2018 PR Trends: Paid Media [Video]

2018 is here, and we’re digging into what look to be some of the biggest trends that will affect PR practitioners this year. In this installment, we’ll look at 3 major trends in paid media:

• More Paywalls Go Up
  • Traditional news media is struggling to survive, hemorrhaging cash. To compensate, more walls will go up, making media less visible to PR professionals and their audiences. Soon advertising may be the only way to reach some select audiences.
  • Solution: Prepare to pay to play for all forms of digital media in a 1:1 spend.

• The Duopoly Gets Stronger
  • Two companies own the majority of digital advertising.
  • Solution: Market on both, and look for niches where advertising costs are inexpensive but in your target audience.

• AI-Powered Personalization of Advertising
  • Advertising has been quick to adopt artificial intelligence, but we’ve only touched the tip of a massive iceberg. As AI technology improves, reaching individuals at scale will be possible, and PR practitioners must adapt their integrated strategies to maximize success.
  • Solution: Work with vendors who provide real AI/ML in their solutions. You’ll know because instead of providing rules, you’ll be asked to provide data.

Stay tuned as we look next at search marketing in this series!

Christopher S. Penn
Vice President, Marketing Technology

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