PR Challenges in the Digital Age of the Information Flood
Let’s face it. Today’s culture is flooded with information. Information is absolutely everywhere–online, on television, on the radio, in print…
To make matters worse, many of us even carry devices around so that we can have fast access to more information. Yes, I’m talking about the IPod 4 and similar mobile devices.
We’re connected. In fact, as a society we’re so connected, that we’re disconnected from each other. Social commentators have recently observed the growing trend of texting people in the same room and the trend of ignoring real live people to take part in online socializing.
We’ve got so much information all around us we’re practically drowning in it. In this environment, getting someone’s attention for a few minutes is a major accomplishment. Getting someone to read an entire page seems like a minor miracle.
If we can’t even get each other’s attention, how on earth is a poor PR person to capture and hold the attention of their target audience?
The truth is–it’s harder to engage an audience than ever before.
PRs today need to be better informed than they have been in the past. They need to be on top of the very latest trends. They need to study hard to find out where their clients are actively participating now–not where they were actively participating last month or last year. Most of all, effective PRs have to be willing to embrace new methods of communication and be willing to change their strategies quickly.
We’ve already seen those companies that embrace change in their marketing strategy prosper. Those companies who refuse to change are slowly fading away.
It’s true that none of us actually knows for sure what tomorrow’s popular mode of communication will be. The only thing we can really count on is that it will be different–perhaps radically different–than what is being done now.
That brings us to the real technique for staying afloat in the information flood–be ready to learn new things and embrace change when it happens. It’s really just that simple. Or, is it?
Does your PR agency embrace change, or are you still tied to tired old formulas that no longer work in today’s information flood environment?
Share your thoughts about the information flood in the comments.
