The document discusses digital communication trends and provides a 7 step framework for effective digital communication. The main trends discussed include connected engagement with customers, a shift from screens to sensory interactions, building trust through influencers, people leaving social networks for closed communities, audio becoming more important in journalism, and content teams hiring more data analysts. The 7 steps include setting goals, defining stakeholder personas, mapping their journeys, creating a content plan, promoting content, nurturing leads, and measuring results. The key takeaways are to understand digital opportunities, research stakeholder journeys, and create experiences through communication efforts.

1. Do You Live and
Breathe Digital
Communication?
ILIYANA STAREVA
5 MARCH 2019

2. ILIYANASTAREVA.COM
Global Partner Program Manager at HubSpot
Author of Inbound PR
@ILIYANASTAREVA
ILIYANA
STAREVA

3. 7 STEPS TO DIGITAL
COMMUNICATION
TALKING POINTS
9 DIGITAL COMMUNICATION
TRENDS
WHY DIGITAL MATTERS IN
COMMUNICATION

4. Why Digital
Matters in
Communication
@ILIYANASTAREVA

5. @ILIYANASTAREVA
What
are you
afraid
of?

6. @ILIYANASTAREVA@ILIYANASTAREVA

7. @ILIYANASTAREVA@ILIYANASTAREVA
Fear only holds us back
Silfra in Thingvellir National Park
Iceland
8 January 2017

8. Digital is an enterprise-
wide strategic priority.
Communication cannot
be isolated.
@ILIYANASTAREVA

9. Everyone in the
organisation
plays a role
@ILIYANASTAREVA

10. @ILIYANASTAREVA

11. "Change-making creates resistance. It is against
the rules. Change is seen as loss. It is scary. But you
have to learn not to stop yourself. You have to
learn to give yourself permission to imagine a
better way, to envision opportunity where others
see only risk."
BETH COMSTOCK - IMAGINE IT FORWARD
@ILIYANASTAREVA

12. Why transform?
1. Growth opportunities in new markets (51%)
2. Evolving customer behaviour and preferences (46%)
3. Increasing competitive pressure (41%)
4. New standards in regulatory and compliance e.g. GDPR (38%)
TOP 4 REASONS FROM ALTIMETER:
@ILIYANASTAREVA

13. Digital
communication
at the top
@ILIYANASTAREVA

14. Digital communication key for publishers
@ILIYANASTAREVA

15. Where's your
stakeholder
journey mapping?
@ILIYANASTAREVA

16. AI, Big data, IoT in
the top 5 of digital
technology
investments
@ILIYANASTAREVA

17. And that's every
industry
@ILIYANASTAREVA

18. With every
engagement
channel
@ILIYANASTAREVA

19. 9 Digital
Communication
Trends
@ILIYANASTAREVA

20. Connected Engagement
There's no reason why communication should stop once the customer purchases or the employee has
been hired. Mobile apps and connected devices such as the Fitbit app allow you to inform people of new
features, upgrades or related devices and friend's activity. These messages are relevant and in real-life.
BRANDS BEGIN TO USE CONNECTED DEVICES TO CONTINUE ENGAGING WITH CUSTOMERS POST-PURCHASE
@ILIYANASTAREVA

21. From Screens to Senses
Sensory interaction - voice, visual, gesture - is significantly different from screen interaction - it frees people to
communicate in whatever style they prefer, but is more challenging to design for. It's how people naturally
relate to the world. And it's how they are starting to search too - have you tried Google Images search?
AI ENABLES US THE SHIFT FROM BROWSER OR APP-INTERACTIONS TO INTERACTIONS WITH OUR SENSES
@ILIYANASTAREVA

22. Towards Trust
We no longer differentiate between real and fake news and as skeptical audiences we don't trust
brands. Digital communicators need to map out trust points throughout the customer journey and work
even more with influencers to create and deepen trust. That applies to internal communication too.
COMMUNICATORS SHIFT FROM MANAGING TOUCH POINTS TO CREATING TRUST POINTS
@ILIYANASTAREVA

23. People Leaving Social
People are beginning to leave social networks seeking to detox, because they've become conscious
of how they spend their time online. They are more careful about the content they consume
searching for meaningfulness more than anything. The news industry is leaving Facebook as well.
CONSUMERS ARE USING MORE TOOLS FOR A DIGITAL DETOX
@ILIYANASTAREVA

24. From Feeds to Groups
Platforms will step up their battle against misinformation and disinformation but the problem shifts this year to
stories, closed networks and community groups that naturally create more trust for people like WhatsApp.
However, this type of closed engagement becomes harder to get into, track and control so WOM is key here.
PEOPLE ARE SEEKING CLOSED COMMUNITIES AND STORIES THEY CAN TRUST
@ILIYANASTAREVA

