AuthorAmy Van Schalkwyk
LinkedIn
2025 is fast approaching and with it comes plenty of new industry trends for Digital PR professionals to track.
So, what trends are set to reshape the Digital PR landscape in 2025 and how can you include them in your plans? We take a deep dive into the trends to watch as we enter the new year.
The Rise of Decentralised Social Media
Image credit: Unsplash
In 2025, the digital PR landscape is set for a big shift as decentralised social media platforms like BlueSky emerge as key players. X and Instagram have always been the go-to platforms for PR professionals to connect with journalists, but in 2025, it’s becoming clear that PR professionals will need to keep their eyes peeled beyond long-standing social media platforms to find those all-important #journorequests.
BlueSky is gaining popularity and traction, and we're seeing a lot more journalists using this as a fresh space to find stories, brands, experts and data sources. PR professionals not embracing new platforms might find they're missing out on exclusive story opportunities.
In saying this, X and Instagram aren't going anywhere, but learning how to juggle these platforms well will help you to continue nurturing and leveraging those valuable relationships and connections with journalists.
The Shift to Video-Supported Stories
The days of a simple high-res image or infographic to support your press release are over. Something we noticed a lot in 2024 was the rise in journalists asking for exclusive video footage to support the stories we’d pitched. Journalists are now considering how stories will translate to social media right from the ideation stage. They're asking themselves - “Will this work as an Instagram carousel?” “Can this be converted to a reel?”. To stay ahead, PR teams need to be considering this in the new year. This trend is no doubt driven by apps like Instagram and TikTok, which have conditioned us to digest information in short, engaging snippets.
Showing expertise visually, not just telling, will help your clients and releases stand out from competitors. While a lot of publications are producing this video content in-house, brands that can offer ready-made, high-quality video snippets will have a huge advantage in 2025.
And even better, you don't need an expensive videography budget to make this work. Some of the best content can be captured on smartphones, making this trend accessible even for smaller clients with tighter budgets. The key is to think visually and be prepared to provide more than just text in your pitches.
Not Just A Trend: Link Relevancy
In 2025, link relevancy must be a crucial focus in any Digital PR strategy. Moving beyond just the quantity of links to emphasise their quality and topical relevance isn’t a new concept, but it’s one that continues to gain traction as Google keeps on refining its algorithms. For PR professionals, showcasing the true value of our work has always been challenging, but link relevancy is a powerful metric to help demonstrate the impact of backlinks built.
Google has always said that the total number of links doesn’t necessarily matter - instead, the quality and relevance of your links are what provide a natural and organic advantage to your site. Metrics like domain rating, link attributes (follow, nofollow, or affiliate), and the type of page linked to still play a role, but link relevancy is the metric PR pros need to track closely. Agencies and PR pros who can effectively communicate the actual value of links beyond these single data points will stand out to prospective clients and brands.
By building link relevancy into your strategy, you're also likely to build more valuable coverage and backlinks that genuinely benefit and complement your client's online presence with coverage that’s meaningful to their industry and target audience.
Relevancy isn't just a trend – it should be a fundamental part of every effective digital PR strategy in the new year. To find out about how we at NOVOS are doing this, please read more about our Link Relevancy Score.
A Cautious Approach to AI
AI has undoubtedly revolutionised so many aspects of digital PR in the last few years, and it wouldn’t be right not to mention it in a trends round-up, but in 2025, we will likely witness a big shift in how the PR industry approaches this technology.
AI’s efficiency in automating tedious tasks, analysing data sets, and helping with creative ideation is undeniable, but there are concerns about authenticity, plagiarism and inaccuracies, which all PR professionals should be evaluating.
We're witnessing the digital landscape becoming increasingly saturated with AI-generated content. As a result, there’s a growing need for PR professionals to differentiate themselves with genuine human creativity to create campaigns and stories that authentically resonate with your client's industries and their target audiences.
While this doesn't mean abandoning AI entirely, we expect to see even more industry-wide discussions on best practices for integrating AI without compromising creativity or authenticity. The real focus in 2025 will be how to strike a balance.
Story Exclusivity to Build Trust
There's a lot of public scepticism towards traditional and online media, and people are finding it increasingly difficult to differentiate between genuine, paid and biased content. As a result, the need for trustworthy, authentic and genuine journalism has never been more important.
In 2025, we expect journalists to move away from quantity-driven content and towards more well-researched pieces. We will likely see increased demand for exclusive stories, so PR professionals should be prepared for these requests.
By offering journalists exclusive stories and direct access to your clients’ specialists or experts, PR professionals can build stronger relationships with journalists that will ultimately help publications rebuild trust with their readers.
Pop Culture-Inspired Trends in 2025
As we look ahead to 2025, we can definitely expect to see a continuation of the trend where seemingly small Pop Culture moments transform into massive cultural phenomena, like “Brat” Girl Summer and “Wicked” Winter.
Savvy PR professionals will be keeping a close eye on upcoming TV shows, films, album releases, and cultural moments that have the potential to shape 2025. With the return of cult favourite TV shows like The White Lotus, Stranger Things and Black Mirror, teased new music from Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga, the return of Oasis, and new films like the Minecraft movie Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan in "A Complete Unknown", and Lewis Hamilton directed “F1” biopic, there are a myriad of the highly anticipated moments that could potentially go viral.
Regular tracking of these popular releases and having expert commentary, relevant product offerings and unique data ready to help your clients ride the wave of these moments will be key to being proactive and tapping into cultural trends early before they become over-saturated.
The real key to success is using PR skills to identify which releases or events will have the potential to capture the public's imagination before they become the “it” thing of the season.
Read more about how we can support your 2025 strategy with our Digital PR and Brand PR services.
