A Proactive PR Strategy Is Your Best Insurance Policy In 2026

"While most of your team is winding down for the holidays and year's end, business leaders are doing the opposite: winding up for the start of 2026. It can be an exciting yet harrowing time. Each new year brings a full menu of fresh opportunities, but they often come with a heaping side of challenges. Next year is no exception. Prolonged economic uncertainty, potential tariff impacts, shifting political sands and the ever-present specter of AI will continue to influence strategy, spending and risk tolerance."

"That's why a proactive public relations strategy is one of the best ways to hedge your bets against whatever 2026 brings. It makes sense that 26% of the communications leaders surveyed expect their PR or communications budgets to increase by up to 25% next year, and another quarter expect them to grow by even more. They know PR is the strategic lever needed to free up leadership bandwidth so they can drive the business forward."

"For organizations with small budgets or perhaps little or no experience with an agency, a project-based contract is a great place to start. This allows you to get your feet wet with a merger announcement, a product launch or your latest research report to see how working with an agency feels. It's a smart way to start building momentum without the commitment of a monthly retainer and to try out a PR firm to see whether it's a good fit."

Business leaders entering 2026 face prolonged economic uncertainty, potential tariff impacts, shifting political sands, and accelerating AI influences on strategy, spending, and risk tolerance. Proactive public relations functions as a hedge against those variables, with a meaningful share of communications leaders expecting PR budgets to grow substantially next year. Project-based PR contracts offer smaller organizations or first-time agency users a lower-commitment way to execute specific initiatives like mergers or product launches while evaluating fit. Reputation management and crisis communications are nonnegotiable because unforeseen events can rapidly escalate, making reactive responses costlier and more damaging to both reputation and budgets.

Read at Forbes