The Pew Research Center has released the 10th edition of its State of the News Media report. In it, they identified six major trends, here in tweetable format for your reading pleasure:
The effects of a decade of newsroom cutbacks are real – and the public is taking notice. (TWEET THIS)
- Nearly a third of U.S. adults have stopped turning to a news outlet because it no longer provided them with the news they were accustomed to getting.
- Newspaper newsroom cutbacks continued, putting the number of full-time professional employees below 40,000 for the first time since 1978.
- In local TV, sports, weather and traffic account for approximately 40% of the content produced.
- On CNN produced story packages were cut nearly in half from 2007 to 2012.
- Across the three cable channels, coverage of live events and live reports during the day, which often require a crew and correspondent, fell 30% from 2007 to 2012 while interview segments, which tend to take fewer resources and can be scheduled in advance, were up 31%.
The news industry continues to lose out on the bulk of new digital advertising. (TWEET THIS)
- Mobile advertising grew 80% in 2012 to $2.6 billion. Of that, however, only one ad segment is available to news: display
- Local digital advertising is also growing, up 22% in 2012.
- Improved geo-targeting is allowing many national advertisers to turn to Google, Facebook and other large networks to buy ads that once might have gone to local media.
The long-dormant sponsorship ad category is seeing sharp growth. (TWEET THIS)
- Sponsorship ads rose 38.9%, to $1.56 billion; that followed a jump of 56.1% in 2011. Promoted tweets on Twitter account for some of the growth, along with the rise of native ads—the digital term for advertorials containing advertiser-produced stories—which often run alongside a site’s own editorial content.
- Traditional publications such as The Atlantic and Forbes, as well as digital publications BuzzFeed and Gawker, have relied on native ads to quickly build digital ad revenues, and their use is expected to spread.
The growth of paid digital content experiments may have a significant impact on both news revenue and content. (TWEET THIS)
- 450 of the nation’s 1,380 dailies have started or announced plans for some kind of paid content subscription or pay wall plan
- The New York Times reports that its circulation revenue now exceeds its advertising revenue, a sea change from the traditional revenue split of as much as 80% advertising dollars to 20% circulation dollars.
While the first and hardest-hit industry, newspapers, remains in the spotlight, local TV finds itself newly vulnerable. (TWEET THIS)
- While local TV remains a top news source for Americans, the percentage is dropping—and dropping sharply among younger generations. Regular local TV viewership among adults under 30 fell from 42% in 2006 to just 28% in 2012,
- The most popular local TV topics — weather and breaking news (and to a lesser extent traffic)—are ripe for replacement by any number of web- and mobile-based outlets.
Social media and word-of-mouth leads to deeper news consumption. (TWEET THIS)
- A majority of Americans seek out a full news story after hearing about an event or issue from friends and family
- 15% of U.S. adults get most of their news from friends and family this way, and the vast majority of them (77%) follow links to full news stories. Among 18-to-29 year-olds, the percentage that primarily relies on social media for this kind of news already reaches nearly one-quarter.
Good work begets more good work. When you exceed customer expectations, deliver impressive results and consistently go the extra mile, word spreads.
Entrepreneurs aren’t the most patient people in the world. So, they’re always looking for ways to accelerate this tried-and-true business development practice. One way to jumpstart business development? Social media. Whether you’re a small company or a larger brand, social media scales lead generation, uncovers new opportunities and shortens the sales cycle. Combined, this results in faster growth, better clients and – my personal favorite – no cold calls.
Let’s take a more in-depth look. For starters, here are three opportunities created by embracing digital communication:
- Establish expertise without borders. My PR and social media firm’s largest client is based in Canada. The introduction came from someone who lives in New Jersey who I “met” via Twitter. In fact, I can trace 75% of my company’s business back to relationships that initially began online (most of which originated on Twitter!). Thanks to social media, anyone can build a better network and share client work, case studies and their business philosophy with a larger audience – unlimited by geography. Even though we’re a boutique communications consultancy based here in Columbus, we work with clients from Canada to California. Technology makes it easy for businesses today to not only establish thought leadership, but also to convert that expertise into business opportunities.
- Show your intent. To monetize social media, humanize it, according to Harvard Business Review. We work with the Columbus Marathon and through social media, their online community has direct access to race director Darris Blackford. For the past two years, we’ve organized “Ask the Race Director” – a live Q&A broadcast on UStream and Facebook – where Darris answers marathoners’ questions. Two years ago, Darris got teary during the live broadcast as he shared gratitude for the thousands of volunteers who make the marathon happen. Last year, he literally couldn’t speak as he tried to convey his passion for Nationwide Children’s Hospital and the marathon’s commitment to raising funds to help sick kids. The result? The marathon sold out again and participants helped raise $875,000, which was donated to Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Additionally, comments from participants after the race were overwhelmingly positive. While the marathon is a non-profit, the lesson is just as relevant for for-profit companies: Social media puts a spotlight on the people behind the logo, reveals your values, and strengthens brand loyalty and preference. As Simon Sinek says, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”
- Shorten the sales cycle. By leveraging social media to share your “why,” you can drastically decrease the sales cycle. Prospects can learn a lot about you and your company by perusing social profiles. Who are you interacting with? What kinds of conversations are you having? What are other people saying about you? Does their approach to business and intention align with yours? Interestingly, potential customers can develop a sense of “knowing you” just by following and interacting with you online. As a result, the sales cycle is less about background and more about the brass tacks of getting down to business. By the time someone contacts me to learn more about Geben, they already know a lot about our approach to integrating traditional and digital PR and my approach to business, thus eliminating multiple stages of the sales process. Thanks to this shift in the business development, you can spend less time chasing new business … and more time delivering results.
Social media accelerates business development. Whether you work for a B2B or B2C company, a large organization or an emerging startup – you can grow and achieve your goals faster by taking a fresh approach business development. Of course, there’s an upfront time investment, but as you can see from these examples, adding a layer of social media is good for business growth.
How are you using social media to spur business development?
This post originally ran on Columbus Business First’s Social Madness Blog.
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