Like advertising, media is changing at a rate so fast that even the experts need to put in extra hours to keep up with it. A smart communications team, for example, should no longer invest all its energy in the print edition of The New York Times or Wall Street Journal. Why?
In the last three to five years, the vast majority of people have started reading their news online. According to an annual report from Journalism.org, this trend is not fad – it is becoming a way of life… similar to taking planes instead of trains and cars instead covered wagons. Consumers are attracted to the following aspects of online news:
- Information arrives continuously and can be accessed anytime.
- Users are not limited in their choices; they can get news, videos, audio, and other information from anywhere in the world.
- Most of it is free.
This presents a problem; the person who once read the Financial Times with breakfast is now surfing for news online. He might visit the FT website, but he is also faced with thousands of news sites that may be more interactive, more visually stimulating, and more focused on his personal interests.
A few years ago, most companies had a good idea of what their potential customers and investors were reading and watching. Not now. This is not to say people no longer read The New York Times, but they do travel to other sites, blogs, and forums – and if your company isn’t present at these other sites, your company doesn’t exist.
Obviously, you can’t be everywhere at once. At Engage PR, we make sure we put our energy where it matters. We talk directly to our clients’ customers, asking them what websites and blogs they read. Are they part of any social networking forums? Do they listen to podcasts and webinars – and if so, which ones? What online newsletters do they receive?
There are so many places to be, it can be overwhelming. The trick is to focus on the bottom line – don’t put all your energy into Forbes when a large percentage of your customers are reading GigaOm everyday.
Things are changing fast in the media, and you need to keep up.
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