By Samantha Gonda
The public relations industry is constantly evolving, and artificial intelligence (AI) is playing a major role in this transformation. Boutique PR agencies are at the forefront of this trend, using AI to automate tasks, improve efficiency, and gain insights that help them better serve their clients.
Here are three ways that top boutique PR agencies are using AI in their everyday routines:
1. Research
Mary Shank Rockman, founder of MSR Communications, has been representing AI clients for over a decade. As a member of both the AI and PR industries, Rockman has had the unique advantage of understanding the strengths and limitations of AI and how to best use it at a public relations agency. Rockman states, “As the technology continues to evolve in this dynamic space, we believe it is incumbent on our team and all PR people to enhance our knowledge of how to work alongside the advances in AI technology.”
One of the first things Rockman suggests for PR professionals is utilizing AI to expedite research. She mentions that the MSR team often leverages AI for “research that helps provide broader industry insights and relevance to clients, trending topics, competitive landscapes, and expanding word choices.”
To use AI in research, it’s always important to remember that specificity is key. If you are only looking for research within a certain time period, be sure to indicate that into the prompt. It’s also valuable to ask AI to “act like a [insert type of person here]” when providing the research. For example if a PR firm is researching the latest trends in the culinary world for a new restaurant opening, it may be valuable to ask AI to “acting as a top chef in the United States summarize your thoughts on the latest culinary trends.”
2. First Drafts
As the communications industry begins to move from lightning speed to the speed of light itself, any tool that saves time and promotes efficiency will naturally become a savior among PR professionals. That’s why using AI when creating first drafts is now a routine practice at top PR agencies across the globe.
When trying it out for yourself remember to give AI plenty of specifics including the tone of voice, word count, specific information that you would like to be included, and summarizing the audience and writer. Examples of this would be the following prompts:
· Acting as an industry-leading social media marketer, write 5 captions for an Instagram post on Friday the 13th of October for a picture of a cocktail at happy hour from a top public relations agency in London that is under 100 words.
· Acting as a top HR professional, write an email that will be sent to all employees at a public relations agency announcing a mandatory client brainstorming session at 2pm on Thursday. This email should be clear, concise, and positive and tell employees that lunch will be provided. Keep the word count under 200 words.
· Acting as a top copywriter, write 10 attention-grabbing subject lines for an email pitching a sleep expert for a morning news segment.
Tarunjeet Rattan, Managing Partner of Nucleus PR, mentions that it can be easy for new AI users to get carried away with the ease of it all. But she urges PR professionals to always read through and edit all responses from AI. “While speed and content are great to have, as PR professionals we need to focus on accuracy, verbosity and credibility. Our editing and analytical skills need to be on a ninja level.”
3. Creating Images
AI software like Midjourney, Firefly and Dalle 2 are often used by top public relations firms to save time and resources. These images can be useful for newsletters, blog posts, or when creating decks. It’s also possible to teach AI either your client’s or your agency’s brand guidelines to ensure that the images are in the correct style, just be sure to note any specific colors, fonts, or themes you would like to have in the images. Like with all AI, it’s important to look over the work that AI creates and edit it.
While AI is certainly a groundbreaking tool for efficiency, it is not and should not be treated as an end all be all. Serap Durak of Positive Public Relations notes, “When sharing opinions and comments with our customers, it should be noted that the data is not only obtained from artificial intelligence, but the public relations professionals must also add his own comments.” If you or your agency haven’t taken the time to set up AI guidelines, now is the time to have these conversations.
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