"Media" is an increasingly important element of the digital ecosystem.
In its annual State of the Media report, cloud-based marketing and PR software Vocus explores just how much social media and traditional forms of media are being leveraged to create and deliver content on the Web.
The research revealed that while many believed social media would ultimately kill traditional journalism, that's not exactly turning out to be the case. In reality, journalists are actually quite savvy when it comes to using social media for driving traffic and deepening audience engagement.
- Fifty-one percent of journalists use social media to promote their stories.
- Forty-nine percent of journalists use social to connect with viewers and readers.
- Of the reporters that use social media to promote their stories, 87 percent use Twitter and 79 percent use Facebook.
- All other social networks lagged significantly, with LinkedIn coming in third at 26 percent, Google+ at 19 percent and YouTube at 13 percent.
While most journalists are finding ways to leverage social media, they have also found limits to its effectiveness. For example, when journalists are pitched ideas for stories, 91 percent of reporters prefer email, while only 2.7 percent prefer social media. What's more, only 30 percent use social media for research, but more than 95 percent of journalists don't believe social is a trustworthy source. Finally, 45 percent of reporters don't want to be pitched at all via social media, but 37 percent would receive a pitch via Facebook and 30 percent would receive one via Twitter.
"Our findings show a definite representation of the industry moving forward, and media companies are gaining confidence in making major purchases, changes or investing in their future," said inVocus Editor-in-Chief Katrina Mendolera, the report's author. "Although many newspapers have folded and magazines have decreased slightly this year, overall, the magazine industry has remained resilient. In 2013, the media, including newspapers, magazines, television and radio, have adapted to their audience by implementing digital platforms, native advertising or implemented mobile campaigns to retain followers."
