Tag Archive for: pr trends

3 Media Trends Emerging and Ambitious Brands Need to Know

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When it comes to media trends emerging and ambitious brands need to know, no one knows that better than top PR agencies. Many things are driving media changes; social media is one. But so is the decrease in advertising revenue for publications, which drives a need for publications to get creative. You’ve probably seen an uptick in publications behind paywalls; that’s but one-way media outlets are changing revenue streams. PR firms need to be aware of the entire media landscape and provide their clients with the latest best practices; after all, expertise at the heart of what a leading PR agency does. These are the top 3 media trends emerging and ambitious brands need to know.

 

2024 Media Trend #1: Lead with Top Quality Content Creation

Be prepared to contribute content. This is an especially critical need for emerging industries and ambitious brands. Since the dawn of the internet, creating content has been a critical tent pole to any strategic PR or marketing plan. The difference today is that there is more opportunity to contribute content to premium outlets, from Entrepreneur Magazine to Forbes. Not only will this contributed content provide you with a premium platform, but your brand and voice will benefit from the media cache for social proof and SEO. It’s a win-win.

To be clear, this isn’t like writing a blog post; this content is a hybrid between earned content and owned content because it still goes through a stringent editorial process. This process can be very frustrating to time-crunched CEOs or marketing pros used to writing in a promotional rather than editorial style. Lean on your PR experts for this type of content; our team ghostwrites regularly and knows how to work with editors to reduce editorial friction and increase publishing speed.

Your owned content is perhaps your most valuable asset; besides controlling the message, it’s the most prominent voice of your brand. Some of this content should include very high-quality content targeted toward stakeholders and decision-makers, while other content should be for your consumers, and yet still other content can be for your SEO. There are many ways to maximize your content output and drive it to the right people. Many brands are loath to add their blog to the home page of their site as they don’t want too many distractions on their home page. As a digitally savvy PR firm, we can appreciate that concern. We employ several strategies to overcome this concern, but one is categorizing your content to appear in the right places. Your owned content is valuable. Ensure you’re using the right content for the right audiences in the right place.

Perhaps the most important media trend media trend emerging and ambitious brands need to know: premium content is premium because it’s thoughtful and useful to the reader. One rarely gets this kind of content straight out of ChatGPT or other AI-generated content programs. That’s not to say that these platforms aren’t helpful, but it is to say it should be used strategically. Make your content stand out by creating truly elevated content. The internet will appreciate it, and so will your brand.

2024 Media Trend #2:Today’s Sponsored Content

Open your mind to the world of sponsored content. Sponsored content has been around for a very long time, too, but today, it’s a broad term that covers everything from influencer content to a single piece of content and even a multitude of storyline features in a publication. For emerging industries and ambitious brands today’s sponsored content should absolutely be in the mix.

Some outlets have expansive brand partnerships where brands sponsor a section of coverage but leave editorial oversight to the publication. In these cases, brands sponsor content that their target audience would read rather than require articles about the brand. This premium tactic elevates the brand in the eyes of editors and customers. While this is a paid opportunity, and top publications offer no quid pro quo on these arrangements, editors are aware of who their top advertisers are, and exposure to the editorial team will always help your case when you have news, as you will already have some level of social proof. Again, it’s important to understand the nuances of an arrangement like this, and your digitally savvy PR agency can help you navigate those waters.

Another sponsored content option can include a “sponsored” article about your company or your CEO. Sponsored content is everywhere. Some sponsored content is limited to a single outlet, and some sponsored content may be produced and distributed to a multitude of outlets.

For example, many outlets, including tier 1 outlets, offer brands the opportunity to control a specific amount of space completely; the brand writes this content, and the best practice is to disclose this content as an ad or sponsored. When I owned a magazine, we called this content “advertorial” because the space was purchased, but it integrated with the style of the magazine. Again, here, your PR agency can create compelling editorial-style content that will drive eyeballs and allow emerging and ambitious brands to maximize social proof.

Another form of sponsored content that’s growing in popularity is content created with an editorial style and provided to many outlets. You often see this style of content in daily news shows that always need content and are under reduced staffing budgets. An example of this is gadget reviews on TV morning shows. Some (not all) of that is sponsored. A producer will create a segment and numerous TV shows will pick it up.

Press releases can be considered sponsored content. When you send a press release and it is distributed across the web, those are essentially paid placements.

 

2024 Media Trend #3: Affiliate Content is Changing

Affiliate marketing used to be a very low-brow way of marketing a product. It was very common for affiliate marketers to create incredibly spammy content and be aggressively sell products in their content. But today, affiliate marketing has changed. Premium tier-one outlets have improved this system and upgraded it with editorial-style content that also includes affiliate links. Google punishes websites that don’t disclose affiliate links, but many media outlets find readers don’t seem more bothered about affiliate links than they are about advertising in print magazines – so long as the content is good.

Affiliate content and PR are working hand in hand these days as publications turn to new ways to drive revenue. For CPG or consumer brands, having an affiliate program is essential to productive PR coverage today.

