PR in a Digital Age

The industry of Public Relations since its inception a little over a hundred years ago has remained largely unchanged. Agencies would help brands communicate their message direct to consumers, prepare press releases and disseminate stories among news outlets – very little changed for a long time. Then the Internet happened. Suddenly the way in which people communicate and relate to the world changed dramatically in just over a decade and a new lexicon of words even emerged that now fill our daily vocabulary; ‘social media’, ‘blogging’, ‘hashtag’!

The nature of PR has had to adapt or fall behind. A new range of services have been developed and added to existing tried and trusted practices. Now that brands can communicate directly with consumers as opposed to only through a third party, PR agencies have had to begin a fight to stay relevant. What we consider to be the media now goes far beyond the main news agencies. ‘Media’ is no longer a term reserved for reporters; it now includes bloggers, social media users, online video and so much more and the only gatekeepers today are a slow Internet connection, a dead battery on your mobile or perhaps censorship of sites by the government in some countries.

With every development in technology and even society there will be a cultural reluctance to change. PR agencies may take it personally that the Internet has come along and changed the rules. This shouldn’t be the case though, instead the Internet has opened up a whole new dimension to the role of the PR agency. As PR veteran Bob Leaf says, “what is helping the PR industry today is there is an increased realisation by governments, firms, NGOs, professions and individuals that the need for professional PR has grown in importance.” This is a direct result of the Internet.

The lines of communication used to go only one way, now it’s a two way conversation with brands and consumers interacting directly. This is especially true through social media where questions posted to brand Facebook pages have increased 85% over the last year. Our expectations of what we want from our brands and media have changed. News is now instantaneous and in real-time. However, many companies have not implemented this change to their public relations efforts. PR has become a 24/7 business and the biggest challenge facing the industry and clients will be how they adapt to meet these new demands.

The world of real-time public relations calls for an embrace of all things digital. This includes; blogging, social media, networking sites and online communities. As well as an understanding of SEO and the creativity to create marketable content for an online audience. As Lexi Mills writes, “there is evidence that PR driven SEO drives significant positive results for brands.” These new tools in the public relations toolkit aid the industry to stay more relevant than ever before. It is the job of the PR industry to stand up and demonstrate the kind of thought leadership in these new areas that they already create for their clients in other areas.

With everything that has changed in public relations there are some things that will always stay constant. Public relations is the business of managing relationships and ultimately public perception. This will not change, only the medium by which it is carried out. The Internet has forced us to become more social and public relations naturally fits in at the forefront of that. It is an exciting time for public relations as the ways in which we communicate continue to diversify it is time to get on board and embrace the opportunities the Internet has presented us with.

Brands Vs. YouTubers – How to do Video Marketing right

Video is quickly becoming one of the most powerful marketing tools available to businesses. YouTube is by far the market leader in user generated video content and now brands are taking advantage of YouTube as a platform to deliver content direct to consumers over more traditional forms of media such as Television.

Video marketing through YouTube provides a widely accessible medium for businesses to reach a global customer base directly. Video can help build a relationship with the consumer, demonstrate thought leadership, boost SEO and even develop a brand’s unique personality in the mind of the consumer. Every business should consider developing a video marketing strategy.

One brand with a commanding presence on YouTube is Red Bull. Focussing on the extreme sports events and professional athletes the brand sponsors, Red Bull’s video marketing has helped create a lifestyle synonymous with its energy drink. This is one brand that are doing video marketing right! But there is still room for improvement.

Through slick video productions it is clear that Red Bull invest heavily in their YouTube channel. However, although their channel subscribers number nearly 2,750,000 this pales in comparison to other YouTube channels with barely a fraction of the resources available to Red Bull. The number one channel currently on YouTube belongs to Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, aka PewDiePie. Felix currently has over 12 million subscribers and his videos of video game playthroughs have generated over 2 billion views. Red Bull and the other top ten brands in the top 100 YouTube channels combined don’t even come close to the number of subscribers and views generated by the top ten YouTubers.

Obviously this highlights something of an imbalance when the biggest brands in the World aren’t able to successfully tap into the same potentially massive audience, with all of their marketing budget and know-how, than a teenager in their bedroom commentating a game of Minecraft.

