Stories by Seth Arenstein

It’s far from a secret that Instagram is a visual channel. Still, some communicators use color palettes, grid layouts and themes to boost engagement on their Instagram feeds. For apartments.com AVP of social media Erica Campbell Byrum, color choice and layout are critical to crafting an Instagram personality that consumers will recognize and engage with at high rates.

With Instagram boasting 800 million active monthly users and 80% of them following brands on the platform, we asked communicators for best practices for being successful on the graphic-based platform. They told us carefully picked influencers and attention to creating consistent visuals are critical.

Our weekly roundup of news, trends and personnel moves in communications and marketing. This week’s stories feature the the un-apology of baseball player Robinson Cano, President Trump’s Spygate, Facebook’s fight against fake news and an honor for Finn Partners’ Gil Bashe.

A pair of major PR firms are taking a page from the playbook of consulting firms, offering clients easier paths to a variety of expertise. Weber Shandwick is launching a unit that will consult to brands about corporate culture. On its 90th birthday Ketchum is promising to encircle clients with 14 industrial specialities as well as the traditional PR communications offerings.

Our weekly roundup of trends, news and personnel moves in communications and marketing. This week’s stories include the royal wedding’s PR lessons, a Novartis lawyer is a victim of hiring Michael Cohen, Michigan State University and more than 300 gymnasts who suffered under Dr. Larry Nassar’s abuse agree on a $500 million settlement, but how will the school pay?

Social media can be a wonderful tool for media relations professionals, as we know. Yet it is only one of several ways to communicate with journalists. Face-to-face meetings, which you can arrange for brand executives during a media tour, can help build a personal relationship with journalists. We asked communicators about their must-haves and tips for conducting successful media tours.

One of the final parts of the diagnosis on Facebook’s health has arrived and the patient seems nearly fully recovered. Usage in the U.S., Facebook’s home country, has not budged despite the platform’s most difficult period since it went public in 2012. Security remains a concern to users, though, and Facebook’s demographic means it remains the adult in the room of social media channels.

While some holdouts still believe digital is a passing fad, the latest digital advertising figures would seem to put such arguments to rest. In addition, media consumption figures may surprise you. Print isn’t dead yet.

A pair of speakers during the afternoon general session of the Social Shake-Up Show offered advice about social marketing and entrepreneurship that resonated with the audience despite it being a bit unconventional.

The Social Shake-Up has a reputation for shaking up assumptions. In that respect, opening keynoter Brian Fanzo, a change evangelist with a passionate speaking style, did not disappoint. While he praised the ability of social media to connect people globally, his message contained plenty of low-tech ideas as well as a call for Shakers to put the social back into social media.