10 Predictions on the Future of Media Engagement
(01/17/17)
Conference presentation by Dr. Todd Felts
Summary by Cristy Bullock (N. Carolina Wildlife Resources Comm.) and Jason Harmon (Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency)
- Pokémon GO – Tool that mixes GPS, time & movement aka: Augmented Reality. A rich mix of using multiple platforms to get people outside.
- Facebook will remain the biggest boat on the lake, but it will change to reflect real life & real time. – Content must be updated constantly. Using it will remain important in moving audiences up the engagement pyramid (Likes & Sharing) Livestream App is a great tool and should be utilized.
- Temporary social media will become mainstream. – Interactions are deleted after a specific time, thus enhancing privacy and better emulating real life. We can no longer avoid tools like Snapchat, Instagram and Vine. They show us in real time and show the real us to our audience.
- Live-stream services will dominate engagement. – Real-time live information is going to be the future of social media. Periscope & Meerkat allow us to announce an event and let audiences behind the curtain. We can’t be afraid to go LIVE! Our audiences are demanding interesting content, demanding unusual content; they are demanding to see behind the scenes of our organization.
- Storytelling will remain and become more critical than ever. – Communicators who tell stories regardless of what tools you use will have the greatest impact. We can tell stories in photos, video and short tweets.
- VR will meet social networks and will change the way we work, play & communicate. – Platforms like Oculus and other virtual-reality tools create 180-degree videos where the audience has control of what they see rather than the creator. Will become a new way to reach our audiences.
- Doing good will be good for business. – People reward brands and organizations for doing good and punish those who don’t. The future of social media is teaching people about culture vs. product and services.
We must think about how does my organization match to my consumers’ values, how can my organization fit into their lives? Engage by showing them that we are human; it’s about being transparent and revealing who we really are. - If it’s not mobile, it won’t matter. – There is still a technology gap, people are getting connected and getting online because of their mobile devices. We must sit back and think about speed (load times), size of images, number of words (4 words has most engagement on Facebook, 2 hashtags for twitter). We have to stay engaged and join the conversation. We need to rework our messages to convey our message.
- Short, simple videos will be shared – A LOT! – The most shared videos are the ones with no words spoken. You don’t have to speak to tell a story. The end of these videos should have a call to action. People want to know how they can be involved.
- The web will get really, really smart! – It will know where we travel, what we buy, who we date. The web is going to help us with communicating with our audiences. So embrace it.