Pixar Animation Studios

These days, machine learning is everywhere. From Pixar movies to Siri and your Facebook News Feed, artificial intelligence has become a large part of our everyday lives. What does the growing prevalence of machine learning mean for the future of PR? Quite a bit, it turns out.

Trend Prediction

It doesn’t take a PR savant to be familiar with Twitter trends. However, machine learning takes trends to the next level by predicting the topics that are about to trend. And, the more AI uses data to accurately predict trends, the better it gets at it. The capability allows PR pros to be on the cutting edge of what’s on people’s minds.

Coverage Tracking

Machine learning can be used by PR pros to track coverage on clients much faster than any person could. Having that data on a client in basically real-time is an invaluable tool for the PR industry. Luckily for us, deciphering the significance of these stories and creating a plan of action still requires humans.

Buyer Personas

More accurate buyer personas, that is. You probably already know your buyers’ basic demographics like age and gender, but machine learning gives you better information that can really help you increase sales for your client. For example, the types of items they usually buy, how much they are willing to spend on those items, and their preferred method of content consumption (TV, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.).

Media Lists

In addition to its ability to compile media lists, AI can analyze the stories of the journalists on those lists. Using keywords and phrases, it can tell you which reporters are the best to pitch for certain clients. This way, you won’t be pitching to reporters who usually do stories on physical retail for an e-commerce oriented client.

Influencers

The advent of social media also brought with it the advent of influencers. Since people’s interests are endless, so are the different influencer niches. This means that from tech geeks to professional sled-dog mushers, there’s an influencer out there for your client’s product. AI can pinpoint which influencers are best to partner with based on who your client’s target audience is most likely to follow.

Crisis Management

Possibly the most exciting aspect of machine learning and PR is AI’s ability to predict, track the impact and estimate the overall length of a PR crisis. It does this in part by tracking rumors on social media and news sites, which in turn helps you stay ahead of a crisis. However, the best way to handle a PR crisis is always preventing it in the first place.

Real Relationships

Just kidding! One of the only things that AI can’t do is also one of the most important: fostering real relationships with real people. That’s why no matter how advanced AI becomes, the human element will never be fully replaced.

About Weslie Oeftering: Weslie is a student at The University of Texas at Austin and Swyft’s resident PR and marketing intern. She supports clients with social media, blogging, and tech PR activities. Swyft is a PR and marketing agency with offices in Austin, Houston, and Denver that provide services for tech companies all around the world who are seeking rapid, sustained growth. Some of their services include content marketing, social media strategy, as well as ad buys, email marketing, and media relations.