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Top PR Trends to watch in 2010 - Danny Whatmough, Wildfire PR
INSIGHT ARTICLE
PR's must learn new skills to measure up to the challenge of multi-channel PR
Danny Whatmough is a senior PR consultant at Wildfire PR
Until a few years ago, it arguably made sense to think in terms of online PR v traditional print and broadcast media. But in 2010, that dichotomy is well and truly over. Call it ‘integrated', ‘multi‑channel' or even ‘PR 2.0', the plain truth is, if you want to get maximum exposure for your brand, you need to consider every possible channel to get your story out there - that includes traditional print media, online news sources, social networks, blogs and Twitter, as well as the search engines.
Today's media ecosystem is far more complex and inter-connected than ever before. The facts speak for themselves. In the US, the New York Times is the second most linked to site by bloggers. Recently in the UK, Sky News Online announced that Tweetdeck, the leading Twitter desktop client, will be installed on all staff machines. Yet another poll has reported that 80% of all audience engagement is offsite, which means that the vast majority of content is accessed via Facebook, Digg and other destinations, rather than its original source.
This isn't an argument about online v offline or traditional v new media, this is about making proper use of every channel, often in combination with another, and truly understanding how they interlink and can work together.
All this means PR professionals must develop an ever-expanding skill-set and live and breathe social alongside their traditional media skills. Below is Wildfire's take on the top trends that will change the way we do PR in 2010.
1. Continued shrinkage (and metamorphosis) of traditional media - there is no doubt that more traditional print media publications will disappear (including some very high profile ones), but those that remain will be highly influential, meaning brands will be competing more fiercely for less editorial space. Paid-for content will be a big topic in 2010
2. More brands will become publishers - in the light of the first prediction, many more brands will publish and distribute their own content, either as a corporate blog or by supporting and creating a new breed of industry portals that use SEO techniques to attract niche audiences
3. Creative content will count - because it is so easy to publish content on the internet, being heard amongst all the noise is critical. Getting the message across by creating compelling content that people actually want to read will count more than ever. PR people should ignore this at their peril
4. Share, share, share - PR professionals have an important role to play in ensuring that the content we create is distributed across the internet (and even offline). With the rise of the social web, sharing is where it's at and enabling this (and encouraging it) will pay dividends
5. Real-time - Google's real-time search, which delivers real-time results from social networks in its search rankings, presents both an opportunity and a threat for brands. Savvy PRs will begin advising their clients on the implications of this in 2010
6. Video, video and more video - we were interested to learn recently that Salesforce use YouTube as their primary social media channel, but it makes perfect sense. Video is a fantastic way to simplify complex messages or information, so expect to see a lot more of it in the tech industry in particular
7. Even more "social media gurus" hanging around - not necessarily a welcome one here, but at a time when it's hard to move for experts in all things social, companies will need to be more discerning to find those who can ‘walk the talk'
8. The PR/customer service dilemma - as more and more brands use social networks for PR and marketing, consumers will respond by making customer service demands via these channels. Finding a way for the two to co-exist will be a challenge
9. Blogging to rise “from the dead” again - the 'death' of blogging is one of the web's favourite themes. But, this year, those who were jumping on the blogging bandwagon will stick to the shorter form that is Twitter, while the ‘real' bloggers, with something to say will take back their prominence and excel
10. Media relations will go digital! - it's already happening, but in 2010 there will be another huge increase in the number of journalists using Twitter and other emerging social networks (Foursquare anyone?) - to publicise their recent articles, communicate directly with their readers and also, increasingly, to source stories or find spokespeople
11. The ‘death' of the long boozy PR lunch - fewer publications staffed by fewer journalists, juxtaposed with the 'real-time' web and the race to publish online news before anyone else means that getting quality content to journalists and providing them with all the elements of a great story quickly and efficiently will be vital
What have we missed? What do you expect to see in 2010? Let me know at dannyw@wildfirepr.co.uk
Danny Whatmough is a senior PR consultant at Wildfire PR
Until a few years ago, it arguably made sense to think in terms of online PR v traditional print and broadcast media. But in 2010, that dichotomy is well and truly over. Call it ‘integrated', ‘multi‑channel' or even ‘PR 2.0', the plain truth is, if you want to get maximum exposure for your brand, you need to consider every possible channel to get your story out there - that includes traditional print media, online news sources, social networks, blogs and Twitter, as well as the search engines.
Today's media ecosystem is far more complex and inter-connected than ever before. The facts speak for themselves. In the US, the New York Times is the second most linked to site by bloggers. Recently in the UK, Sky News Online announced that Tweetdeck, the leading Twitter desktop client, will be installed on all staff machines. Yet another poll has reported that 80% of all audience engagement is offsite, which means that the vast majority of content is accessed via Facebook, Digg and other destinations, rather than its original source.
This isn't an argument about online v offline or traditional v new media, this is about making proper use of every channel, often in combination with another, and truly understanding how they interlink and can work together.
All this means PR professionals must develop an ever-expanding skill-set and live and breathe social alongside their traditional media skills. Below is Wildfire's take on the top trends that will change the way we do PR in 2010.
1. Continued shrinkage (and metamorphosis) of traditional media - there is no doubt that more traditional print media publications will disappear (including some very high profile ones), but those that remain will be highly influential, meaning brands will be competing more fiercely for less editorial space. Paid-for content will be a big topic in 2010
2. More brands will become publishers - in the light of the first prediction, many more brands will publish and distribute their own content, either as a corporate blog or by supporting and creating a new breed of industry portals that use SEO techniques to attract niche audiences
3. Creative content will count - because it is so easy to publish content on the internet, being heard amongst all the noise is critical. Getting the message across by creating compelling content that people actually want to read will count more than ever. PR people should ignore this at their peril
4. Share, share, share - PR professionals have an important role to play in ensuring that the content we create is distributed across the internet (and even offline). With the rise of the social web, sharing is where it's at and enabling this (and encouraging it) will pay dividends
5. Real-time - Google's real-time search, which delivers real-time results from social networks in its search rankings, presents both an opportunity and a threat for brands. Savvy PRs will begin advising their clients on the implications of this in 2010
6. Video, video and more video - we were interested to learn recently that Salesforce use YouTube as their primary social media channel, but it makes perfect sense. Video is a fantastic way to simplify complex messages or information, so expect to see a lot more of it in the tech industry in particular
7. Even more "social media gurus" hanging around - not necessarily a welcome one here, but at a time when it's hard to move for experts in all things social, companies will need to be more discerning to find those who can ‘walk the talk'
8. The PR/customer service dilemma - as more and more brands use social networks for PR and marketing, consumers will respond by making customer service demands via these channels. Finding a way for the two to co-exist will be a challenge
9. Blogging to rise “from the dead” again - the 'death' of blogging is one of the web's favourite themes. But, this year, those who were jumping on the blogging bandwagon will stick to the shorter form that is Twitter, while the ‘real' bloggers, with something to say will take back their prominence and excel
10. Media relations will go digital! - it's already happening, but in 2010 there will be another huge increase in the number of journalists using Twitter and other emerging social networks (Foursquare anyone?) - to publicise their recent articles, communicate directly with their readers and also, increasingly, to source stories or find spokespeople
11. The ‘death' of the long boozy PR lunch - fewer publications staffed by fewer journalists, juxtaposed with the 'real-time' web and the race to publish online news before anyone else means that getting quality content to journalists and providing them with all the elements of a great story quickly and efficiently will be vital
What have we missed? What do you expect to see in 2010? Let me know at dannyw@wildfirepr.co.uk
