My 2023 PR Trend Predictions

I’m not one for resolutions and the whole “New Year New You” mantra. I think we’re all perfectly great as we are. But I do love the new term feel that January brings, the planning and the looking ahead. I've been spending some time this month chatting to journalists and industry insiders and I've put together some key themes and trends that I think we'll be seeing more of this year. Hopefully they'll help you when it comes to DIY-ing your PR and looking for opportunities for your business. 

I hope you find them useful - let me know what trends you're predicting for your industry! 

Sustainability

By no means a new topic of conversation, and less a trend than something that is now deep-rooted in our everyday lives, but I believe that sustainability and eco-friendly businesses will continue to dominate in 2023 and we'll see this through all the different DIY PR routes. Whether it’s (genuine) innovation, individuals making a difference or ways to help the general public live more sustainably, more easily, there are widespread opportunities for businesses in this area. The key is highlighting how you’re doing things differently and showing where possible the impact you're having.

Rental, second-hand, thoughtful living 

The fashion rental conversation certainly picked up pace in 2022 and the first issue of Sunday Times Style of 2023 covered people who are now making a decent living from their wardrobe rentals.  My hunch is that it’s not going to stop there and the conversation will widen out to other parts of our lives that are rentable; the climate crisis mixed with the cost of living crisis will see conversations centring on second-hand, thoughtful, slow-living. If your business works in this area then you want to start thinking about your PR now!

Print

Yep, you read that correctly. Do not underestimate the power of print media. Someone I was chatting to the other day made a flippant comment about print media being dead. I know that’s what a lot of people believe, but the numbers don’t lie – print is very much alive. Maybe not some of the titles that you read when you were younger( RIP More, Mizz and Just 17), but there are new titles that are going from strength to strength, stalwarts that have been around and have no signs of going anywhere and new niche titles emerging that are incredibly powerful. The key is knowing your audience and knowing what they read and working back from there.  And don’t forget the psychological power that print still has over a good % of the population. “As Seen In” on your website is far more powerful when it’s a reputable print title. If you’re looking to build your brand reputation and visibility then don’t forget print!

AI

There’s no escaping the speed at which AI is infiltrating our worlds, both from a consumer and a business perspective, and it’s only set to gather pace in 2023. There will be lots of PR opportunities for businesses to show both how they are embracing AI within their organisation, as well as those businesses that are revolutionising the way we do things across the board. 

Altruism 

Stories of people doing good, businesses doing good. When there’s so much negativity in the world, the pendulum swings the other way. We need to hear about the good things too. Don’t miss this opportunity to highlight the good you and your business do.

Personalisation 

From beauty to wellbeing, the personalisation of services and products based on the individual’s needs is coming full pelt this year. Watch this space. 

Storytelling

We’re looking for genuine connections and storytelling is the perfect way to connect you to your audience. Storytelling is a small businesses’ superpower – you have genuine stories to tell and lots of innovative ways to tell them.  Media can be a great way to get your story out there, but don’t forget other PR routes such as podcast, panels, social media, brand collabs.

Real Life

Five years ago you could start a business and soley rely on Instagram to build it. Not any more. But as we’ve emerged into a post pandemic world, a lot of the businesses I work with are finding that real life is working much more effectively for them – and this is something I think we’re going to see much more of in 2023. We’re craving offline, human connection. So think about events, pop-ups, collaborations - PR doesn’t have to be restricted to print and online, there are lots of different ways to do this and as we go into 2023 I’d encourage you to really look outside the (insta) grid.