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A salesperson, a PR manager and a marketer walk into a bar…or so your bottom line wishes. The birth of social media forced organizations to draw up new business strategies to stay competitive in the digital space. And so they did—one department at a time. Ask a salesperson what their social strategy is, or even what social media means to her profit goals and she will probably give you a completely different answer than the PR or marketing manager within the same organization. So how can you build a truly integrated communications team? By following these three steps.

Why does a 27-year-old athlete without a college education know that the best way to head off a potential PR crisis is to be honest, while highly experienced CEOs and heads of multinational corporations, who’ve… Continued

It’s not a question for the ages, but it’s a head-scratcher. Why does a 27-year-old athlete without a college education know that the best way to head off a potential PR crisis is to be honest, while highly experienced CEOs and heads of multinational corporations, who’ve had the benefit of media training, fail to learn this lesson?

What enables some customer communities to be financially productive while others remain a cost center? In the research study “The Business Impact of Online Communities,” we found that almost half (49%) of community leaders report revenue gains from their online community. This is an exciting proof-point, but it warranted further investigation. So, we analyzed the data to identify the winning conditions of the top communities and identified three key steps toward a better ROI.

It can be hard for someone who works in public relations or communications to admit that they’re not that great at schmoozing. It would seem that these things go hand in hand, but striking up a face-to-face conversation with a stranger is its own skill set, and we aren’t all naturals. If you’re attending a professional event, you should make the most of your time there, as with any other aspect of your working life. Being a wallflower won’t move the needle, so keep the following four things in mind and do the accompanying exercises to set yourself up for success.

Two weeks after United’s reputation, and stock price, took a hit after airline security forcibly removed Dr. David Dao from a flight, it was American’s turn to deal with a passenger crisis. On April 21, a young mother was reduced to tears during an argument with attendants. The incident—which included a fellow passenger nearly getting into a physical altercation with an attendant—was captured on video and quickly went viral. But unlike United’s response, American quickly apologized, suspended the attendant and didn’t blame the victim.

As we know, communications has changed greatly with the rise of social media. It’s the same with crisis management, argues Daniela Peting of Motorola Solutions. Several maxims for crisis management from the pre-digital days may not work as well in the digital era. In fact, they could do more damage than good. Peting explains how listening via social media can benefit your crisis management experience.

How can brands that supposedly lack a visual element create community and engagement on Instagram? One way is to expand the kind of content the brand provides. For example, ForRent.com at its essence is a large search engine for those seeking apartments and homes. On Instagram, though, it offers content about home decorating, entertaining, recipes, fitness and more, its AVP for social explains.

How do you create the perfect dashboard? Does such a thing exist? And if so, will it change your life as a communicator? Probably not, Katie Paine of Paine Publishing and Johna Burke of BurrellesLuce say during PR News’ Measurement Conference in Washington, D.C. Dashboards can make your life easier and should, but they’re not the silver bullets of PR. The human element and the insights you can glean from dashboard are far more important, they say.

Twenty-six words. That’s all it took for 21st Century Fox to announce star host Bill O’Reilly’s departure from Fox News on April 19: “After a thorough and careful review of the allegations, the company and Bill O’Reilly have agreed that Bill O’Reilly will not be returning to the Fox News Channel.”