7 Essential Digital Marketing Skills for PR Professionals in 2025

Digital technology continues to change public relations in large and small ways.

**Updated March 31, 2025**

Twenty-five years ago, when I was a full-time PR professional, public relations and digital marketing were two separate disciplines. There was little overlap.

But technology has changed a lot in the last 25 years. Instead of using fax machines, beepers, landlines, and dial-up internet connections, most PR professionals simply have smartphones.

In addition, the internet—which now includes websites, online news sources, social media, blogs, podcasts, organic search, SEO, AI—has completely changed how the news, earned media and public relations operate.

The basic fundamentals of PR have not changed. Most PR professionals still must be good at:

• Developing messaging
• Cultivating relationships with journalists
• Writing press releases
• Pitching stories
• Crisis communication planning
• Media training

To excel as a PR professional in 2025 and beyond, it is still essential to possess a strong command of the fundamentals. But you also need to know how the internet affects news, public relations, and earned media, and how they interact with the digital space.

How Earned Media and Digital Media Influence Each Other

• Decline in Print Circulation: Pew Research studies show that print circulation has been on a consistent decline from 2015 through 2024 with 120 out of 136 major news outlets experiencing declines in circulation. They gained some ground in digital circulation, but it’s not enough to make up for the loss in print circulation or ad revenue. This has resulted in fewer news outlets and fewer reporters with the average newsroom employment falling 26% from 2008-2020, according to Pew Research.

  That makes the actual news coverage that PR pros are so good at securing for your clients or employers even more precious and hard to secure. It also makes it more valuable. 

• Rise of Social Media: And what are people reading instead of newspapers? Social media! A study from Pew Research revealed in 2024 that just over half of U.S. adults (54%) say they receive their news from social media, with numbers rising. And over a third of U.S. adults receive their news on Facebook or YouTube, according to the same study.

  But consumers’ relationship with social media and news is changing, as is social media’s attitude toward the news. Meta (owner of Facebook, Threads, and Instagram), for example, has made efforts to reduce the amount of news appearing on users’ feeds, even going as far as removing the news feature tab on the platforms, as reported by Social Media Today and U.S. News & World Report.

  The decision to deprioritize algorithmic news curation was seen by users as a positive change. Another study from Pew Research found that 46% of individuals feel worn out by news on Facebook, which aligns with findings from a Morning Consult survey that revealed “People Like Facebook More Now That It’s Less Newsy.”

  The result of this shift? For years, news outlets counted on social media to funnel traffic to their websites—to drive subscriptions and ad revenue which allow these news sites to stay in business. But as The New York Times explained, the percentage of website traffic that top news sites are receiving from social media was been cut in half earlier this decade. So, while more and more people are using social media, reports from the International News Media Association and The New York Times show that fewer and fewer of them are going to news sites from these social media channels.

• Google and SEO: It now appears that Google may be making adjustments to how it handles news as well. For more than two decades, publishers big and small packaged their content to rank highly in Google’s search results. The same New York Times article suggests that some online news sources are seeing less traffic from Google. Google cut some members of its news partnership team in September 2023 and laid off as many as 45 workers from its Google News team.

  “Some publishers have seen declines in Google referral traffic in recent weeks, two people at different major media sites said. Though Google remains the most important referral traffic source to publishers by far, those people are concerned that the decline is a sign of things to come,” according to the article. Similarly, Dr. Marie Haynes found that long-standing media outlets like CNN and Forbes have experienced significant drops in Google traffic in 2024.

  A consequence of all these changes is that many news organizations—even some of the major players—are struggling. In 2023, the LA Times, Washington Post, and Time Magazine, which are important media organizations, lost millions of dollars according to The New York Times. 

  Some, like the New York Times, Boston Globe and the Atlantic, all seem to be thriving. But the media landscape is very volatile right now.

PR and Earned Media Still Matter—Maybe More Than Ever

But despite all this—and partly because of all this—PR and the ability to secure earned media coverage matter more than ever now.

• Trust in the News Media: That’s because earned media still has value. Earned media stories are more valuable now because there is a lot of online noise. These news stories are more valuable compared to random blog posts or social media rants. And reaching the dwindling number of reporters is harder and harder. This means PR jobs are becoming even more and more important.

