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Half of advertising spend to go online in 2015 – the media and marketing revolution accelerates

19/2/2015

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My name is Ronnie - and I am addicted to newspapers. So, it was with a little concern that I read that for the first time digital advertising will account for half of all ad spend in the UK this year. Think of that:  more advertising spend online than on TV, newspapers, magazines or radio.

The news, reported in The Daily Telegraph from Strategy Analytics, highlights the increasing threat to traditional print media, not just in the UK but also in Ireland and across the globe. Sadly, another Irish title, the Metro Herald expired before Christmas. The massive growth in digital revenues also puts into context the recent announcement  by the Irish Times of a paywall for its content.

                                                                             
Maybe it’s because I’m not using a tablet but relying on laptop and iPhone 6 but I remain a huge fan (OK, addict) of print media. Yes I’ll get my news online or on radio/TV that Debaltseve in Ukraine has fallen or that Greece has or has not applied for a bailout extension – but rather than peering at a screen, I’ll want to spread out in comfort with a newspaper and a cup of tea (or preferably at the weekend a pint of Uncle Arthur) for deeper analysis, comment and implications. The reality is that newspapers are no longer really news papers.

The move to digital and the importance of search has implications and opportunities for PR. A study by Curata last year found that over 70% of marketers plan to increase spend on content marketing. I have argued in an earlier blog that the online revolution and huge increase in content marketing plays to PR strengths.

We are in the middle of a media and marketing revolution but used correctly, PR remains one of the most powerful elements in your marketing and digital marketing mix.
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Side note: A 30-second TV commercial during the Super Bowl earlier this month cost an eye watering $4.5m or $150,000 per second. 

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Digital Marketing trends highlight opportunities for Tech PR

4/2/2015

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Highly respected digital marketing guru Rand Fishkin, co-founder of Moz,  presented a live webinar last week from the United States US to some 200 guests  of rapidly growing Irish owned (don’t let the name fool you) DM agency Wolfgang Digital. Rand was asked by Wolfgang boss Alan Coleman to highlight what were the big trends in Digital Marketing for 2015.

Some of Rand’s predictions emphasise how the lines between PR and Digital Marketing are blurring (for those who can recognise the opportunities).

For example, Content Marketing has been around for a while, as organisations move from Megaphone Marketing to Relationship Marketing. But Rand sees a big increase in investment in content. However, he warned that these days there is so much content flying around out there that it needs to be valuable and of high quality to interest an increasingly limited attention span, target audience.

This is one reason in my view why PR in general and Tech PR in particular has been given a new lease of life by today’s Digital Marketing. PR has been developing quality content for decades from news stories to surveys, research, white papers and customer case studies. What’s more, PR folks have had to learn over many years to develop content that appeals to that most jaded, cynical and questioning of audiences, that is, journalists.
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"Google  changes its algorithms as frequently as the Arsenal score board 
at a home game to Aston Villa"
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The other big opportunity for PR in my view remains in boosting your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). You can optimise the hell out of your website but Google  changes its algorithms as frequently as the Arsenal score board at a home game to Aston Villa. This means that your site can be out of date in a month.

All DM experts emphasise the importance to Google of backlinks to your site - not in terms of quantity but quality. A link from a respected online media site to a report or piece of research on your website can be especially powerful.

Even if you do not generate a backlink, the Google bots do tend to gravitate to respected online news sites on the basis that if they are covering your story then it must be of interest to their users. An organic mention of your latest customer win, new product or acquisition provides vital third party endorsement and credibility that advertising or your website cannot.

There have been some daft observations that because many of PR’s traditional print media targets are no longer around, PR itself is at risk. Quite the opposite. PR remains one of the most powerful, persuasive elements in your Digital Marketing armoury.

See Wolfgang Digital’s live Hangout with Rand Fishkin here. The sound is a little ‘echoey’ at the start but soon settles down for a fascinating approximately half hour presentation on the big Digital Marketing trends for 2015:
http://youtu.be/pwWxbPH8mOY 

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    A blog about PR, football and politics

    Ronnie has been watching the Irish soccer team since he was a kid and caught two buses in to Dalymount Park. He believes that  a) politics today is mostly about PR and b) Irish and UK politics is far more entertaining than Ireland under Trapattoni or Martin O'Neill.

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