(Virtually) gone are the days when news was broken via traditional media such as television or radio. In fact, these two mediums are scrambling to get stories that they can get the exclusive on. Why? Because social media – specifically Twitter – is slowly but surely taking over as the go-to-source of information.
Why social media is the go-to source of information
Anyone can post on social media
Anyone who has access to a Twitter account – or any other social media platform, for that matter – becomes a journalist. This is because the updates that they post have the potential to reach massive audiences.
Journalists attached to traditional media outlets have the reputation of the particular newspaper or television station to uphold. Thus, the custodians of the brand will have put in place various stringent quality control processes to make sure that only quality news and accurate reporting find their way onto the news waves.
These processes will take some time which means that social media will often pip traditional media at the post and scoop them on stories that they were too slow on reporting.
Influencer marketing takes advantage of the immediacy of social media
Brands have seen that ‘ordinary’ people are becoming widely known in their industries, so much so when they encourage their followers to talk about something it becomes a trend and other people get to hear of it in much the same way as they would via turning into a news broadcast or picking up a newspaper.
This trend in digital marketing is called ‘influencer marketing’. People follow influencers in a particular field to get the scoop on what is new and happening in their specific area of influence. Owing to the immediacy of broadcasts being published the brand gets an almost immediate and measurable return on investment as they can see the amount of engagement that the influencers are generating for them.
