How Social Media Transforms Public Relations

The shift within the public relations sector due to the digital age has also revolutionized tactics of communication with the public. One example is Spotify's "Wrapped" campaign, which highlights how unique content given to the public can captivate audiences and drive engagement towards the organization. Spotify first introduced the concept in 2013 with its "Year in Review" feature, creating shareable stories about users' listening history in the past calendar year. This use of personalization taps into people’s desire to reflect on their year and have a definition of what their music taste is, making it a highly anticipated event. By using content that is engaging and made for social media platforms, Spotify Wrapped achieved viral success. In 2022, over 156 million users interacted with their summaries, generating more than 400 million posts on X in just three days. This engagement promotes brand loyalty and is a great way to shift public opinion in favor of Spotify and distract from their allegations of underpaying artists. This campaign also displays how impactful shareable content and audience participation are, providing a model for how brands can effectively use digital networking to sustain long-term engagement.

Crisis communication is essential in the field of public relations and with the interconnected nature of the internet, it is now expected to respond quickly and effectively to crises that affect the organization. Research by Graham et al. (2015) shows that “more than 70% of these government officials engage social media during crises”. Graham et al. (2015) describes that social media enables real-time communication and has been instrumental during crises like the Boston Marathon Bombings and Hurricane Sandy. According to Graham et al. (2015), “the extent to which social media is utilized, directly impacts an organization’s ability to manage and control a crisis effectively”. This finding explains it is not a successful crisis management response without social media and the performance is hugely based on how well the response is on social media platforms. The success of the response is also important to maintain public trust and to be in communication with their needs.

Whether we hate it or love it, influencer marketing has become an essential part of modern public relations by having access to a wide public and having an influence on the public. Influencers are positioned to capture attention and engage with followers by combining their personalities with messaging to sell products and brands. Organizations are turning to influencers to inform and mobilize their audiences to events, online campaigns or to spread brand recognition. Additionally, Influencers are effective at reaching young people, who don’t often use traditional media which puts them in demand for political campaigns, clothing brands, and beauty companies who want to expand their influence and reputation. However, challenges are still present because managing influencer authenticity can be unreliable, and managing control over the messaging of a campaign relies on careful planning. Regardless of this, collaborations often mean giving influencers creative freedom, which is necessary to maintain a genuine trust and connection with their audience to meet campaign goals. This approach has proven successful in both corporate and political settings, highlighting how influencers have evolved into powerful resources in modern PR strategies.