Social media is a whole new phenomenon that has taken global communication by shock. Traditional news sites, global leaders, and opinion makers have all joined the new platform of communication. Dear reader, On December 12, 2012, Pope Benedict made his first tweet. As a PR professional, this to me was an endorsement of the role played by social media in expounding on Global discourse.
Ten years later, it looks obvious that Christians across the world expect messages from the Pope via his social media platforms most especially Twitter. The micro-blogging site has over time distinguished itself as a platform and home of breaking news. If you want to immediately know what the Pope has said, then you shall go to his Twitter @Pontifex. This was never the case before December 12, 2012, when Pope Benedict made his first tweet. The pope and the entire Catholic Church leadership in wanted to reach and get feedback from their audience.
If you have passionately appreciated that the Pope, your president, or any other thought leader reaches his audience through social media, what then is holding you back? In a country like Uganda where the average population are the youth, social media stands out as the preferred platform for you to reach your audience. Though you might dismiss these young people now because they do not have disposable income now, they are your future market. Any brand interested in sustainability has to figure this out.
The youth who dominate Uganda’s population are known to be tech-savvy and highly adaptive. The most important aspect about the youth is that their concentration on information lasts for the utmost three minutes. They are dealing with too much information at the same time. Your information should be drafted in a way that shall keep them glued.
Due to the rise in technological innovation and expansion by the youth, the world is evolving fast and changing how things are done drastically. This generation is highly dependent on technology and relies on social media as a source of information.
According to the digital media campaign platform Oberlo, Tiktok, Reddit, LinkedIn and Pinterest registered the highest user growth rate of 18.3%, 14.4%, 4.2% and 3.1 percent respectively in the United States of America. The new entrant in this data is Tiktok. The social media giant had I billion active monthly users, with the largest age group of these users aged between 10-19 years. 61 percent were female and 39 percent male.
Although TikTok’s growth is unprecedented, the social media giant has registered nearly 40% of the youth say they were directly influenced by the content they see on Tiktok. One may close their eyes to this fact but the reality is the statistics of the growth of Tiktok could be more telling in Africa. As internet penetration continues to grow across the continent, proactive telecoms like MTN Uganda have already designed products that satisfy the needs of the Tiktokers through the daily TikTok bundles.
The relationship between social media and Public relations is a necessity. To understand your audience and serve them better, you should be where they spend most of their time. Dear PR practitioner, open an account and post those 3-minute videos, articles, press statements and client events. As you understand your audience more, the numbers shall grow over time. This will also enable you revise your content to fit the needs and desires of your target audience.
The Future of PR is on social media
