Diversify or die

Last week Facebook ran a test in which publishers’ content in six countries only displayed on a secondary ‘explore’ feed. The impact was immediate and devastating – one Slovakian journalist called it the ‘biggest drop in organic reach we’ve ever seen’. Though the test was quickly stopped, the obvious lesson to PRs is: diversify, diversify, diversify.

Before social media, Google and the internet, the job of a PR was arguably much more straightforward: build relationships with journalists and secure coverage in the press. If you fell out with one journalist, or a publication changed its approach to printing PR content, you had other choices and relationships throughout the traditional media landscape.

But what happens when the people you have a relationship with can’t control their content?

Google, Facebook and, to a lesser extent, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram have the ability to make or break publishing, PR and the entire content industry with just a few lines of code. Facebook’s experiment was seen by some as a way to make more money from publishers – forcing them to pay to feature on a user’s Newsfeed, which is the internet’s second most valuable spot (after the first page of Google’s results).

If Facebook were to roll this out (and as it stands, that’s not the plan), then publishers’ traffic will drop, alongside content from brands and businesses. The lesson here is simple and definitely nothing new – don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

While this should be obvious for PR pros, we sometimes forget how little control we have online – deceived by the ability to create posts, pages and profiles on platforms that are actually run by untouchable and unreachable behemoths.

Being great on only one platform is a very risky strategy.

If you’ve nailed your brand’s Facebook content, now is not the time to rest on your laurels – spread out that excellence to Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat to avoid any ‘nasty’ surprises to Facebook’s practices.

You may also have relationships with all the ‘right’ Instagram influencers, but would you be ready for a rule change that censored adverts? On social media, influencers are key to success and making sure you have the right influencer for the right platform is vital. The Vuelio Media Database lists thousands of regularly-updated influencers, so you know you can reach the right people in the right way.

Google’s algorithm changes still send shivers down the spines of content creators – that SEO strategy you’ve been tweaking for months and years is suddenly worthless. It may seem that Google’s whims are hard to prepare for, but if you’re spread out – using all your media contacts at all the right publications and platforms – you have time to adjust your strategy while still securing valuable exposure.

And don’t neglect offline mediums – print is not dead yet and great publishers are still in control of their output and audience, making them arguably as valuable as ever.

We are working in the age of digital content, where a handful of tech giants now control a majority of what people see online. But if we’re smart and creative (and as PRs what else is there?) then we can diversify to manage our success and make sure we keep coming out on top.

How much do you diversify? Let us know in the comments below!