Who do you trust to give you news and information? It seems the answer is changing.
Until recently, traditional media has always been seen as a more trusted source of information than online.
But not any more, according to communications giant Edelman. Their 2015 “trust hierarchy” survey of 27,000 people across numerous countries showed that 64 per cent of people now say search engines, such as Google, are now the most credible source for news and information – beating traditional media by two per cent.
It’s no surprise: since 2012, online media consumption has overtaken traditional across most of the world.
And although loyalty to traditional media is still significant, it’s been clear for some time that they don’t have the stranglehold on our attention that they once did.
In response, established media are making sure they don’t get left behind by using their online platforms to provide shareable content such as video, or to start conversations that will complement their offline offerings.
Of course, there are impacts for us in PR. As we mentioned in our last blog, we’re responding by blending traditional with digital PR.
We have to think on our feet, respond faster than ever – especially in a crisis – and be even more creative, making our stories visual enough, relevant enough and engaging enough to get shares.
It gives us a great buzz when we get it right. With online, we can see interest growing in front of our eyes, like the Poole Harbour Boat Show Facebook feed, which we grew from 351 to 1,732 likes between February and May 2015.
And you don’t have to look further than our recent campaign for Dorset Tea to see the benefits of combining traditional and online PR.
We encouraged media to take part in a Dorset Knob-eating competition. Wave 105’s Steve Power did the competition on air, to his breakfast show audience of nearly 200,000 people. And when he posted the video of his efforts on Facebook, it was viewed almost 50,000 times.
*like*
By Charis Gibson