We celebrated our fourth birthday earlier in the month, so here’s an very quick overview of what we think has been going on in the PR industry over the last four years.

The PR industry has evolved tremendously in the last four years; partly owing to the growing impact of the internet on our lives and partly due to the ever increasing competition within the PR industry and from other specialisms such as search marketers and social media agencies.

The sophistication of using the internet to communicate through mediums such as Twitter has shortened the communications chain – you can now communicate directly to a blogger or journalist instantly and be up to date on what they are up to in real time, no matter where you are based.

This has pushed nearly all PR firms to move to the digital arena (any that aren’t in some way offering digital activity surely won’t be around for long) and manage their clients’ campaigns using a mixture of traditional and digital PR.

With improved communications and technology, also comes the ability to work more flexibly, so virtual PR agencies are popping up to threaten their traditional counterparts.  Virtual agencies are able to pull in expert consultants with specific experience so creating bespoke teams.

Since we are now operating in the digital world, getting the best talent in the field has become easier, with geographical distance and boundaries no more a constraint. This has given the virtual PR firms one more advantage. They have been able to minimise overheads and thus provide their clients with affordable high quality PR. No wonder, start-ups and small businesses are also able to benefit from these services. In last four years, the PR industry has grown by leaps and bounds; which means any cost cutting will give a PR firm significant cost advantage over its competitors.

Another interesting fact is the blurring line between PR and SEO (Search Engine Marketing). With more and more businesses adopting online brand promotional strategies, PR has assumed a new role that of “online PR”. The PR agencies have started helping their clients make their online presence felt. They now make use of integrated PR efforts in the form of online news sites, independent blog posts, online reviews, SEO news releases with optimised content and links and social media optimisation campaigns on Twitter, LinkedIn etc. In their endeavour to attract quality traffic to their clients’ websites, PR agencies have also widened the scope of their services to include website design and content creation for SEO and to make the sites both user and search engine friendly.

Of course the recession and this move to all things digital has also led to the demise of print publications, with shrinking readerships and ad revenue, only the strongest are surviving and ploughing budget into their digital offerings to keep their readers loyal.

The PR industry has come a long way in last four years.  Let’s see what the next four years bring.

We asked Nadine, who looks after our admin, to write about what she’s been up to this month.

“This month has been a very busy one for our PR agency with the addition of several new clients.  But with it has brought the opportunity to learn new skills, including things I never thought possible without years dedicated to IT Courses!

This month I have set up a Facebook page and researched how to maximise the effect of social networking in business to communicate with potential consumers; how to schedule Tweets and look at the efficacy of the links we have posted up; and amazingly I have learnt CODING!! Something I never expected to include in my personal skill set.

New jobs also require old skills too and I have started monitoring the online coverage generated by Vitis PR for our new clients; began researching lists of relevant media personnel to contact on behalf of our clients; proofread press releases; uploaded press releases to websites and managed the process to pick up products from journalists that have reviewed our clients’ products.

It’s always exciting to have new clients on board, learning about their business and sometimes finding new services you wondered how you ever lived without them!”