The latest monthly survey by the National Federation of Independent Business indicated a brighter employment picture and significant increase in future hiring plans. Similarly, the Manpower survey of hiring intentions, represents the most promising hiring outlook since 2008.

Monster.com has reported an uptick in online advertising in recent months, and a recent study from WantedAnalytics found that hiring demand, specifically in the public relations industry has steadily increased in 2011. In looking at the number of new online job ads hiring for PR managers and specialists over the past 90 days, the study saw a 10-percent increase compared to the same 90-day period in 2010. That report indicates that beyond an increase in specific job openings, there is a fundamental shift taking place in the way the job market functions.

The year ahead will see employers identify new ways to leverage the social networks of employees’ to recruit and retain talent. Over the course of 2010 and 2011, you likely read a great deal about social medial policies. According to the October 2011 Booz & Company/Buddy Media Survey, 65 percent of organizations have social media policies and another 29 percent are in the process of developing or planning a policy.

Social media policies and guidelines are essential; employee networks boast a formidable power.

As of November 2011, LinkedIn claimed more than 135 million members. With policies in place, and employees well connected throughout their respective industry, in 2012, companies will be poised to better harness their employees networks to strengthen the organization. Businesses will find ways to capitalize on these networks by utilizing employee referral programs.

In 2011, all employees became an asset (or liability) to marketing, publicly representing themselves and, as a reflection, their brand online. The coming year will find employees encroaching on HR territory, serving as brand ambassadors to prospective employees. A coordinated effort between HR and public relations to offer continued social media training and guidelines is essential. PR practitioners with social media responsibilities will begin looking at retention and recruitment metrics in their own analysis.

Even those organizations not yet prepared to commit to hiring must take significant steps in 2012, if they hope to retain valuable talent and survive the next decade. Employees whose profiles are on LinkedIn (and Google+) essentially have their resumes “out there” and are more likely than ever before to be approached by a competitor. Organizations that have been retaining employees simply as a result of a fear of the economy will be increasingly vulnerable as savvy growing businesses easily acquire their top talent.

The economic recession of the early 1990s was marked by several years of high unemployment, but five years later, the “dot-com boom” hit. Overnight, it seemed jobs were plentiful, with companies striving to outdo their competitors in perks as they fought to hire and retain talent. The economy will again turn, and the steps organizations take in 2012 will determine whether they are positioned for success.

Continue reading " #PRin2012: Talent Acquisition Goes Social "

Editor’s note: This is the 11th in a series of 12 guest posts from industry executives predicting key trends that will impact the public relations industry in 2012. Hosted under the hashtag #PRin2012, the series began Dec. 19, 2011, with a compilation post previewing all 12 predictions.

A confluence of events will make 2012 the year the public relations profession discovers that independent public relations consultants are its secret weapon.

With growing recognition that independent practitioners are not in a transitory blip between traditional jobs (in fact, a study found that less than 1 in 10 independent contractors would return to a traditional job if given the opportunity), there is a growing understanding within the business community that solo PR pros are experienced and savvy professionals, who play a key role in our profession.

As the economy edges toward recovery, the key to weathering the oscillating business cycles that have become the norm is the effective use of independent PR contractors. When new corporate business initiatives commence before a hiring freeze is lifted, or PR agencies endure a waiting period after landing new clients before hiring additional full-time staff, partnering with independent public relations practitioners offers significant benefits.

The U.S. Department of Labor confirms this, noting that “firms [will] hire contractors to provide public relations services, rather than support more full-time staff when additional work is needed.” With expected response times shrinking and real-time public relations — both planned, or in the case of a crisis, unforeseen — becoming the norm, 2012 will see new levels of interest in partnering with independent contractors as the most effective way to manage workflow without sacrificing quality.

Perhaps more importantly, as the media continues to fragment and niche influencers gain in importance, independent PR consultants can offer a strategic advantage by providing specific expertise  — from strategy and planning to execution — that can hit the ground running immediately. Why wait for internal staff to learn a new industry, market or specialized tactic, when an indie practitioner can deliver better results today?

The New Year will see broader understanding, by both agencies and in-house PR teams, that the challenges of maintaining influencer relationships across different business units can more efficiently — and effectively — be addressed by partnering with independent consultants.

Continue reading " #PRin2012: Solo PR Pros — The Profession’s Secret Weapon "

Editor’s note: This is the 10th in a series of 12 guest posts from industry executives predicting key trends that will impact the public relations industry in 2012. Hosted under the hashtag #PRin2012, the series began Dec. 19, 2011, with a compilation post previewing all 12 predictions.

