The PR industry is being transformed with every digital development and it is greatly being influenced by marketing automation. When it comes to PR and its role within a company - it cannot entirely be automated. However, there can be a way for the two to work together.
If used correctly, certain tasks can be automated, which will add value to the role and task outcomes for the PR professional. In many industries, automation is often seen as a threat, but we hope this article can clarify the transformations in a positive light.
Improved media outreach and media monitoring
No bot has been designed to generate a stunning press release and get the email address of that radio presenter you have been looking for. However, automation makes it easier to create and manage your media lists.
Features of this nature allow you to easily follow up and gain accurate feedback on how people are engaging with your content. As a PR professional, you also need to stay in the loop of what is happening in the industry.
Automation is accompanied by tools that send you customized reports of the latest news, you could use such tools to keep up to date with clients and ensure that you are formulating relevant content and campaigns.
Furthermore, instead of manually collecting clippings and mentions in the media, certain tools make it possible to simply log in to a tool and download them in one easy step.
Simple social media management
Social media is no longer a ' by the way’ thing for many companies and the PR industry has been greatly transformed by it. Most campaigns need to be accompanied by a complimentary social media campaign that can span across different platforms. Social media has become a powerful PR tool to attract and engage followers.
Being able to manage multiple social media pages from a single platform is an incredible time-saver. However, direct engagement is still best with followers despite being able to automate posts.
Almost every industry has been affected by automation and with the rise of tools like Insightly, the PR industry is changing. After all, it’s not just about marketing, it’s more about building relationships and this is where CRM tools help.
Automation simplifies the planning and administrative aspects of social media management. This allows for creating innovative strategies to engage the audience as opposed to focus on administrative tasks.
Simplified reporting
Reporting is possibly one of the hardest tasks in any job and thankfully, there are tools that can assist. The PR industry is being transformed by simpler reporting processes that can be generated in a matter of seconds.
Reporting can cover various aspects of a campaign and be diversified using various types of analytical tools. Published content can also be periodically reported on and it becomes easier to have PR and SEO complement each other.
The reporting aspect can relate to any type of campaign on any digital platform. This eliminates erratic reporting due to human error and automated reporting becomes an avenue of choice to ensure ease in the workplace.
The bottom line
Marketing automation is not the end of the PR industry; in fact, it is the beginning of improved workflow and easy ways to manage and monitor campaigns. The digital tools available to PR professionals allows them to easily study data and ensure that campaigns run smoothly. It is evident that the two are not mutually exclusive and can co-exist to create improved workflows.
In essence, marketing automation is not an enemy to the PR industry and is rather an extension of resources. The PR industry is transforming at a rapid rate and other industries could learn how to benefit from automation from the intersectionality of PR and digital automation.