Brands have clearly caught on to video marketing in a big way. A recent study by the content marketing institute shows that the top 100 brands on YouTube have increased the number of videos they produce from 4,760 videos per month to 7,175 per month, with an aggregate production value of more than $4.3 billion. But there is clearly something missing in terms of views and subscribers, so what lessons could they learn from the new generation of tech-savvy YouTubers out there about engaging with an audience?

Here are five fundamental things brands should think about when video marketing on YouTube:

1. Felix and other successful YouTubers like him have had to build their channel and brand from the ground up. They have found their particular niche and stuck with it. Consistency then is important when it comes to video marketing. A sudden viral hit may garner a surge in views, but unbreakable consistency is the real path to long term success on YouTube. Felix posts almost every day to keep his audience engaged and so do many other YouTubers. A recent report by Pixability on the top 100 most successful brands on YouTube found that the best brands had 50% more videos per channel; consistent uploading of content is important.

2. YouTube is as much a social platform as it is a video one and learning how to adapt to your audience and engage with them is just as important as uploading consistently. According to the content marketing institute, audiences online are 10 times more likely to engage, embed, share, and comment on video content than blogs or related social posts. Video blogger and musician Alex Day, aka nerimon, is a fantastic example of how successful video marketing on YouTube can turn into a real world ROI. He created his YouTube channel in 2006 as a place to blog and post his music. After developing a sizeable following decided to see how far he could take his music without a major label behind him. In December 2011, Alex took a shot at the coveted Christmas No1 in the UK charts. His single peaked at No4, with 130,000 downloads globally of his single, Forever Yours, with the whole experience earning him more than £100,000. Brands have to engage with the audience just like YouTubers do. Some do this very well, Old Spice for example reinvented itself through its video marketing campaign when they began delivering YouTube videos in response to community feedback. They engaged with their audience in a fun and creative way and were rewarded by a sales increase of 107 percent.

3. Every channel should have a strong focus. Consistent posting is one thing but having a consistent theme throughout a YouTube channel is equally important. There is a mentality with some brands that successful video marketing is about making the next viral video. There is no exact science to making a viral video and in the long run this can be detrimental to a brand’s video marketing strategy. Consistent posting with a theme that encapsulates the brand is the key to successful video marketing. The aforementioned Red Bull succeed in this with their high-octane extreme sports videos that fit neatly alongside their energy drink. It doesn’t have to be videos of synchronised skydives and backflipping BMX riders though. For example, one of the most watched genre of video on YouTube is the ‘how-to guide’, these are perfect for demonstrating the benefits of a product direct to the consumer. YouTubers such as Livie Rose (liviesays) specialise in how-to guides. Livie’s how-to guides on makeup tips have become so popular she now makes a living from the advertising revenue her videos generate thorough YouTube’s partner scheme. Likewise Home Depot stands out in this category because they publish content about subject matter that is relevant to their brand without being over-the-top in promoting the specific products that they sell. This is one of the best ways to establish a brand as a thought leader as it allows the brand to demonstrate it’s specific expertise and build trust among consumers.

4. Consistent branding should go beyond a brand’s YouTube channel, it should be a focus across all social media outlets and the brand’s website as well. According to the content marketing institute consistent branding and YouTube channel customisation occurs in 63% of the most effective business-orientated YouTube channels. 61% of the brands analysed by the content marketing institute also embed their YouTube videos on their website. Embedding YouTube videos is important for several reasons; properly optimised videos with keywords help boost a website’s SEO as well as providing a link to and from a brand’s YouTube content. Embedding video on a website can also help lead to sales. According to Invodo 52% of consumers are more likely to buy a product online after seeing a related video.

5. Advertising on YouTube is now an essential part of the video marketing experience. The YouTube partner scheme is what allows big YouTubers the ability to make a living through posting their videos on the site and earning a percentage of the ad revenue generated from the large number of views popular videos generate. For brands, advertising on YouTube using the sites TrueView system means the ability to reach a target audience far more efficiently than most other forms of media. YouTube advertising can deliver 10 times the click-through rates when compared with Google AdWords and video ad networks. It delivers results through diverse hyper-targeting options: contextual, behavioral, geo, retargeting and search. The key is that you need to experiment. YouTube advertising is meant to drive both engagement and calls to action. Increased engagement leads to increased sharing, which leads to increased and sustained long-term views and social interaction. It should therefore be a serious consideration for any brand with the budget to advertise through YouTube to do so.