Marc-keting Trends: This Week in PR, Social, & Podcasts

Hi everyone! It’s Alex, Sera, and Abby, the current Summer 2022 interns. We’re excited to share with you the latest trends in PR, social media, and podcasts. Here’s what you need to know, to stay in the know this week!

Public Relations Trends

1. Is Pride Month Marketing Genuine?

During Pride Month, there seems to be a recurring trend of companies changing logos to rainbow colors and posting rainbow flags only during June and not supporting the LGBTQ+ community during the other 11 months of the year. This is essentially performative activism because these companies are actually proving that they only “care” about the community when they “should” in hopes of making themselves appear supportive.

2. Gun Reform Conversations Reaches Pop Culture & Entertainment

In the wake of the Uvalde and Buffalo mass shootings, the U.S Men’s Soccer team posted this week that they demand gun reform and legislative action. They used their star power to state their stance and asked followers and fans to think about how their vote in upcoming elections truly matters. Matthew McConaughey also called for gun legislation while visiting the White House. Many public figures and companies are finding themselves in some muddy water, and their fans and customers are becoming frustrated with their lack of stance on this hot-button issue.

3. How Does PR Affect the Courtroom?

If we’ve learned anything from the Depp/Heard trials it’s that sometimes the court of public opinion is even more important than the judges or the jury. The reason is that even after the verdict is read, a person’s reputation can be recovered or destroyed depending on the way they presented themselves at trial. For this reason, Litigation PR is a specialized niche that is an important part of trials for celebrities and public figures.

Social Media Trends

1. Changes to Twitter Algorithm…Again

Twitter is working on algorithm options, so users are able to choose what content they want to engage in. Sparked by Elon Musk’s Tweet, he believes that the current algorithm is manipulating users and wanted to create options for third parties to access the content that they want to see on a daily basis. This new experience would have content-control tools would provide a way for 3rd parties to personalize their experience within the app.

2. Pinning Has Arrived on Instagram

Following TikTok’s lead, Instagram has officially launched a new option to pin posts on your profile. This provides a new option for users to control how their Instagram profile is displayed. You can pin up to three posts at the top of your profile. 

To start pinning posts today, go to your profile, select the post you would like to pin, click the three dots on the top-right corner of the post and hit “Pin to your profile.” When you click out of that post and return to your profile, you’ll see the post you selected as the very first post in your feed, pushing your other post to the right and down. 

3. Bye Bye Bitmoji, Hello TikTok Avatars

Rivaling Snapchat’s Bitmojis, TikTok’s Avatars will enable users to create their own custom character depictions to use within the app. This feature was rolled out globally on June 7th and gives content creators the opportunity to post videos as an animation rather than using their own faces.

To start using Tiktok Avatars today, open the TikTok camera, navigate to the effects section and click “TikTok Avatars.” From there, a panel with template avatars will appear and all you have to do is click “New” to start customizing your TikTok Avatar. 

Podcasting Trends

1. Podcasting About Pandemic Problems

Memo, the global provider of online managed print content distribution, announced season 1 of their new podcast series, The Secret Society of Success: Lessons and Inspiration from Corporate L&D. The first season is focused on hybrid learning in corporate and employee training. This is a niche podcast to have and very forward-thinking with the obstacles that have happened these past few years.

2. Fashion and Beauty Ads Shift to Podcasts

Digital audio advertising revenue is growing faster than any other digital advertising category. Partnering and advertising with podcasts provide unique opportunities for hosts to be brand advocates with more time being spent on ad reads. With the return on investment of podcast advertising along with the costs of advertising on social media in mind, many fashion and beauty brands are turning to podcasts for advertising.

3. TikTok Star Hosts News Podcast

Lemonada Media premiered a new podcast with TikTok star V Spehar called V Interesting. On this twice-weekly podcast, V will discuss current events, issues and news. This raises the question: should broadcast news companies take a podcast approach to news as well?