Stories by Jerry Ascierto

Many brands still struggle with how best to build up a presence on Snapchat. The nature of Snapchat’s short-lived content can trick some communicators into thinking the planning they put into each snap should be just as brief. But a detailed strategy can be the key to making your snaps burn bright before they fade away.

The role that PR and marketing professionals are asked to play is constantly expanding, requiring mastery over many aspects of communications—such as live video, measurement, data analysis, SEO and social listening—above and beyond traditional skills like crisis management and media relations. This nonstop evolution in creativity and versatility will be celebrated at PR News’ annual Platinum PR Awards, which praises the best communications programs and teams of the past year.

Reebok’s Twitter account took a satirical streak July 14 when it mocked President Trump’s comment to France’s first lady Brigitte Macron that she’s “in such good physical shape…beautiful.” The post has since gone viral, with more than 46,000 retweets and nearly 79,000 likes as of this morning. The tweet is a rare example of a big consumer brand challenging President Trump on his favorite social media platform. “We saw this as an opportunity—as a learning moment,” says Inga Stenta, senior director of brand management at Reebok.

For years, podcasting was overshadowed by other forms of emerging media, but its momentum continues to grow. More than 10 billion podcasts were downloaded and streamed on Apple devices alone in 2016, an increase of more than 2 billion from the year before. And every week, new brands jump into the space, using podcasts as a form of content marketing, a dynamic way to attract new customers. But for brands looking to build an audience, the key is to focus on content first and marketing second.

Snapchat introduced a new tracking feature called Snap Map last week, allowing users to share their location as well as see where their friends are and, in some cases, what they’re doing. While the new tool has raised some privacy concerns, it also has some implications for brand communicators— it could become a great tool for event-based promotion and local businesses, says Andrea Limas, social media strategist for the University of San Francisco, and Kristy Gillentine, vice president of public engagement at Drive West Communications.

Kelly Stone is on a mission to evangelize careers in information technology. As the senior social media manager for CompTIA, a nonprofit trade association for Information Technology professionals, Stone is tasked with softening the IT industry’s image to a younger demographic. And Instagram has emerged as one of her most effective weapons in fighting negative stereotypes. Here are four ways she uses the platform to humanize the industry and her own organization.

Kristy Gillentine spends a lot of time chatting about Snapchat. Host of the popular “ChatSnap—The Twitter Chat All About Snapchat,” Gillentine interviews such social superstars as Shonduras, Brian Fanzo and Madelyn Sklar once a week to share cutting-edge tips and tricks about the platform. But for those brand communicators just looking to establish their presence on Snapchat, she offered the following tips.

Even the most seasoned actors will tell you that performing live is a scary thing. And many brands just starting to experiment with Facebook Live are confronting that same fear. But best practices are emerging through the trial and error of early adopters like IBM. And here, Brittany Detamore, the firm’s social engagement strategist responsible for day-to-day management of the firm’s Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts, offers a few lessons learned for those new to live streaming.

If I had to pick one thought to summarize this week’s sold-out Social Shake-Up Show, it would be this: The lines between content and marketing are blurring so rapidly, the phrase “content marketing” is starting to become redundant. Words such as authenticity, experiential, immersive and storytelling were heard often during panel sessions and networking breaks to describe this zeitgeist, this evolution of messaging. But to me, it really all comes down to a single, often misunderstood word—empathy.

Banafsheh Ghassemi’s passion for using technology to promote empathy can be traced to a turbulent childhood. Ghassemi, the winner of the first annual Robin Carey Connector Award, was born in Iran, where her parents were both politically active members of the resistance during the run-up to the Iranian Revolution. As the revolution intensified, her family was forced to seek refuge in England when she was just 11 years old. And that experience has been central in shaping Ghassemi’s focus on human-centered design.