Social media has become a defining factor in many forms of media. Social media has been used to connect groups, individuals, share news, and promote a variety of information and media. For many younger people the use of social media isn’t a small part of their lives they are in constant connection with their peers. This has allowed social media networks to flourish and change how people receive information. One of the primary forms of media that is spread on social media is video. Video has become a universal alternative to conveying meaning and a message to different groups of people.
Due to social media being a construct that allows for anybody to share and spread video it can be very advantageous for public relations practitioners. As of 2013, 64% of adults in America use social media (Holcomb, Gottfried, Mitchel, 2013 p. 1). Since then the number of people using social media has only increased. For people working in public relations using social media to advertise video and other content can be an excellent tool. Today anybody online can take promoted content and share it with their friends, family, and coworkers. This allows people to reach even more than their original audience. This type of activity can help people working in public relations spread their message. When people take content and make it viral they are able to access more and more people.
On top of this, social video allows true connection with an audience. The extra effort and time put into creating a video for one’s target audience will not only engage them but be more likely to help a message stick. Everyone can remember seeing a video online that just gave them chills, made their day, or created inspiration for a goal or idea. Social media can help not only promote videos to their audience but reach even higher levels through their audience’s activity. This allows content creators to be able to actively engage people in real time as well. Not all social video has to be big production with days or shooting or editing. It can be as simple as making a short recording in response to people’s questions and concerns.
Finally, social media allows for people to be in constant connection with their audiences. When you look at many younger people, who are the primary demographic for social media use, many of them are often checking their social media outlets not once but a multiple of times daily. Some range from just checking a few times here and their social media to almost every fifteen minutes. This constant involvement of users are a primary reason to social media’s success for public relations practitioners. Along with this social video allows people to share, comment and like content. This capability allows people to create additional dialogue that integrates other users were not going to see the media placed out unless somebody had commented or shred. So then getting ones audience to engage one another allows people further promote their social media freely, gaining more and more impressions. This ability of social media is important to anybody working within the public relations field, not just those working within video.
REFRENCES
Charest, F., Bouffard, J., & Zajmovic, E. (2016). Public relations and social media: Deliberate or creative strategic planning. Public Relations Review, 42(4), 530-538. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2016.03.008
Holcomb, J., Gottfried, J., & Mitchell, A. (2013). News Use Across Social Media Platforms. Retrieved November 15, 2016, from http://www.journalism.org/2013/11/14/news-use-across-social-media-platforms/
Uganec, C. (2016, April 06). A Guide to Social Video, and Where it Fits in Your Marketing Plan. Retrieved November 15, 2016, from https://blog.hootsuite.com/how-to-use-social-video-for-marketing/