Introduction
Paleo foodies is a website that is dedicated towards providing the best reviews, articles and opinions regarding local restaurants, food sources and other similar subjects that all relate to the Paleo lifestyle.
Identified Issues
When examining the current situation in Paleo Foodies and its desire to continue to expand, there are several issues that limit its capacity to do so. The first problem is the fact that there is a considerable limitation to the amount of content that can be generated by the website at present. A lack of sufficient content can lead to the stagnation of a site and a migration of current subscribers to other sources that deliver daily content that is in line with what the subscribers want to read.
Another issue that has been identified is the lack of sufficient community development in the Paleo Foodies website. Despite its focus on creating collaborations with other similarly oriented websites, there is a distinct lack of development initiatives that would help increase audience participation. The static nature of Paleo Foodies is detrimental towards any attempts of expansion. If it was the intention of the owner to continue with the current subscriber base and method of content generation, then there would be no problem, however, with their desire to expand and gain a considerably larger following comes the need to develop a strategy that incorporates more dynamism in the way in which Paleo Foodies attracts and maintains its desired subscriber base.
Initiatives to be Developed
Based on what has been mentioned, this PR strategy proposal will focus on development of two initiatives, the first will focus on user generated content, while the second will focus on community development through the implementation of forums, user generated guides and other similar aspects. The focus of this PR strategy is thus a shift away from content generated solely by the owner into a strategy that focuses on content generated by subscribers for other subscribers.
Strengths
Online content generators such as YouTube.com show the relevance behind content generation via the user of the site. Websites such as Yahoo.com and Allrecipes.com have content that is both generated “in-house” by the employees of the websites as well as through subscribers that want to get their thoughts out there or would like to showcase their own insights into the different locations, recipes and lifestyles that they have encountered. Such a strategy has proven to be very successful given the popularity of such websites and shows how user generated content can be an effective means of popularising a website1.
Online subscribers to a website actually prefer a “user’s perspective” when it comes to the different topics that they are interested in. The informal and personal nature of user generated content actually helps subscribers to relate with the individual that is generating the content being viewed. It is based on this that the strategy of creating a means for user generated content seems to be a viable one.
Weaknesses
The main weakness of the Paleo Foodies is the fact that the topics focus on a niche market and, as such, there is little in the way of general appeal to other subscriber groups. When taking into consideration the sheer amount of food oriented websites within Australia, it becomes immediately obvious that Paleo Foodies is operating within a highly saturated market environment. What is necessary in this case is some form of media that would enable the website to standout.
One potential means of addressing this issue is to utilize Youtube.com in order to create a video blog involving the process of eating healthy Paleo foods, how to cook them and which restaurants in Australia have the best type of Paleo oriented products. The nature of video based content would help to not only popularize the site but would also allow Paelo foodies to diversify its current subscriber base to include YouTube viewers. Aside from this, utilizing online social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter is also advisable given the way in which fans like to connect with the people that generate the content that they consume.
Opportunities
One of the potential opportunities that Paleo Foodies can utilize in order to broaden its current user base is potentially connect with the Crossfit community within Australia. Crossfit is popular form of circuit training that has been gaining a considerable level of international popularity as of late.
The Paleo diet has been a popular mainstay among members of the Crossfit community and, as such, by creating some form of cooperative agreement with Crossfit oriented sites such as through advertising on their site itself or by presenting guest articles involving the Paleo lifestyle, it would be possible to broaden the current user base of the company to include another sector that would be interested in the content that is being created on Paleo Foodies. While a static “blog” is adequate enough when it comes to posting food reviews, the fact remains that in order to attract more subscribers it is necessary to expand the functions of the site. Thus, by creating some form of cross functionality and cooperation with an Australian based Crossfit site, there can be a sharing of current website subscribers which would benefit both parties in the long run.
Threats
One of the potential threats that should be taken into consideration is the current backlash involving the Paleo diet that has been gaining momentum in the past year. Various medical professionals have expressed their opinion that while the Paleo diet is healthier as compared to a diet comprised entirely of fast food2, the fact though is that its high fat and cholesterol content may actually be detrimental to a person’s long term well being3. If such a movement continues to gain momentum well into the future, it can be expected that this would result in a considerable reduction in the current subscriber base of Paleo Foodie4.
Implementing the PR Strategy
The implementation of the PR strategy is actually very straightforward, all that would be needed to do is to redesign the current website of Paleo Foodies and start a campaign that would encourages various website visitors from Australia to create their own articles detailing their experiences with Paleo foods in various restaurants or their own attempts at making their own Paleo based food. Methods of categorisation can be implemented in order to make content easier to organize and searched later on.
Conclusion
Based on what has been presented so far, it can be seen that the static nature of Paleo Foodies in the current internet environment is detrimental towards any attempts at expansion. As such, through the proposed PR strategy, it is likely that the company would be able to increase its current number of subscribers. Do note though that there is no absolute guarantee that such a strategy would be 100% effective, however, based on what can be seen on Yahoo.com, Dailydot.com and other similar websites, user generated content does have a considerable level of appeal and may actually be the best path that Paleo Foodies can take.
Bibliography
Challem, J 2013, ‘Is the Paleo Diet for you?’, Better Nutrition, vol. 75, no. 4, p. 48. Web.
Chisholm, D 2013, ‘Putting Paleo to the Test’, North & South, vol. 328, p. 46. Web.
Woman’s Day 2013, ‘Eat like a cavewoman: The paleo diet explained’, Australian Consolidated Press, vol. 64, no. 44, p. 64. Web.
Pinkus, D 2014, ‘Battle of the fads’, Cleo, vol. 1, p. 110. Web.
Footnotes
- Woman’s Day 2013, ‘Eat like a cavewoman: The paleo diet explained’, Australian Consolidated Press, vol. 64, no. 44, p. 64.
- Chisholm, D 2013, ‘Putting Paleo to the Test’, North & South, vol. 328, p. 46.
- Challem, J 2013, ‘Is the Paleo Diet for you?’, Better Nutrition, vol. 75, no. 4, p. 48.
- Pinkus, D 2014, ‘Battle of the fads’, Cleo, vol. 1, p. 110.