As marketers seek to use a broader range of mediums this year, a lot of work is needed to avoid brands seeming "schizoprhenic" in their messaging.
The latest digital trends report from tech PR agency Hotwire has suggested a lot more effort will go into identifying how audiences are consuming content, rather than just pushing content out through the usual channels.
It also noted that the danger with telling the same story in a variety of ways, using different formats and platforms can result in mixed brand messaging - thus resulting in too many brand voices, which causes confusion.
The report said communicators, including advertising and PR agencies, are still hitting and hoping for the best when it comes to media consumption of their content.
“We found there's a lack of that really granular understanding of how people are consuming content. We have some loose rules about what audience is consuming content on what platform, but that's really about it,” Hotwire Australia's managing director Alexis Wilson told AdNews.
She said 2015 will be characterised by a focus on how people are actually consuming media, and getting the metrics around that right.
“I think it’s looking at ways consumers are going to, and how they consume content. Not just about the way you’ve always put it out or how you naturally put it out. Now it’s about adjusting your content to your audience,” Wilson said.
“You should start to look at which channels are being used, and that’s not about just what’s easiest or most cost-effective to produce.”
However, she denied it would be a case of advertisers and marketers wildly experimenting this year.
“You’ll start to see a lot of marketers not so much experiment with different forms of pushing their content out there but really getting good quality research about it done. They’re not going to hit and hope,” Wilson said.
“It’s about getting the metrics right around particular mediums first, and then using that to decide where you need to be.”
However, without an exact understanding on which mediums are being used to consume content, the report suggests marketers and brands would seek to broaden the number of mediums their content is seen on.
“We need to find a way of telling the story we want to tell whatever device someone is using. Despite all the evidence, we still cling to the idea that most people are going to view our stories on a computer — or at a push — a tablet,” the report read.
“Therefore, as comms professionals, we need to get comfortable with telling the same story in multiple ways, using different formats and platforms.”
However the danger in doing this, Hotwire suggested, was that content would become “schizophrenic” across platforms.
“You can’t have advertising and PR not necessarily working together, on content across platforms or you’ll end up with a schizophrenic brand personality,” Wilson said.
Wilson also tipped the rise of the chief communications officer within organisations, to help harmonise the messages being pushed out across multiple mediums.
The other upshot of marketers and advertisers pushing their content across multiple mediums is that there's going to be a lot of digital noise, Hotwire suggested, making one-to-one communication especially effective.
“I would say that I’m already seeing that trend emerge and come more to the fore in Australia, especially around events, and high-touch marketing and for high-touch public relations. I’m seeing that become a lot more popular,” Wilson said.
“There’s a complete saturation of digital content, but if you get to sit down with a consumer and spend time with them, that can be a lot more meaningful.”
You can get a copy of the Hotwire report here
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