2016 Snapshot of Media Trends: Abundant Opportunities to Reinforce Your Message

Using digital or online approaches can give your organization a leg up and an opportunity to tell your story in a new or different way. Chances are you digest digital content everyday through online mediums like videos, podcasts, and twitter, to name a few. Why not leverage this for the benefit of your organization?

In light of the New Year, Atlantic Media Strategies posted their top digital and media trends for 2016 on medium.com, a blog-publishing platform. These media trends are especially relevant to anyone wanting to share, discover, and connect to digital or online options.  Here are some of the trends to watch in 2016:

• Website vs. Social Media:

In recent years social media has expanded, but has been used as a secondary means to the more traditional website. But now, many organizations are increasingly investing in their social media as the primary means of communication.  While websites offer the opportunity to dive deep into content, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram offer the ability to instantly connect with your key or target audience.

For years, media, especially television, has focused on the anticipation of an event to draw in an audience.  The excitement surrounding a media event, such as a televised awards show, sporting event, or season premiere has been a surefire way to increase viewership. But how will the rising popularity of on demand content on platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon affect television viewership?  The binge watching trend has shown no signs of stopping, and platforms are consistently adding new shows and creative ways to keep their customers on computers and off TVs. In 2016, this trend continues as we consider media as an event or as omnipresent content to consume when we want.

• Opportunities for Storytelling:

Online platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn, offer tremendous opportunities for dimensional storytelling, which allows the user to incorporate varying levels text, pictures, and videos. These provide a richer and more visual story to share with your audience. Consider digging deeper on your website while weaving brief and interesting parts of your narrative into your social media content.  If your organization does not utilize social media, there are an array of opportunities to advertise or appear on popular podcasts relevant to your audience.  You could even create your own, tailor the discussion to your target audience, and upload it to SoundCloud, a free music and audio streaming site, so listeners can sonically survey your content. There’s no limit to how much you can reinforce your brand or message when using multiple online platforms.