The constant evolution of digital uses, the meteoric rise of the new technologies and apparent arrival of digital natives, strongly impact the communication and confuses the codes of Press Relations. Passerelles Agency gives its tips for a successful PR communication.
TOP 5 trends to remember.
1. Instant media to perpetuate
In 2018, the trend is in the “all, now!”. With the advent of new media, such as Instagram and Snapchat, Visual and instant formats are popular, and are considered to be more meaningful and more direct. A few months ago, major French media (Le Monde, L’Équipe, Konbini, Melty, Tastemade, Paris-Match, Vice) have embarked on the Discover of Snapchat platform for a young audience.
2. No longer possible to ignore influencers
They have become essentials for brands: instagramers, bloggers, YouTubers. These stars of the net are well known to all and combine success and effectiveness. They are key actors to implement ePR strategies, thanks to their powerful communities.
At the same time, it should be noted the emergence of new leaders of opinion, “micro-influencers”. These are individuals who have built their fan bases thanks to their expertise or their passions for a specific sector. It’s because they have a higher level of commitment than celebrities that consumers are more likely to follow their recommendations.
For example, the Vins d’Alsace have appealed to influencers including Joaquim and Floriane Aguera to promote their wines towards a young target, urban and trendy and generate visibility around their event ‘Drink Alsace’
3. The press-rooms are flying high
Theses on-line spaces giving access to press releases and other press tools are always available. This is a simple method to increase the visibility of the content with journalists.
To bring their press information on-line, companies can make the choice to use outsourced platforms such as Babbler or integrating their newsroom within their own web site.
4. Smart Data or nothing
More than ever the smart data are a hot topic! These intelligent data allow a new approach, which is to extract the most relevant information among the mass of data. In PR, it means sending to journalists content in agreement with their editorial policy, and they like it! The principle is not really new but it works: send the right message, at the right time, to the right media targets in order to position itself as a reliable source and giving relevant information.
5. The press kit, no longer automatic
For a long time, the press kit was just the staple of PR., but could this concentration of information that ran along with the PR from the very beginning, slowly disappears?
With the new access to information on the Internet, journalists are not that fond anymore of tedious files and use to go and seek information by themselves. However the Press Kit is not dead and can still be very appreciated by reporters, IF… you keep it very clear and synthetic, well-structured, including iconography or videos and giving access online. So forget press kits weighing over a tonne to focus on those of a dozen pages at most!
In summary: prefer short and concise formats because, in 2018, utility and efficiency will be the key-words.
In short, in 2018, new uses will be developed and not only in PR!
Fakes news will continue to shake the web, weakening trust and confidence in information.
The trendy format of the moment, the video, will continue to spread, even becoming the only format possible on some platforms (example with Watch, the platform of original videos on Facebook).
The chatbots (software discussion boosted to artificial intelligence), will settle fully in the daily life of consumers: either for ordering a pizza or answering our questions.
Augmented reality and virtual reality will continue their ascent. If the trend is not yet widespread, it will soon be, thanks to the development of Apple, Google and Samsung offers.
The media will therefore have to adapt to consumers customizing more supply to make information more appealing.