PR TRENDS FOR 2017… WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY.
There is one major driver to the world of media relations, and that is digital media. It’s not new this year, but it is developing quickly and has a hand in what media is, how consumers absorb content, how we as PR pros deal with the media and how as PR pros we communicate to our customers. As the world changes, so do we need to. Here’s what you need to be aware of.
1. Visual Storytelling
Facebook now sees 8 billion average daily video views from 500 million users
Snapchat users watch 6 billion videos every day
US adults spend an average of 1 hour, 16 minutes each day watching video on digital devices
78% of people watch online videos every week, 55% watch every day
And according to some, there is a 74 percent increase in understanding when someone watches a video. These are some simple reasons to start using video and other visual tools right now.
2. The Traditional Media Press Release Is Dead
How you write it and how you distribute it.
First up, your release must be digital friendly. This means you need to include links and hashtags. Without these, others (possibly a journalist or editor) will add them, but you loose control of the message and the online advantage of multiple links/hashtags going live at one time.\
Secondly, while we can use a news wire (sure, why not?) this is not the answer. They are increasingly affordable and quick to access. Better still, get that news out directly to just the right (small group) of quality, professional journalists. At the same time, publish your own piece of news on your own blog and then multiply it by posing across social media
3. Amplify your Social Media
Yes, the lie between PR and advertising are ever greyer. Once you have used your own social media platforms to publicize your own news, it’s time to turn the volume up with some amplification. You can use paid promotion, such as Facebook promoted posts, Twitter promoted tweets and LinkedIn sponsored updates. Google AdWords will continue to be another great paid promotion tactic.
To go to the next level, try asking big influencers in your industry to share and contribute to your content to give it more credibility and publicity.
4. Native Advertising
Now we have you over the hurdle of actually paying to play in the form of amplified social media posts, next you need to consider native advertising. Ad and digital agencies have been pushing these solutions for some time.
Native advertising typically match the look and feel of the platform it appears in and provides *useful* content rather than a typical call-to-action to purchase something. It’s about time the PR pro understands how and when to use native advertising.
5. Personalizing Your Pitch
We have known for many years that mass pitches do NOT the job. You need to build relationships with journalists and editors if you want to increase your chance of getting your content published fast. So, why is this going to be a trend in 2017? Well, people seem to have forgotten. Many believe that they can use technology to overcome this vital part in the PR process. You can’t. We believe that traditional processes of getting to know journalists will have a resurrection this year.
What else do you think will be driving the PR industry in 2017?