How Commtech is Transforming PR and Corporate Culture
By Tiffany Guarnaccia
Spanning an array of sectors, the integration of technologies into various communication formats and channels is engendering new protocols for comms pros.
In recent months we’ve seen the rise of communications technology, or commtech, alongside the emergence of digital tools and data platforms to assist PR teams.
Companies like Siemens and Google have invested in commtech to transform corporate culture, and Mistubishi is using it to generate sales leads.
Technology affects everything we do. Whether your clients are in the health care or media industry, or in the tech industry itself, technology influences every client category and is affecting the broader PR industry.
Trying to understand commtech? Here are its key elements:
The emerging PR tech stack
The PR tech stack is garnering awareness as the tools and solutions used by in-house and agency professionals become more advanced. Most agencies are using some or all elements of the stack, including: CRM, databases, publishing tools, email marketing providers, media monitoring and analytics tools. This growing mix of solutions demonstrates how our industry has evolved. Ten years ago, the only “must-have” solution was a media database.
Use of AI to gain deeper insights
Many elements of the tech stack, especially those that allow for increased productivity and collaboration, employ artificial intelligence. AI helps us streamline processes and analyze PR results. A PR campaign can produce mountains of data, more than any human could sort through. To find actionable insights, AI can quickly and efficiently go through this trove.
Tools like Meltwater can quantify the impact of PR, producing charts that showcase campaign performance, share of voice and brand sentiment. Once these results are gathered, we can see what did and didn’t work and ultimately inform future campaign decisions.
New workflow solutions, implementing agile strategies
Agile development has guided tech startups for years, allowing for collaboration between cross-functional teams. Working in-house in the tech industry, I was fascinated by how the teams moved through the process and quickly produced amazing products. When looking for new ways to encourage collaboration at my own agency, I looked back to agile development as a solution for PR agency team management.
Using the groundwork of agile development, agencies and in-house teams can create stronger, more nimble PR programs and better navigate the modern media landscape. Kite Hill PR’s approach to agile details a better campaign planning protocol, called The PR Sprint Workflow.
Technology will develop, and new trends will be introduced every day. When we recognize the effect this has on our work and aim to keep up with these changes, we can better inform our PR programs and produce effective and valuable results for our clients.
Tiffany Guarnaccia is the founder and CEO of Kite Hill PR and founder of Communications Week.
source: https://www.prdaily.com/how-commtech-is-transforming-pr-and-corporate-culture/
