with context, actionable intelligence and clearly articulated next steps. Quality should surpass quantity. As clients are demanding for quality solutions, reports should be provided in a clear and sensible manner, and it should minus out the chance of the client asking “What do I do with this?”

The key with solid reporting is not only to report on the data but, more importantly, to make those data come to life. Provide relevant context, provide ideas as outcomes of the data, and always cull the data and present them in terms the client can understand.

7. Ability to develop a visual style for brands online

Brands’ online presence depends highly on the organisations’ initiative to position themselves aptly online. Many larger organisations have internal creative departments dedicated to this sort of thing, but some don’t. This is where PR counselor should fill the gaps. One big part of social media content is visuals; so it's essential to have someone with an eye for photography and a feel for visual brand positioning. A PR professional can and must be that someone.

8. Ability to write clearly for external and internal audiences

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Writing is definitely the skill of the trade for PR pros. But knowing how to write clearly only for external audiences in a traditional PR sense won’t be adequate. PR professionals need to be able to write well for their internal audiences as well. This involves a thorough understanding of employee relations’ elements such as leadership, rewards and recognitions, motivations, growth, and performance.

9. Managing virtual teams and the ability to work effectively as part of a virtual team

Virtual work environment is a growing trend these days and a high number of organisations are opting for their employees to work virtually. Essentially, a PR professional would need to understand their ideal workflows, the best tools to use, and the way to use those tools to collaborate and communicate when working remotely. Although richness of face-to-face communication has to be forfeited when working virtually, it does help in getting teams closer when physical location for meet-up is unfeasible.

10. Identifying and collaborating with influencers from Instagram to YouTube to bloggers

Blogger outreach remains relevant to this day, but new platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat have influencers that command significant attention. The challenge for brand managers these days is to start and build communities on these platforms, and it’s the job of PR pros to crack influencer outreach. This involves knowing how to find and approach those powerful online voices without offending them. It is also important for them to know how to draw up contracts that makes sense in this pay-for-play environment.