By Mariel Yohe
Senior Account Manager Mariel Yohe attended the annual #BlogHer16 convention August 4-6, 2017. Here were some of the biggest trends and takeaways from the conference:
- Live broadcast and streaming industry making approximately $10 billion this year, still growing
With the explosion of Facebook Live, Periscope, YouTube Live, Instagram Stories and Snapchat, audiences want to see more authentic, behind-the-scenes content that allows them to connect with creators on a more personal level.
- You only have 8 seconds to capture the attention of your audience
Here’s something for marketers and PR practitioners to chew on: A person’s average digital attention span is 8 seconds. The attention span of a goldfish is 9 seconds. Our attention spans are officially less than a goldfish’s. So how do we create content that will convince our audiences to stay and listen to our message? There is no time for introductions: put your best content and most important message, upfront.
- Numbers of like and followers don’t mean anything anymore, engagement does
On Facebook, a video view counts after three seconds. On Snapchat, a view is measured as soon as the video renders to the screen, which could take as little as .5 seconds. With such little required these days, analytics are inflated and there is no longer a 1-to-1 experience. Brands and influencers are shifting to measure their reach through engagement with audiences. How many comments and shares are happening with a particular piece of content? Some of the best influencer marketing campaigns and social programs focus on audience engagement.
- Virtual Reality will be commoditized in the next few years
With rumors of Apple developing its own VR tech and Play Station close to release on its own VR hard wear, virtual reality will soon be very accessible. In addition to advances in gaming, VR will give brands a new medium to tell their stories and connect with consumers.
- Is the homepage dead?
Well, yes and no. It was reported that in the past two years, the New York Times homepage traffic has decreased by 50 percent. Playing the delicate balance of consuming information via push (social) vs. pull (traditional digital) media, timeliness is no longer as important as it once was. A positive to this new consumption behavior allows media outlets, brands, and the like to repurpose older, more evergreen content still relevant to their respective audiences.
- We live in the TLDR age
That acronym means “Too Long Didn’t Read”. A whopping 59% of links shared on social media platforms haven’t been clicked, meaning what we see in a post preview, comment, or headline. is all that the audience is going to absorb. Thumbnails, headlines and captions are critical tools to get messages out to our followers.
- Don’t underestimate small pieces of content
What messages were once important to have in 1 video can now be broken into 12. Video run-times have cut significantly in the age of social media, and are now less about the personality and more about the message. For instance, take a look at Buzzfeed’s insanely popular Tasty videos. No longer do we need someone to explain the step-by-step process of how to prep and bake an apple pie. All it takes are 2 hands and a time-lapse video of the most important steps. Tiny clips or bits of content can get people excited for what is to come. It is an opportunity to tell your brand’s story in a different way.
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