2019 is history and a lot of lessons were probably learned.  In looking ahead, one of the areas to pay close attention to is the health of the company’s digital marketing for 2020.  With proper attention in the right areas and some meaningful tweaks, the potential for growth looks promising.

Now’s the perfect time for an annual checkup.  The first place to start is an honest assessment of how well the entire company is in tune with marketing’s digital marketing strategy.  Do sales and senior leadership embrace and support marketing’s vision and plans?

Marketing professionals are taking advantage of every opportunity possible to generate a buzz about their brand or products, and one of the more popular options that is transforming marketing efforts is newsjacking. This is a method of marketing that essentially involves companies or brands maximizing the buzz of current news stories and events in order to raise awareness about their own company or brand. It is generally relatively affordable or even free, and it can create a considerable amount of interest in the brand when it is done effectively.

Many of today’s news stories and current events have some negative aspect to them. It is not necessary to focus efforts on a negative news story to add your real-time spin. For example, we all remember the now-classic Oreo Superbowl Ad. Oreo successfully hijacked a major event during a sporting event, to showcase their companies brand identity, wit and voice.

Looking at the marketplace as a whole, trends report that larger, traditional grocery stores in the United States are experiencing a downturn. National or larger regional chains are struggling to compete against both big box stores as well as the growing number of online consumer grocery options.

A closer look reveals trends beneath these trends. Certain regional brands are thriving, building in markets where other chains have died off, not only competing against much larger brands, but beating them in key demographics. Walmart is selling more and more groceries. Discount chain Aldi is spreading like wildfire, and yet these much smaller companies are still growing. How? The magic bullet, market watchers say, is a precise combination of branding, local connection, and targeted consumer PR.

Most marketers find themselves paying close attention to the television ads that air during their nightly time in front of the TV. Advertising is a fascinating study in social strategy and messaging, and marketers tend to be observant of the initiatives other brands are taking to reach consumers. With this awareness, it’s likely that most marketing professionals have noticed a marked increase in the number of ads appearing from prominent technology brands such as Amazon, Facebook, and Google.

It may seem random, but it isn’t. Several key factors likely played into this strategy to push out mainstream advertising in order to update a brand’s reputation or make a push for consumer involvement. Let’s take Facebook’s recent advertising campaign around Facebook Groups as an example.

Public relations is often known as an industry that monitors and manages brand reputation and steps in whenever there is a misstep. Unfortunately, making a PR mistake is fairly commonplace, and other brands can often learn from the mistakes that others make. Adjusting a public relations strategy according to what others have done is one way to help prevent problems in the future.

Handling a mistake can make or break the success of a brand, especially if that mistake is one that many consumers are aware of. For this reason, managing the spread of information is one of the biggest challenges that public relations professionals face. Particularly in today’s age of rapidly spreading information — correct or not — this can be quite a task for even the most seasoned professional.

In the world of public relations, digital PR refers to the online marketing strategy utilized by businesses to increase their online presence and boost their brand. Digital PR carries any similarities to traditional PR, but in reality represents an opportunity to reach a broader audience- global, in fact- in a way that offline techniques are unable to achieve. Instead, in order to make the most impact, digital PR uses online strategies such as search engine optimization,  influencer outreach, content marketing, and social media.

Digital PR is a powerful tool capable of boosting a brand’s online presence and visibility. Information is constructed into conversations, and companies are able to speak directly to their target audience 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Better yet, by connecting directly with their target audience, brands can use digital PR to clarify their focus and spread news faster than they have ever done before.

Paid advertising can be a tricky business, but with careful strategizing and tracking on the go, it can surely be a reliable source of leads and sales. When done wrong, however, it can be an expensive lesson.

The more you know about your audience, the better your ads will perform. Perhaps this is why many firms prefer to advertise on Facebook: the platform offers a host of options for audience targeting.

Public Relations in the Digital Age is an ever-shifting amalgam of tried and true communications practices and new and different methods through which you may connect with your target audience.

To maintain success, you must expand your understanding of current tools and applications, as well as which platforms and influencers are drawing your audience. And a cursory understanding of these factors is not enough. To truly make the most of your PR opportunities in the Digital Age, you need to understand both the value and the purpose of several evolving realities.