Public Relations in Q4: What’s New and What’s in Store

by MagnoliaPR | Sep 12, 2024 | Childrens/Baby Brands, Press

It’s no secret 2024 has been an eventful year – economic uncertainty, inflation, budget cuts, a presidential election looming – and PR and media has been in flux for years. On the surface, it may seem like it’s the wrong time to start your public relations efforts, but it’s actually an advantageous time for several reasons.

While public relations is considered many things, Investopedia defines it as:

• Public relations (PR) refers to managing how others see and feel about a person, brand, or company.
• PR for corporations, notably publicly traded companies, focuses on maintaining a positive corporate image while handling media requests and shareholder inquiries.
• PR is different from advertising or marketing, as it’s often meant to look organic and may not necessarily try to promote a product or service.

What makes PR worthwhile in Q4 of 2024 and beyond? The earned media, trust, and elevated perception that real PR offers is actually a cost effective way to share your brand with your target markets.

Top brands are taking notice, and allocating more resources and funds for public relations that may have been earmarked for traditional advertising in the past. Why? Advertising is more costly, with a guaranteed outcome but less impact – anyone can purchase an ad, but not every brand can land a genuine earned media featured in a trusted, top tier digital publication.

We are noticing a resurgence of interest in building long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with media, tastemakers, and influencers – which is great since this has been our forever strategy! We firmly believe in trusting the process and nurturing real relationships with the media – offering them timely and relevant client news and creative pitches. Transactional relationships are not part of our plan – since 2006, we’ve built a trusted network of professionals we’ve worked with for decades in the fashion, lifestyle, and family/kids niches and beyond.

We treat our clients as strategy partners working towards a common goal: consistent, elevated brand perception and staying power in volatile industries.

As we’ve seen in the past couple of years, affiliate programs are a vital part of working with the media. Many digital media outlets use affiliate networks to boost their revenue – for example, a top 10 baby bottle list will showcase only brands available on an affiliate network like ShareASale or Amazon. Brands should research the best fit for their affiliate program platform and the best incentives for e-commerce story coverage. We are happy to help guide our clients in this process.

While PR is not marketing and we can never (ethically) guarantee outcomes or sales, many prospects still inquire about this. We understand the pressure of making a profit when you invest in services, especially in economic uncertainty. We strategically research the best use of our client’s budget and resources for the best impact for true growth.

This means we may spread out a client’s influencer relations budget more effectively by working with micro-influencers with real followers and values that resonate with the brand’s ethos in lieu of spending thousands on one bigger name who doesn’t reflect the brand (sorry, no vanity strategy here!).

This also may entail allocating more time to pitching for holiday gift guides which are traditionally a SEO-friendly, move the needle category. One great example is our clients who were featured on the Today Show for their holiday gift guide – the feature is still published online with active links and high-ranking on Google years later.

Fresh, engaging content is crucial as well in today’s market. We require our clients to have professional, high resolution lifestyle and product images every season, and have newly partnered with a trusted social media management company for clients who may need additional assistance with creating social media collateral – whether that’s Tiktoks, Instagram reels, or storytelling in the form of visual media.

Storytelling – this strategy will never go out of style. Our brands have unique stories to share, and the media wants to hear about them. Making a pitch stand out is key in crowded markets – brands need to showcase their personality, the faces behind the brand, and what sets themselves apart from their peers.

As we enter Q4 of 2024, we anticipate a resurgence of energy and measured optimism for the rest of the year and 2025. We look forward to helping you with your PR and media relations needs and are currently accepting new clients. Interested? Please send us a note here.