I'm coming off Facebook

Reading an article titled: ‘Is Facebook really dead for young people?’ on prweek.com yesterday afternoon, reminded me of the many occasions I’ve heard chums declare ‘I’m coming off Facebook!’

And I must admit, when my own mother’s friend request popped up in my notifications, it somewhat tarnished its appeal for me.

Undeniably, Facebook is still the centre of the social media ecosystem – with its more than one billion users, who are responsible for 1.13 trillion "likes", 219 billion photos and 17 billion location check-ins (and counting).

But with the rise of image based social media - the likes of Snapchat, Instagram and Keek - it’s a subculture that is evidently more conducive to the U25s lifestyle. We like things to be sleek, smart, quick and visually pleasing to keep us hooked... as our attention spans are dimensioning by the second. Visual stimulus is nothing new; the age old saying “a picture is worth 1000 words” says it all.

When Hunter wellies launched a competition on Instagram it was a huge success, not just because of the overwhelming response, but it successfully started to pave the way for an engaged and connected Hunter wellie wearing community. Hunter could get a crystal clear picture (not metaphorical) into the where, when and what its consumer audience was doing: Priceless.

These platforms are far more compatible with the demands of all things mobile – who doesn’t have a camera on their phone?!

The PR industry is about keeping abreast with new developments and growing trends - finding creative ways to communicate and engage with our target audiences and the opinion formers. As far as I can see, with the increasing demand for all things to be mobile, the growth of visual social media just offers our industry more opportunities to communicate in creative and impactful ways.

As for Facebook, there’s no doubt that its future is safe for the short term, always developing ways to be more intrinsic, I’m sure Zuckerberg has something up his sleeve to keep Facebook at the forefront.

Alex Underwood
Account Executive

A way with words

It’s been a busy few weeks here at Target PR, from organising our upcoming ‘One Day Wonderland’ pop-up shop and balloon race in aid of Sue Ryder, to our everyday work, great things happen at 105-107 Bath Road and we'd like to share it with the world. Well, the world wide web to be precise!

In recent weeks you may have noticed that we’ve done more than just dip our toes into the social media swimming pool, we’ve been going all out giving you daily insights into what goes on here at Target HQ. But we didn’t just dive straight in, oh no, we put together a list of hints and tips to make sure everyone in the team was on the right track.

So if you’re stuck for words, or need help deciding whether that tweet about what you had for breakfast is really necessary (it’s not), why not take a look at our favourite top tips and let us know what you think:

1.    First and foremost be yourself, but be cautious. It sounds obvious but don't reveal information that you feel could be potentially sensitive or confidential – you don’t want to let the cat out of the bag!

2.    Internal issues can arise and disagreements do happen, but public arenas, including Twitter, Facebook and blogs, are not the place for these to be aired. Enough said.

3.    The best posts are the ones that signpost information available elsewhere and encourage conversations. Content is king and stuff that works includes: a behind the scenes look at a day in your shoes, insight on and responses to the latest and greatest industry news, or even a guest post from a client that’s benefitted from your help.

4.    If the post is related to a news story, link to it and respond to it, don’t spend time repeating it. After all, people are coming to you for your opinion and insight. As Baz Luhrmann once said, “Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off and recycling it for more than it’s worth”.

5.    Enjoy it!

Zainab Rahman

Account Executive