25. Subscriptions for News
Over half (52%) expect this to be the MAIN revenue focus in 2019, compared with just 27% for
display advertising, 8% for native advertising and 7% for donations. This is a huge change of
focus for the industry according to a research by Reuters Institute and Oxford University.
SUBSCRIPTION AND MEMBERSHIP IS THE KEY PRIORITY FOR THE NEWS INDUSTRY IN 2019
@ILIYANASTAREVA

26. Audio in Journalism
With many publishers launching new daily news podcasts, the majority (75%) think that audio will become a more
important part of their content and commercial strategies. For 78% emerging voice-activated technologies (Amazon
Alexa and Google Assistant) will have a significant impact on how audiences access content over the next few years.
AUDIO AND VOICE ARE BECOMING KEY FOR PUBLISHERS
@ILIYANASTAREVA

27. Platforms to Video & TV
Online video is set to be a key battleground, especially with subscription-type businesses like Apple Music,
Amazon Prime, Spotify, Netflix, Facebook Watch, IGTV as ways to re-invent TV and music in a more social
and interactive way for B2B, B2C and employees as stakeholders.
AUDIO AND VOICE ARE BECOMING KEY FOR PUBLISHERS AND BUSINESSES
@ILIYANASTAREVA

28. The Math is Coming
Content teams are starting to hire more and more data analysts who can dive deep into
data and identify trends and issues around the customer, media or employee journeys and
their experience with brands including communication and engagement.
2019 IS THE YEAR WHEN THE "MAD MEN" ARE STARTING TO HIRE "THE MATH MEN"
@ILIYANASTAREVA

29. Beware the Risks
PRIVACY
DATA PROTECTION
LEGAL REGULATIONS
RESPONSIBILITY FOR USER ACTIONS AND USER DATA

30. 7 Steps to
Digital
Communication
@ILIYANASTAREVA

31. The way people make decisions
has changed. Consumers are
empowered and their expectations
have expanded. But a lot of
businesses are falling behind. The
inbound methodology helps teams
and businesses grow better.
@ILIYANASTAREVA

32. External
Communication is not
just about Media
Relations anymore
@ILIYANASTAREVA

33. Inbound works with all media types
@ILIYANASTAREVA

34. Inbound works with AI too
@ILIYANASTAREVA

35. Inbound works for employees too
@ILIYANASTAREVA

36. @ILIYANASTAREVA

37. 7 Steps to Digital Communication
@ILIYANASTAREVA

38. 1. Set Your Goals
What are we trying to achieve as a business?
Why?
What part should digital communication play in this?
Why?
What return do we expect?
Why?
@ILIYANASTAREVA

39. 2. Nail Your
Stakeholder
Personas
Who are you really trying to engage with?
For what purposes?
@ILIYANASTAREVA

40. @ILIYANASTAREVA
Buyer Persona
Who are our ideal customers that are
going to be interested in our
content?
What does a day in their life look
like?
How do they prefer to be reached?
How do they do research when
making a buying decision?
What are they looking for when
making buying decisions and what
do they worry about?
What challenges do they face when
making buying decisions?
Who are the journalists, bloggers,
YouTubers etc. that have an
interested in us?
What does a day in their life look
like?
How do they prefer to be contacted?
How do they do research when
writing a story?
What are they looking for when
working on a story and what do they
write about?
What challenges do they face when
working on a story?
Media Persona

41. 3. Define Their
Journey
How do your stakeholder personas make decisions?
What steps to they take?
What's their experience with your brand?
@ILIYANASTAREVA

42. @ILIYANASTAREVA

43. 4. Create a
Content Plan
What topics work for your stakeholders?
What content formats are best?
What type of frequency of new content creation and
publishing is required?
@ILIYANASTAREVA

44. @ILIYANASTAREVA

45. 5. Promote Your
Content
What digital communication channels do your stakeholders
prefer?
How often do they use them and for what purposes?
How can you best engage with your stakeholders?
@ILIYANASTAREVA

46. @ILIYANASTAREVA

47. @ILIYANASTAREVA

48. @ILIYANASTAREVA

49. @ILIYANASTAREVA

50. 6. Nurture Your
Leads
How do you further engage with your stakeholders?
How do you support their decision-making journey?
How do you delight them and make them your supporters?
@ILIYANASTAREVA

51. 7. Measure
Results
Did you achieve your set out in the beginning?
Why yes or why no?
What worked and what didn't?
What can we do better next time?
What can we kill?
@ILIYANASTAREVA

52. 3 Key Takeaways
1. UNDERSTAND THE OPPORTUNITIES DIGITAL OFFERS
2. RESEARCH AND DEFINE YOUR STAKEHOLDER JOURNEYS
3. CREATE EXPERIENCES WITH YOUR DIGITAL COMMUNICATION EFFORTS
@ILIYANASTAREVA

53. ILIYANASTAREVA.COM
Thank you!