New Media: Trends

You can feel it every time you pick up the latest copy of Time, Business Week or most daily newspapers. They're losing weight (and readers, veteran staff, and ad dollars) faster than a crash dieter. In 1946, 85% of Americans said they had read a newspaper the day before. In 2008, that number had fallen to just 34%. Network TV news (ABC, NBC, CBS) is faring no better, falling from total nightly viewers of 52 million in 1980 to just 23 million in 2008. Where is the news audience going? Cable news and, more dramatically, the Internet.

Source: The Pew Research Center for People & The Press, August 17, 2008

Equally compelling for alternative energy companies is who the Pew Research Center identifies as gravitating toward online news:

• Integrators: 23% of public, well-educated, affluent, middle aged.  Gets news from both traditional and online sources.
• Net-Newsers: 13% of public, affluent, well-educated, young.  Gets news primarily online; 83% use search engines vs. branded sites.
• Traditionalists: 46% of public, but older, less educated, less affluent.  Prefers TV news, some online, very little print.

But you’re probably part of this trend. How often do you check in with Politico.com, NYTimes.com or Yahoo.com?  Do you still get a hard copy of the Wall Street Journal, or read it online?  Where are you getting your news these days?

Integrating Digital Into Your Marketing

Will your company die if you don’t integrate digital media strategies into your marketing plans right away?  No, but you will either die a slow death or fall hopelessly behind your competition. The real question is: 
How can your company adapt to this rapidly evolving media landscape to reach a quickly growing audience of affluent, well-educated, online news browsers with your key marketing messages?  

SunStar can help.  We’re experts at getting your stories and quotes into prominent online news sites and blogs.  Equally important, we know how to leverage a host of proliferating digital venues to help you reach your targeted audience effectively and directly

• YouTube (91 million unique visitors per month and growing)
• Viral campaigns
• Business/energy/consumer/company blogs
• Podcasting
• Webinar marketing and news conferencing
• E-campaigns and E-newsletters
• Texting and Socnets (social networking) such as Facebook (112 million+ unique visitors per month), Twitter.com, and LinkedIn. 

Not interested?  Understandable, but your company may already be “participating” in many of these venues without your knowledge as users exchange information and opinions.  As David D’Alessandro, former CEO of John Hancock Financial Services, said to a Forum of 150 public relations leaders in October  2008: “Companies are part of the digital dialog whether they like it or not. The future belongs to those who can speak YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.”