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Social Media - Who Listens and Is It Worth My Time?
In 2007, the latest rage was
social media. Everyone rushed to join the social networks like Facebook and
MySpace.com. YouTube.com started broadcasting incredible video content
free over the web ... you could have your own video channel.
In fact, social media
offered a whole new channel—separate from newspapers, trade journals, radio and
television—that public relations specialists and marketing professionals could
use to communicate with their clients, their stakeholders and the media.
Bookmarking tools, blogs, microblogs, streaming video, and social networking
tools were an excellent addition to the PR Toolbox. Now Social Media is
measurable, searchable and targeted so that it becomes a valuable strategic tool
for marketers and communications professionals., At the time, these new
tools—unfiltered, perfectly targeted, searchable and measurable—were viewed by
many as a great add-on to the traditional public relations toolkit.
In December 2008,
we saw the first measurable shift in the way media was delivered and measured
—for the first time, the Internet outpaced newspapers as the preferred source of
news. Compounded by the recent downturn in the economy, newspapers have
faced bankruptcy, closure, layoffs, and more dependence on tapping into the
Internet for their sources of revenues since advertising and classified ad sales
diminished. Consequently, PR professionals have had to address the fact
that there are fewer pages in a newspaper for stories and, unfortunately, fewer
reporters to pitch that story to ... plus those reporters left have much less
time to research their stories for in-depth articles.
Nearly seven in 10
people between the ages of 45-54 now regularly read, watch or listen to social
media like blogs or YouTube. If Facebook were a country, it would be the
fifth largest in the world and it continues its phenomenal growth. Twitter
and other microbloggers are getting the message out in 140 characters or less
... YouTube.com has just been recognized for its effectiveness by Wolf Blitzer
on CNN for making United Airlines respond to the online video United Breaks
Guitars about one musician's experience with a broken Taylor guitar at the
O'Hare airport in Chicago.
The
social media option of two years ago has become a staple of today's media plan.
It is the most effective method to reach your shareholders, stakeholders,
clients and communicate your company's message. At DM Productions LLC, our team
of social media specialists can help you define and implement a social media
strategy which will deliver a positive impact to your media campaign.
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