Bad PR habits to leave behind in 2023

It’s not quite time for New Year’s Resolutions yet, but to give you a start on yours, here is a rundown of bad PR habits to break for 2024, according to the experts…

Sloppy procurement processes

‘Bad procurement habits. Brands need to stop inviting agencies to pitch then kicking the decision back or ghosting them. It’s bad form and disrespectful.’
Sarah Waddington, director of Wadds Inc, founder of #FuturePRoof, and co-founder of Socially Mobile

Vanity metrics

‘At the top of the list is vanity measurements or what I call ‘red herring metrics’, which encourage practitioners and teams to become distracted by the wrong things – like generating a set number of media articles, regardless of quality, or chasing engagement at all costs on social media. We need to get better at using the frameworks at our disposal – like AMEC – to support us to measure the impact, value and outcomes of our work.’
Leigh Greenwood, founder and managing director of Evergreen PR

All talk and no action

‘We’re all tired of reading similar blog content. Those that win will be able to show how they are tangibly making AI, for example, work for clients and their business – making their team more efficient and using this to make their service more attractive.’
Sarah Woodhouse, director at AMBITIOUS PR

Buzzwords

‘We use an excessive amount of jargon. One of the biggest culprits is the word ‘strategy’. More than a buzzword, the strategy should be based on in-depth research and analysis of a brand, its customers, competitors, and the overall market landscape. How can we get people to take our industry seriously if we can’t meaningfully use vernacular that actually explains what we do and the value of our work?’
Rachel Gilley, chief client officer at Clarity

Surveys, surveys, surveys

‘Personally, I am tired of seeing constant survey-led stories, and I do think journalists have cottoned onto these as I see less of them covered than I have done previously. People want real news, and real stories, and survey-led stories do not always reflect reality. I still think they have their place when done right, but I do think agencies and brands should start to shift from these and think outside the box in upcoming ideation sessions. I think they’re already on their way out, but dream job and best places to live stories are also a little ‘done’ now. I would never see one of these campaigns nowadays and be shocked or intrigued by them – unless the data was really mind blowing!’
Beth Turner, head of PR at ilk Agency

Not enough diversity

‘We have seen in the past campaigns/strategies that have a complete lack of diversity, or that are completely tone deaf. As PR teams continue to hire a greater diversity of employees, campaigns/PR strategies will continue to incorporate representation from a wider range of people who are from all different backgrounds, cultures, socio-economic backgrounds and experiences.’
Francesca Cullen and Rosie Lees, co-founders and directors of Nineteen94 Communications Agency

Words without meaning

‘I hope 2024 will see an end to “content marketing equals words”. A recent Hubspot report found the top use case for generative AI by marketers (48%) has been content creation. 2023 was indeed the year of content marketing. But for too many PR pros, content just equals words. But they’ve now found that ChatGPT can do that at the touch of a few keys.

‘Content marketing in 2024 must start to be creative – words are just the toolkit. For content marketing to work it must have the vision and ideas of humans, crafted into messages by humans, because these messages are being read by humans – the buyers of your products and services.’
Jamie Kightley, head of client Services for IBA International

Shallow, surface-level support

‘I hope to see the back of shallow PR. Tactics just for the sake of securing earned coverage. Often brands fall into the trap of ‘purpose PR’ but consumers are savvy and can see through a tactic unless it has real substance and genuinely makes a difference. That doesn’t mean brands have to invest heavily, many small businesses just can’t afford to do that, but it does mean brands need to think carefully about making a difference to the charities and communities it supports and ensure tactics are implemented for the right reasons.’
Alison Downs, head of consumer PR at Frame

‘Time needs to be called on companies pushing for quick PR wins that amplify hollow Corporate Social Responsibility activity. It’s no longer enough for brands to give a nod to vague values written on a wall. Consumers are quicker than ever to call out companies for greenwashing, sportswashing or any sort of PR laundry.’
Jane Whitham, director of Altitude PR

AI for AI’s sake

‘As a specialist tech-sector agency, we’re always the first to welcome and
embrace smart innovation, but smart is the keyword. Using a tool that compromises our quality of work or adds more tasks to our to-do list is definitely not smart. Unlike the metaverse craze of 2022, AI is certainly here to stay – we just have to remain mindful we’re in the middle of an AI goldrush and we don’t need to jump on every new tool that’s launched. Not every PR presentation needs AI-generated cats driving cute cars.’
Caroline Miller, founder and managing director at Indigo Pearl

And finally… a death knell for spray and pray

‘We’ve been hoping for the end to the “spray and pray” approach to media outreach for years. Perhaps 2024 will be the year? From the journalists and bloggers we speak with, it sadly doesn’t seem to be on the wane. My fear is that it is coming from SEO agencies doing digital PR that don’t care about the integrity of the process, they just want the links. They’re probably charging the clients peanuts and doing ill-thought through mass-mailings, but it gives the whole industry a bad name. Not to mention how ineffective it is. It’s stupid and pointless.’
Susannah Morgan, deputy managing director of Energy PR

And on that note – great work in 2023 everyone, and we wish you a productive 2024! To help you get started, here are 19 trends in PR and comms to prepare for.