My biggest PR Takeaways from 2025

Written by our PR Account Manager: Marlena Hoffman

PR is a field that constantly challenges you to learn, adapt, and discover fresh ways to tell your clients’ stories. Each year brings new experiences, insights, and lessons that shape how we approach our work. As we wrap up 2025, I thought what better way to close the year than by reflecting on my top three lessons that I’ll be carrying with me into 2026. 

Media and Client Relationships Are Earned 

This year, I made a conscious effort to step out of my comfort zone and continue growing relationships with both the media and our clients. Going the extra mile really pays off, because you never know what opportunities a strong connection might bring. For instance, earlier this year, after grabbing coffee with a journalist, I ran into an old friend in the industry and said hello. That small initiative eventually led to an introduction that brought us a new client. It’s a great reminder that building, maintaining, and growing relationships can open unexpected doors, and it’s something we as publicists should never stop doing. 

Persistence Pays Off 

As publicists, our goal is to take our clients’ stories and share them in a way that brings awareness and impact. That means navigating the media landscape and tailoring each story so it aligns with both the clients’ goals and the journalists’ interests. It’s almost like being a bridge between the two. Timing, trends, and media priorities can make this challenging at times. Sometimes a major news story dominates coverage, or a journalist simply states they won’t cover it.

Just because landing coverage for a client is more challenging than anticipated doesn’t mean it is impossible to land coverage; it often just means that we haven’t found the right angle yet. This is part of the job, and it’s what brings out our most creative side. Thoughtful strategy, persistence, and consistency often take time, but they make the eventual success all the more rewarding. 

Finding the Opportunity in Hidden Details 

Not all media opportunities are laid out on paper. Sometimes, they’re tucked away in a newsletter, buried in a magazine, or revealed through a casual conversation. Spotting these opportunities requires daily attention and intentionality. That’s why we make it a habit to scan the media landscape regularly: reviewing past issues, tracking what journalists have been writing about, and staying aware of new trends. In the past, while reading through a publication, I’ve noticed articles that suggest a journalist might be interested in a similar story from one of our clients. This is why constant scanning is so important, because you never know when an opportunity could present itself. 

I look forward to seeing what lessons learned 2026 will bring, and here’s to another year of turning challenges into opportunities for our team and our clients.