  The importance of the news—especially local news—is evident from this Pew Research Center study.

  Americans tend to have the greatest trust in local news organizations. A large majority of Americans (75%) still say they have at least some trust in the information that comes from these outlets.

  Overall, about six in ten U.S. adults (58%) say they have at least some trust in the information that comes from national news organizations.

  Social media, by contrast, continues to engender a much lower level of trust. Only about a quarter of Americans (27%) say they have at least some trust in the information that comes from social networking sites, with just 4% expressing that they have a lot of trust in it.

• Earned Media and SEO: PR can impact SEO and website traffic. Earned media content can lead to direct links or, more likely, searches for the organization’s branded name, its products, or its subject matter experts (whose names are effectively branded search terms). So earned media is one of the best ways to improve awareness and credibility for your business and drive engaged and interested users to your website. We’ve seen this with clients and report the results back to them.
• Generative AI’s Reliance on News Sources: Many of the most widely used generative AI models (ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini) rely on traditional search engines to find sources for many of their answers. This means that traditional PR and earned media—especially in tier-one publications, like the ones AI companies are striking agreements with—will become increasingly important sources of information for these generative AI tools. So, good old-fashioned PR and media coverage must be key parts of generative AI strategy.

7 Steps PR Professionals Should Take

So, what should PR professionals do to become more digitally savvy in 2025? Here are seven key things:

1. Track website traffic sources & impact on digital channels: PR/earned media can be leveraged to drive brand awareness among key audiences—so it’s important to find which online journals lead to site traffic. 

   When you find a journal that contributes to traffic on your client’s site make sure to reach out to them to cover you more because that builds credibility and authority for your client. Or find which journals you think should lead to site traffic and develop connections with journalists at those outlets.   

   Earned media coverage will also drive interest in your brand names and products in online search, as news coverage often leads to a spike in website volume. Tracking this impact helps show the value of earned media successes.  

   You can track and analyze all this using Google Analytics 4 (GA4). 

2. Follow and engage with journalists online: I used to advise PR professionals to try and connect with journalists on Twitter (now X). However, Twitter’s utility for journalists has eroded in the past 12 months. Reporters have been migrating to Bluesky and (to a lesser extent) Threads seeking a replacement for the Twitter (X).

   Right now, it’s still up in the air if Threads or Bluesky will end up being the new home for reporters. Look out for a new blog post coming soon dissecting the movement of journalists to these newer platforms and what it means for public relations professionals. In the meantime, figure out which social media channel the reporters that matter to you are using and follow and connect with them there.

3. Monitor and contain crises online: One important way you can use social media is as an early warning system for situations that could metastasize into a full-blown PR crisis. By working with your social media team to carefully monitor comments and customer/client interaction on social media, you can often contain something minor by acting quickly and taking it offline. The social team and PR team should collaborate to plan how to handle potential crises and not simply delete or ignore complaints and criticisms.
4. Plan and prepare for PR crises to spill over into social media: When preparing for a PR crisis, always include planning for how to manage social media as well. So many crisis planning meetings spend hours and hours on coming up with talking points for communications officers to use while talking to the media but neglect how to handle social media. Most PR crises are likely to spill over to social media, so be sure to develop plans for that as well. 
5. Use online tools to track emerging trends: PR professionals should use online listening tools to keep up with trending topics on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and others. If you can identify an online trend that applies to your client or audiences valuable to your client, it’s a great entry point for potential pitches to key reporters. 
6. Amplify earned media success: When a PR team secures positive earned media, share these stories on your website, blog, social channels, and internal communications outlets. And don’t forget to share with investors, sales teams, potential clients, and current clients. 
7. Measure and report success: In addition to simply identifying and sharing earned media wins, quantify the impact on SEO, website traffic, and social media. Your digital counterparts can help track and record these metrics. Then report the impact to key internal stakeholders. Showing the value of earned media will bolster a PR professional’s credentials.

PR and Digital Partnership

Effective PR does not operate in a vacuum. It is now just one part of an integrated communications strategy that should include:

• Blog posts
• SEO
• Social media
• Website content
• Email
• Digital advertising

And the single best way to maximize your effectiveness as a PR professional is to become better versed in the online space and to partner with your colleagues in the digital marketing sphere.

This article was researched and updated by our intern Kaeley Vaughan.