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Getting the right message to the right people can be a tough proposition. With an overwhelming amount of information flowing freely online, it’s seemingly impossible to reach, let alone influence, your target audience. But with strategic communications planning and the latest technologies, this daunting task isn’t only more achievable, it’s a lot more fun.
With 2018 right around the corner, now is the perfect time to take a fresh look at your communications plan and consider implementing – or at least experimenting with – these hot tech trends.
Tech Trends for Communications Planning:
Video
How many overhead food videos have you seen on social media recently? Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Buzzfeed’s Tasty videos have almost 90 million likes and an additional 90 million follows on Facebook alone. There’s a reason why these videos and others like them continuously show up on your various social media feeds, making them hard to ignore. Social media algorithms prefer video content because it generates higher engagement and more click-throughs than traditional static content. Additionally, 85 percent of search traffic in the U.S. will be driven by video content by 2019. Incorporating video is a must in every brand’s 2018 communications planning.
Artificial Intelligence
While online video is nothing new, artificial intelligence (AI) is. AI became more prevalent in the workplace this year and its use – and value – will only continue to grow in 2018 and beyond. While many still see AI as an evil robot designed to take over the world, there are a ton of helpful services that incorporate AI today. Take BuzzSumo, for example. This powerful tool utilizes machine learning to classify articles into easily searchable topics, helping PR professionals make informed decisions about the types of content people want to interact with. BuzzSumo is just one of many AI technologies improving how we do our jobs. The potential for AI in our field and others is huge. Start experimenting now so you’re not left behind.
Chatbots
Chatbots are another form of AI. And while they’re nowhere near ready to take the reins from a human in customer service, they are gaining ground quickly and worth watching. Language processing is very difficult for AI to understand which makes interacting with human input difficult. This is something software engineers are constantly working to improve, to the point where some experts claim 85 percent of customer interactions will be managed by chatbots by 2020. Sounds sinister for job security, but it turns out chatbots create jobs in four out of five businesses that employ it. Keep in mind that chatbots aren’t intended to take over all interaction. Instead, PR professionals should think of “employing” chatbots to simplify interactions.
Start thinking now about how you can incorporate these trends into your communications planning and you’ll be ready to hit the ground running in 2018.