Strategically Communicating

The media and the public have never been so intertwined or accessible. As the Wright and Hinson’s study highlighted, social media networks allow for feedback through which the audience moves from inactive viewer to participant.

News content moves at lightning fast speed over the internet, and its audience is digesting media more and more while on the go. A recent report form Pew found cell phone web use has doubled since 2009. With more content being accessed from mobile phones, this means journalists and marketing, advertising and public relations professionals need to adapt their messaging and platforms to meet their target audience where they virtually reside. While Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms – including mobile specific applications like Instagram – continue to evolve to feed mobile use, professionals working to engage their virtual audience must equally educate themselves and adapt their practices to include mobile device interaction.

While practitioners must keep pace with technological and communications changes, they shouldn’t be so quick to ‘jump ship’ that they fail to develop a consistent audience with whom to communicate. Regardless of the changes in engagement methods, wise communicators will take the time to research where their target audience is and deliver their message there.

Using the right platform to deliver the right message to the right audience is what makes strategic communication.

How do you interact and engage? How discerning are you considering advertisers now have near-direct access to your wallet – while sitting in your pocket – on your mobile device?