When I was younger, technology mesmerised me. OK, younger being the 90’s – as I was emerging into my first career, and noticing, and certainly appreciating, the contribution technology at the time was making to my chosen professions. Today, things are a little different – not so mesmerised, but almost exhausted by the rate of change we can observe in technology, and more so, in the rules that technology apply to our use of it.
PR practitioners the world over have started embracing technology, and technology-related apparatus, in order to ensure a wide-reaching, yet focused, campaign for their clients, and to ensure that they are reaching that all-important younger generation (call them what you want) who embrace social media as the “source of all truth / knowledge” and almost- actively shun traditional print and broadcast media. Whilst this is simply a fundamental shift of avenue – the skills required remain largely the same – we are all experiencing a rapid shift in the “rules of the game” as large social media players tweak their existing systems to either prioritise clients needs / desires (paying or not), or to extract increased revenues from advertisers who want targeted or programmatic advertising opportunities via their platform.
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| Source - www.instagram-brand.com |
This week alone, Instagram, announced a change to the way in which its feeds would appear to its individual members.
So, one asks, why does a PR person give a damn?
Very simple – in our quest to embrace new media more for our client campaigns, and our increasing reliance (for better or worse) of Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) as unofficial brand ambassadors in campaigns; a small change that influences placement of said KOLs’ posts on your feed based on a “relationship” or two-way interaction between target viewer and KOLs – is simply huge!
Many KOLs, pseudo-celebs, celebs, and others of notable mention, post a lot; but that does not mean they interact with their followers. And, the more followers one has, the harder such two-way interaction, or relationship development, becomes. Therefore, logic says – the more followers you have – the less you will appear in their individual feeds because there is less interaction probability – therefore, those marketing bucks spent with the KOL are no longer reaching the wider audience. #fail!
Personally, I prefer a few quality KOLs who interact with a small audience – one that is more likely to result in a conversion rate – than a KOL with a few million followers that we know little about. However, client’s $$$ speak, and practitioners seek more bang for their buck – often the KOLs with larger numbers in order to mitigate spending risk.
Back to PR people – as a change occurs, we now have to look at whether the KOL is not only popular, has the following, creates organic posts – we now have the added pressure of seeking KOL’s who interact with their followers – and once we find them, we now need to expect a shift upward in expectations (more $$$ or product sponsorship).
Ultimately, shifting algorithms is great for advertising revenue, but potentially terrible for PR – especially as the recent trend is to divert a larger portion of effort towards organic social media initiatives – which now, the tides are shifting for. What we need to do – of utmost importance – is not only ensure that we are on top of latest technology trends (especially with social media), but that we are also au fait with the “state of play” (rules of engagement) of said platforms, so that we are always on point with our initiatives to support client campaigns and goals.
To check out the changing paradigm introduced by Instagram (and, recently, other platforms), take a look at this link: http://www.gq.com/story/feature-no-one-wants-coming-soon-to-instagram?mbid=social_facebook
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