6 for 16: TRENDS IMPACTING ADVOCACY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS CAMPAIGNS. ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT THESE NEW TACTICS, TOOLS, AND TECHNOLOGIES?
#1 ALL POLITICS IS LOCAL: Large-scale public affairs campaigns are being replicated at small-scale levels – all the way down to municipalities and school board brawls. In 2015, our local campaigns spanned from western Pennsylvania to Kansas City, MO to McCall, ID. Watch for more local programs in 2016.
#2 YOUR CLIENTS AND CUSTOMERS ARE AS IMPORTANT AS YOUR LOBBYISTS: Uber won the year by leveraging its customers to fight bad policy, restructuring the app to show New Yorkers how long it would take to catch a ride if Mayor de Blasio’s new rules took effect. Lesson? Leverage your most valuable asset – your clients and customers.
#3 NEW SOCIAL MEDIA ARE CHANGING THE GAME…AGAIN: According to Snapchat, twice as many 18-24 year olds watched the first presidential debate via Live Story than on TV. Journalists are using Periscope to bring their social media followers to the front row of news, turning them into micro-broadcasters. Look for new platforms to change the game again in 2016.
#4 VIDEO PRODUCTION IS MOBILE FIRST: Instead of producing “web videos” for desktop, video producers are crafting content for mobile first. Notice those captions on every Facebook and Twitter video? That’s so you can absorb all the auto-play video content you want, without sound and without embarrassing yourself in meetings.
#5 INFLUENCER MARKETING IS… WELL… INFLUENTIAL: More than a quarter of all branded search results is user-generated content – not developed by a marketing team. Influencers, social media advocates, and bloggers are talking about brands and issues online. Clients are reaping the benefits, making more than $6 on every dollar spent on influencer marketing. Pitch them… pay them… Do whatever you need to do to engage influencers in 2016.
#6 SECOND SCREEN? NO. FIRST SCREEN: A few years back, everyone referred to being on a mobile device while watching TV as using a “Second Screen.” The script has flipped. According to Google, the average time spent per day on mobile devices is 177 minutes, compared to 168 minutes on TV. What else? 50% of mobile devices account for half of all video views on YouTube.