It’s also important to understand that product PR is very cyclical. So as you consider the timing on your product PR, be sure to understand media trends and how your product fits into the media cycle. The media cycle doesn’t bend to your needs, you fit into theirs – important to keep in mind during product launch planning and other marketing programs like influencer campaigns.

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3 Storytelling Trends for Businesses in 2022

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Today’s brands are looking for ways to differentiate. Brand storytelling trends for businesses and especially emerging industries or hyper-growth brands are an important strategy, especially those in competitive industries. Brand storytelling is an outstanding way to separate from the pack and it’s likely your competition hasn’t even tapped into this data.  Macro-trends for 2022 can provide insight into the brand stories you tell, what purpose to highlight, and even what platforms and channels you advertise on.

Fast-growing companies and industries in their infancy (drones and cannabis, for example) especially need to tap into these trends. Brand storytelling makes all the difference in public perception and brand superiority, especially for early movers who need to expand upon their advantages.

Whenever we’re looking to help our clients differentiate in PR, especially for fast-growing companies, one place we turn is Trend Hunter to see where brand values, initiatives, and ideals fit in with the trends of now. Regardless of pandemic status in 2022, the world is in flux. Where your customers and clients fall on these post-pandemic tensions may be a differentiator or a way to increase loyalty through your brand storytelling.

Now is really the time to think through your brand storytelling strategy for 2022, because effective storytelling is multi-faceted and requires commitment from the inside out.

The Big Box vs Local Trend in Brand Storytelling

One post-pandemic tension Trend Hunter touches on is the new push-pull between Big Box and Local shopping. Big Box includes huge online sites like Amazon, by the way, at least in the mind of the consumer. During the pandemic, many Americans woke up to realize the importance of supporting local restaurants and retail. Meanwhile, thousands upon thousands of small businesses populate Amazon. If you’re in the retail space, be thinking about this tension and how you will incorporate this consumer choice into your brand storytelling. Emerging industries and fast-growing brands seeking VC funding should absolutely tap into this trend, as it’s likely to be a defining trend for some time.

Big Box vs. Local reflects another macro-trend, and that’s a distinct distrust of the 1%, and especially the .05%. The pandemic only highlighted the enormous differences between the haves and the have-nots. While one portion of the U.S. population worried about keeping the heat on and long-term unemployment, another portion of the population was buying second homes, and banking the savings staying at home afforded them, and got on a plane to a remote island vacation at the first opportunity. This has led to a deepening sense of distrust for the super-rich.

Where are your customers on this tension and how can your storytelling reflect their current frame of mind on this issue? If you’re in the travel industry, you probably want to appeal to the portion of the country that’s feeling flush, unless, of course, you’re a discount brand. In either case, a humble origin story could be a well-placed media and advertising strategy.

 

The Robots vs. People Storytelling Trend

This one has been brewing for a while, but it’s really coming to a head as AI becomes more integrated and the country confronts global supply chain issues. This is an interesting trend because there are so many stories to be told on both sides of the equation. Even technology companies can tell stories about people, so now is a great time to think about how the technology trend is affecting your customers and where your brand storytelling can tap into this trend.

A brand storytelling trend for businesses subtrend is  “Made in America” may take on higher importance from a branding perspective. The issue, with the “Made in America” storyline, is authenticity. Most products have at least a component or two imported from elsewhere. Ironically, if you’re a foreign company operating in the U.S. you can incorporate both these trends by highlighting your commitment to people. But if you’re a U.S. brand, this story, tread lightly about how you use this trend in your brand storytelling.

 

How Big Media vs. Creators will Affect Storytelling

This is a trend started by influencers, but today’s influencers, at least the big ones now have agents and are more closely associated with the elite than your neighbor. Naturally, for every rule there are exceptions, but today’s consumer looks at an Instagram influencer with 10 million followers and imagines they live very different lives; there is an aspirational value to that, so by all means, brand accordingly because luxury marketing is still incredibly relevant.

Meanwhile, influencers aren’t the only creators in today’s global marketplace. Illustrators, artists, and writers are all finding places to hone and monetize their craft. For example, Substack made a brilliant play by tapping into BOTH these trends. On one hand, Substack contracted with content creators and creatives who are well-known or famous because of their associations with major brands. For example, journalists who write for huge publishing companies, but have their own following, have found Substack can be a fruitful side hustle (in 2020, the top 12 subscriptions averaged over $160K). Meanwhile, all these famous names exposed readers to fresh voices as well.

You can think about this push-pull as you consider ad buys as well. Are your consumers more responsive on big platforms like Facebook or in the niche communities of TikTok?

 

Monitor these 3 trends and others as you think through your 2022 brand storytelling for businesses. Tapping into the macro trends helps you understand whether you should “zig” or “zag.” Brand storytelling trends for emerging industries or hyper-growth brands requires a particularly deft touch and emotional intelligence. Do your research to be sure you’re using these trends in ways your customers can relate to them.

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