Artificial intelligence transforms many sectors and facilitates the work of professionals working in hundreds of different occupations. However, when we think about AI, public relations is not the very first discipline that comes to mind. And that got us wondering; how can AI be applied in the PR sector? As it turns out, you should be aware of several interesting aspects of this question. Let’s cut right to the chase.
For many organizations, public relations is the backbone of their work and activity. Let’s consider NGOs. PR is one of the fundamental ways of communicating their projects and campaigns. Without the necessary media support and coverage, they wouldn’t be able to gather necessary funds. The same happens in the broadly understood political world. Politics try to get to national TV stations and extensively use Twitter. Everything to catch their voters’ and other politicians’ attention.
Of course, the role of public relations is much broader. Today, it’s an inseparable part of every large marketing campaign. Almost everyone, from SMEs to large international corporations, works with PR consultants or agencies to interest media, partners, and sponsors in their activity.
Where is the space for artificial intelligence here? We want to examine three fields where AI makes a case for itself in PR. These fields are:
- Automation
- Acceleration
- Accuracy
AI in public relations: Automation
For starters, we ought to say that several aspects of the PR professionals’ work can be easily automated. Consider tracking media coverage and reporting. After every campaign or press release consignment, PR professionals have to prepare a report consisting of all the press cuttings and online references. Making such a report manually can be a challenging and time-consuming assignment. With proper PR tools, more and more frequently boosted with AI-based algorithms, PR agencies can gather more press cuttings, describe them accurately, and put all of them into one report that can be sent to the client or the board of directors.
But there’s more. There is a technology called Natural-Language Generation (NLG). It is an AI-fueled process that transforms structured data into natural language. It can be used to produce long-form pieces of content. Therefore, it can be used to automate (at least partially) writing press releases, statements, and the aforementioned PR reports. As a result, the PR consultant’s role is just to make sure the specific piece of content matches the company’s requirements. Shortly, the ready-made piece can be sent to the interested parties (journalists, partners, sponsors).
And finally, there is something called STT (Speech-To-Text). It’s another technology frequently supported with AI algorithms that can be used to convert speech into editable text. Even Google Docs offers such an option (Google Voice Typing). All you have to do is simply turn your microphone/recording device on and start recording voice. Next, the chosen software will automatically convert the recorded voice into text. It’s a fantastic time-saving solution that comes in handy during various meetings and events (i.e., press conferences, interviews, podcasts, conference presentations, or strategy meetings). All this could be implemented with help of an AI consulting company.
AI for more effective public relations: Acceleration
Have you ever heard the RTM abbreviation? It stands for Real-Time Marketing, and it’s all about timing. Sometimes, there is a situation or even that draws the entire nation’s attention, or, even better, world. In many instances, it’s a fantastic opportunity for many companies to make their mark and stand out of the crowd. Take the example of Progressive Insurance. This company uses Twitter to provide tips on how to prepare for the storm (they did so in 2017 before the Harvey Hurricane and on a number of other occasions) and where to seek help.
Thanks to AI, your PR department/agency can easily track all the relevant events and stay updated so that you can act as quickly as possible when there’s a need to write or say something. Furthermore, when something critical happens and time is of the essence, there is a need to prepare press materials in different languages.
This is where intelligent translating tools step into play. Take a look at, for instance, at Unbabel.com. It’s an AI-powered translation platform that aids organizations in building multilingual communication with their customers and stakeholders. With tools like Unbabel, you can easily create press releases, reports, and statements in multiple languages, almost simultaneously. If you work in an international company, it’s a massive facilitation and acceleration of your work.
AI-powered PR: Accuracy
Lastly, we want to talk about accuracy. In the PR consultants’ work, accuracy is everything. Without the proper knowledge of your client, journalists, and media in your country, you won’t be able to achieve anything. It’s all about reaching the right people with the right information at the right time. This is what, in essence, PR is all about. And that’s why you ought to be vitally interested in AI-powered tools that will help you get your job done.
For example, with AI, you can target media and journalists with the highest probability of generating coverage. AI tools can analyze the work of each journalist and suggest to you which one will be ideal for your current story. Manual list building and managing are slowly going by the wayside. Today, you need something more–intelligent support that comes from AI applications.
But reaching the right journalist is not always enough. Frequently, you also need to find the best story angle. Let’s say you want to write about a new merger on the IT market. It’s an interesting subject both for strictly IT media (like CIO Magazine) and business media (like Forbes or Entrepreneur). But journalists working for CIO Magazine and Forbes will be interested in different aspects of your story. With AI-fueled tools, you can create custom-made story angles specifically for journalists representing different media, but also based on their writing history, professional interests, and even personalities!
To sum up, although AI in PR is still a novelty, we can expect to see tens of new tools and solutions in the coming months. The need for professional PR, suitable for the modern dynamic world, will only grow. And artificial intelligence is your answer.
