How often have you heard that your social media account is the best way—even the only way—to connect with your audience?
It’s a popular argument, especially among millennial communicators, and I certainly hear their views when I train spokespersons. But this argument misses a couple of points about “legacy” media like TV. Not only do more Canadians get their news from TV, but they trust TV news much, much more than social media.
It’s certainly true that Canadians are turning to social media for news. About 45% of Canadians say they used social media for news during the last week, according to the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Interestingly, that 45% has remained steady for three years.
Just as steady, though, is the audience for tv news – ranging from 71% in 2016 to 67% last year. So tv news remains highly relevant to leaders who want to engage Canadians in public policy discussions.
Yes, over time, this will change. Audience research consistently shows that the media dinosaurs are headed for trouble, if they haven’t already reached it. But news is the here and now, and today’s news consumer is more likely watching news on TV than through Facebook and its smaller competitors.
Not only that, but the legacy media keep blowing social media out of the water on trust. I’m just now getting around to an excellent piece from Edelman, the US public-relations firm. In their annual report on public trust in institutions, Edelman report that 71% of Canadians trust traditional media – compared to 31 % for social media. That’s more than twice as many. And that trend has held for at least eight years, according to Edelman.
What’s a leader to do? By all means, develop your social media program. Prepare for the future. But at the same time continue to dance with the dinosaurs, because that’s where you’ll find a discerning audience.
There’s lots more in the Edelman report about whether an organization should rely on the CEO as spokesperson, or whether their employees and technical experts are seen as more trustworthy. I’ll take a look at that in a future post.
For now, what do you think?