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The Transformative Role of PR in the Post-Pandemic Era

tyccAd | May 10, 2022 | Public Relations

The role of Public Relations (PR) has been constantly evolving and with the advent of technology and digital platforms, effective PRs have been adopting and redrafting their strategies round the clock. Especially in the last two decades, the role and operations of PR have witnessed massive transformation – from just being a print media and coverage-led portfolio, to the rise of digital media and impactful storytelling, to detailed analysis and reporting.

The unprecedented pandemic had a huge impact on humanity and disrupted normalcy in doing business across the globe. Effective communications and readiness of adapting to a new environment became the immediate need for businesses to sustain and stay relevant. One notable change in business strategies was that brands focused on connecting to their existing and prospective customers by showing empathy through effective public relations. The PR too redesigned their traditional tools and approach with press releases and mass communication becoming very targeted, refined and innovative.

COVID impact

The unforeseen outbreak of the pandemic took everyone to surprise. With several restrictions and lockdowns, businesses came to a standstill. Public relations was adversely impacted as the companies started to cut their marketing budgets. Most media events and launches either got cancelled or were done on hybrid mode. However, as the pandemic continued, businesses had to figure out new strategies to stay relevant and the role of PR came to prior again.

With brands realizing the need for crafting an impactful storyline, innovative and well-planned PR strategies became a necessity to connect with the people. PR started taking precedence over marketing as brands were required to convey their stories to the customers in an impactful manner through strong PR. Media consumption transformed too as people started relying on the information on digital platforms like social media, and the job for PR professionals became more tedious. The key concern was to figure out ways to revamp strategies and navigate through the crisis in a sustainable manner.

PR in the post-pandemic era

The role of PR in the post-pandemic era has become trickier with the change in customer behaviour and the overall transition of the media mix. Brands need to communicate with the customers considering their benefits and hard selling of products and services is no longer relevant. The job of PR agencies in Delhi and other commercial cities has became more important for brands as the customers became picky and needed to be connected with a human connect and larger purpose.

Furthermore, PR in the post-pandemic era need to be more careful with the content while managing brand engagement and brand connect with the audience. Communication with people got simpler and faster with the steep rise in social media engagement; with that, the risk of the spread of incriminating information also increased. Brands now require effective PR to handle the information and its circulation in more creative and innovative ways with the changing customer behaviour.