Stories by Sophie Maerowitz

Entering for industry awards is often a major part of PR professionals’ work, but it poses significant challenges. How do you ensure your entry copy will stand out among a slew of other awards entries? And how to best discern exactly what judges are looking for? Lucky for you, the PR News editorial team judges its fair share of industry awards each year, and offers up the following tips for strengthening your industry awards entries.

Social video may be the preferred form of content for digital natives, but that doesn’t mean it comes cheap. From hiring a freelance video crew, to pre- and post-production costs and boosting the content on social media once it’s finished, even a minute-long video can give senior leaders sticker shock. So how best to convince your management that great video content is what your brand needs to make its next campaign succeed?

On Nov. 28, Patagonia CEO Rose Mercario announced in a LinkedIn post that the company would be putting $10 million—the amount it received in tax returns following Trump administration tax cuts—toward alleviating the harmful effects of “human-caused climate disruption.” Here are some lessons learned from Patagonia’s initiative.

TOMS has pledged to donate $5 million toward ending gun violence. This is the largest single corporate donation toward gun control in U.S. history. The initiative has received an outpouring of positive press coverage and social media engagement. And as a mission-driven brand, TOMS has often led the pack insofar as social and online messaging around social good initiatives over the years. Here are three best-in-class solutions TOMS deployed for its latest campaign that communicators can apply to their own CSR messaging.

Each year, PR News benchmarks the top established PR professionals over the last year, as well as naming a shortlist of rising luminaries in the field. These accomplished communicators are celebrated at PR News’ PR People luncheon, which this year will be held Dec. 4 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. So what does it take to bring home a PR People or Rising Star award?

The practice of news-jacking, or posting about current events, has been in vogue for some years now, but festively themed posts have reached new heights—Presidential turkey pardon, anyone?—as brands race for the highest engagement around the fall and winter holidays. So who’s doing the best job on Twitter this Turkey Day? PR News took a look at some of the top Thanksgiving posts this holiday season in different industries—and what made them resonate with audiences on social media.

Just in time for the holiday season, Instagram has expanded its offerings for brands handling their e-commerce through the platform, while also giving users the ability to track how much time they spend scrolling through their feed and Stories. New shopping features include the rollout of clickable video tags, collections and a special “Shop” section for businesses selling on the platform. Meanwhile, a “Your Activity” dashboard helps users track how much time they spend perusing their friend’s posts and favorite fashion brands.

Imagine a world where your pre-coffee company tweet, sent with an accidental typo, could be edited before the world sees it. That world could be coming sooner than you think, after Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey hinted at a soon-to-come feature. Here are four elements of the change for communicators to be aware of.

Content may be king, but even top-notch content needs to be timed strategically in order to get seen. As new social platforms grow in prominence and user habits shift, it’s worth periodically evaluating your posting cadence and strategy. Here’s a handy guide to keep in your back pocket for the best posting times on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest in 2018.

Facebook has reported slow growth this quarter, most likely a result of the data leaks, fake news and hate speech the embattled platform has faced over the last two years, not to mention a saturated global user base. But in its quarterly earnings call, Mark Zuckerberg spoke to four new directions Facebook is headed, all of which will affect how communicators approach the platform. Here are some of their implications for communicators.