| Emerging Trends for PR? |
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By: Gerard E. Mayers |
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 An article on MarketingProfs.com authored by Lenna Garibian revealed some very interested trends from a PR viewpoint. The article on the website cited the recent Inc. 500 announcement of LinkedIn having now replaced Facebook as the most popular business social media tool. As Ms. Garibian noted, “LinkedIn is the most popular social media tool among the nation's fastest-growing private companies, according to a study by the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, Center for Marketing Research, under the direction of researcher Nora Ganim Barnes, PhD.”
Interesting. But, there’s more. The following social media trends, quoted below from the Garibian article, emerged in 2012 and will continue to impact PR:
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Blogging gained momentum in 2012: 44% of Inc. 500 companies now publish a blog, up from 37% a year earlier.
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Software, advertising/marketing, and media companies were the most likely to blog in 2012, whereas government services organizations were least likely to do so.
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Foursquare use has doubled, from 13% of companies in 2011, to 28% in 2012.
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The proportion of companies using YouTube has fallen, from 45% in 2011, to 30% in 2012.
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18% of 2012 Inc. 500 companies use Pinterest.
These are interesting stats indeed and point to the continuing evolution of social media within the PR/marketing landscape. Of especial interest is how much Pinterest has become part of a flack’s tool kit in the last year.
While investments in social media seem to be leveling off, according to the article, “nearly two-thirds (63%) of Inc. 500 CEOs are contributing content or taking ownership of some social media outlet.”
To me, this also means that internal PR departments need to collaborate ever more closely with CEOs to fashion solid public relations and marketing campaigns that embrace all forms of media, including digital.
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Gerard E. "Gerry" Mayers writes about PR and other relevant topics for PR professionals. A former PR manager for Sensor Products, Inc. (currently based in Madison, NJ), he lives in Milford, NJ.
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