We're well into the New Year by now and I don’t know about you, but I have been overwhelmed by the number of people talking about this year's trends across PR, Social Media and the Digital Marketing world.
So, after some time reading, listening and digesting, along with a little help from Don’t Panic’s Insight 13 event last week, here are just a few of the things, in no particular order that could and should be big in PR and Social Media in 2013…
Goodbye to vanity data hello Big Data
It’s true to say that PR types have been a little, shall we say sketchy when it comes to stats and using data for KPI’s and measurement. And it’s fair to say that we can no longer hide behind our creative prowess, as the truth is out there!
Our clients have more data than ever before and it really is a PR commodity. PR professionals in 2013 will have to learn to love data.
Big data is a buzzword that’s gaining traction and it is changing how PR is being done strategically and tactically. The demand for data driven PR is high - and we’re not talking survey monkey stats here. The mix of using rich data, analytics along with some old fashioned research is going to be key to gain first-hand insights into how brands are perceived.
Social and Mobile
Designing and creating content for mobile web is no longer a nice thing to do, as more people find and consume information on smart phone, phablets (eugh) and tablets, by creating mobile-friendly content, news outreach will become easier and quicker, a must if you want to stay on top of your PR game. There will be more on this from us soon with an update from our seminar on the latest in mobile.
Google+
It’s time to stop resisting - this little baby will finally come into its own and now’s the time to start. There’s no denying that it’s a well-constructed social network and with the ability to easily move between Google+ and Gmail making it all the more appealing. Not only that but the figures stand up for themselves. Google+ now has 135M active users and recently saw a growth of 35M in just 6 weeks - growing at a rate not dissimilar to Facebook in the early days.
Three reasons to get on to Google+ according to Guy Kawasaki
- Your activity on Google+ increases the likelihood of people finding your business via search.
- Hangouts on Air is an excellent way to economically reach large audiences via video.
- The recent addition of Communities enables you to easily organise groups of people based on shared passions.
Picture this
Instagram and Pinterest have shown that a picture is worth a thousand words and now it’s time for brands to start thinking visually. No article or story is complete without a picture whether it’s a technical piece of kit or a picture of a recipe. There will be more and more PR professionals using visual content.
Facebook backlash
There is a consensus that there will be drop off in Facebook’s uptake and there may well be a surge in people closing accounts following the introduction of its new Graph Search function.
Graph search is Facebook’s answer to Google’s search engine, however it only searches Facebook, how useful that is, I’m not so sure. However, it is making waves following a blog demonstrating the increasing privacy concerns that this tool raises - watch this space.
At the heart of all PR activity in 2013 will be trust. Trust is at an all-time low and brands will have to adopt a simpler honest approach to their marketing activity. PR professionals can no longer spin, as the facts are out there - those companies that approach their campaigning with a transparent warts and all approach will be more likely to survive.
So let’s see what the year has in store, will my predictions be right? You tell me…