Audience fragmentation and downsizing have taken their toll on the traditional news media. One trend filling the gap is “Brand Journalism.” It refers to the practice of an organization employing its own “reporters” to cover its events/announcements and then publish reports using the conventions of news.

Layoffs and rapid turnover mean many PR pros are finding it difficult to establish solid relationships or earn the attention their promotional efforts may deserve. Enter Brand Journalism.

The advantage of Brand Journalism grows with the ubiquity of the Web:

• Google owns 65 percent of the search market share, according to ComScore, and it has added press releases from wire services to its Google News aggregator (though consumers do have the option to filter them out, along with blogs).
• Coincidentally, 65 percent of adults use social networking sites (up from 61 percent in 2010), according to research from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Services like Twitter are attracting more news consumers every day with the speed they can deliver current events (far faster than traditional news outlets).

A company could potentially have more visibility producing its own content as opposed to relying on the news media to carry its message (provided it’s indexed properly).

Brand Journalism is fraught with ethical perils, however. Both Chevron and British Petroleum (BP) drew fire for their own Brand Journalism by employing it during crises and giving themselves undeservedly-positive treatment.

Continue reading " #PRin2012: Brand Journalism Brings New Ethical Perils "

Editor’s note: This is the ninth in a series of 12 guest posts from industry executives predicting key trends that will impact the public relations industry in 2012. Hosted under the hashtag #PRin2012, the series began Dec. 19, 2011, with a compilation post previewing all 12 predictions.

The British are a skeptical, at times increasingly cynical, lot. Over the past couple of years a series of crises has only served to reinforce this character trait. Our members of parliament — a few of them, anyway — were seen to have fiddled their expenses. The financial crisis taught us that all-knowing masters of the universe in the City of London were not quite as smart as they claimed. And the phone-hacking scandal caused us to question (as never before) what we were reading in our newspapers.

This is not an easy context for PR professionals to operate in. Add in continuing nervousness about the health of the economy and you have an audience that takes a lot of convincing about anything.

In this environment thoughtful PR firms know they are going to have to raise their game. Glib and flimsy messaging will not work. Exaggerated claims are doomed to fail. Brave and principled PR advisers will tell their clients this. They will not over-promise. They will educate their clients into the new media realities of 2012.

A depressed economic environment — not least in traditional mainstream media — means that the confusion and blurring of media channels will intensify in the New Year. Social media will continue to exert its sometimes unseen, stealthy influence on more established publishers and broadcasters. A richer, more confusing and, perhaps, less reliable media market will ensue.

This too will demand incisive PR support. Which audiences do you really need to reach, and how? Will “stunts” (aka “initiatives” and “launches”) ever work again — if they ever did.

To be sure, these are not new questions. They are familiar ones to any communications professional. But the disciplines and demands of this industry in 2012 will probably be tougher than before. And there is no nice way of spinning that.

Stefan Stern (@StefanStern) is director of strategy in the London office of Edelman.

Continue reading " #PRin2012: Economic Realities Reset the PR/Media Relationship "

Editor’s note: This is the eighth in a series of 12 guest posts from industry executives predicting key trends that will impact the public relations industry in 2012. Hosted under the hashtag #PRin2012, the series began Dec. 19, 2011, with a compilation post previewing all 12 predictions.

It’s no secret that the line dividing consumer and professional technologies is blurring. You’ve probably heard of “the consumerization of IT,” and it’s more than a trend — it’s a profound shift toward a technology market where consumers have unprecedented influence and businesses must acknowledge the impact of consumer technologies on their operations. In 2012, and beyond, I expect this movement to significantly transform the way technology PR professionals support and counsel their clients, and the way agencies approach their own IT.

The technologies, particularly those emerging in the mobile space, which IT departments need to accommodate under this “trend,” are first making waves in the consumer market, so it radically upsets the balance of influencers in the technology space.

Along with appealing to the IT decision-maker for whom consumerization presents both a complex challenge and opportunity, traditional B-to-B technology brands need to identify where they fit — if at all — within this movement  and capture consumer awareness and preference, something that may not have previously been a chief concern. The opposite is true for those brands that have traditionally marketed to the consumer. They must learn to communicate to satisfy commercial enterprise demands to fully develop their product’s market potential.

As a technology PR firm, consumerization demands that we present our clients with data and insights to inform how their marketing strategies and messages must adapt for the increasingly powerful consumer segment.

Continue reading " #PRin2012: Consumerization of IT Changes PR from the Inside, Out "