Top PR tips to help you in an increasingly wild world

The world is crazy, isn’t it?

AI, Venezuela – 2026 is barely out of nappies, and we already all feel shattered.

Everything is changing so fast – including PR.

 

For decades, PR has been seen as either fluff, spin or smoke and mirrors.

It isn’t (Trust us, securing coverage would be a lot easier if it were).

 

No – good PR is simple storytelling executed so well, it can also shape reputation.

There are no dark arts. There are very few Malcolm Tuckers, and (sadly) even fewer boozy lunches.

But PR is becoming smarter and sharper.

 

Spray and pray – the industry term for blasting often dull press releases to every news outlet under the sun – is on its deathbed.

 

 

In this fast-evolving world where AI is rapidly replacing Google as our go-to for search, what matters is quality, not quantity.

 

Coverage that connects with businesses are becoming increasingly aware that one meaningful, high-quality placement beats a dozen forgettable mentions.

 

And I believe another big change in 2026 will be the power of local.

While national headlines carry prestige, it is more often than not the regional press that delivers results.

There isn’t a single national newspaper’s circulation that isn’t in permanent freefall, yet, online at least, the regional press is thriving.

 

Around 12m people each month read the Manchester Evening News – a figure many broadsheet editors would kill for – and a stat that shows how regional audiences are, thanks to the internet, now international.

 

Additionally, Newsquest – publisher of the Northern Echo – had over 208m visitors to their sites in August, a figure up 11 per cent year on year.

But it isn’t just coverage that’s changing in 2026.

 

So are communications.

 

For years, businesses would use PR to polish their prose.

But language and how we communicate is shifting beyond all recognition.

Look at Donald Trump. Like him or loathe him, his language is simple and at times sloppy – but he has the cut through other politicians can only dream of.

 

Why? Because the public is fed up of polish.

 

They want real language and real people, not a spokesperson or a speech crafted by groupthink.

And what they really crave is imperfection, even in your business.

In 2026, owning your mistakes and shortcomings could be your golden PR ticket.

Because the world is hard. Anyone who runs a business, no matter how well it is doing, will admit that.

But that connects far more than shouting about how brilliant your life is.

Don’t believe me? Check your socials.

 

I’d wager that a hospitality venue you follow has posted something candid in the past few months.

A big no-show. A dine and dash. The sky-high cost of their bills.

And I’d wager that post had more impressions, positive comments, and shares than anything else they’d posted.

 

Why? Because it is real.

And that ties in neatly the big beast of 2026.

Artificial intelligence isn’t coming for PR. It’s already here.

 

But despite doom and gloom that PR would make obsolete anyone who had ever written a sentence, AI has actually turbo-charged PR.

And good PR is now more valuable than ever, given it feeds off quality coverage.

But AI also poses a major risk to any business’s hard-earned reputation.

 

It is blurring our once solid lines at a rapid rate.

This is a crazy sentence to write – but how many of us have had to check if a video we’ve watched is actually real?

 

So, while AI has the potential for good, it also has the potential for chaos.

Fake news that sparks a social media backlash. A brand fire that can quickly undo decades of hard work.

That’s why in 2026, PR is going to be more than just glossy videos and newsworthy press releases.

 

It will be reputational fireguard for your brand – one that is vital in this increasingly crazy world.

 

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