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How Cisco found social media ambassadors among its employees and empowered them to tell its story on Snapchat. The author argues that allowing employees to be authentic will pay large dividends.

When it comes to visual storytelling, it certainly helps if your brand is associated with a product that literally makes people salivate. Since Margaret Coleman, director of digital platforms with Certified Angus Beef, will be a featured speaker on the topic of Instagram at the PR News Digital Summit, February 24 in Huntington Beach, California, we decided to take a look at a few posts from the brand’s Instagram account to see how she works her savory magic.

Professional communicators give, give, give on behalf of their brand and their brand’s audience. Little time is left over for asking themselves the WIIFM question. How often do they focus their communications skills on building their own public profile and enhancing their own reputation? What are they doing to make influencers of themselves, and would they know where to start?

When Northrop Grumman began posting to Instagram, it wasn’t quite sure what would resonate. The global aerospace and defense technology company made the initial mistake—as many brands do—of pushing out self-serving content, viewing the platform as another method to showcase pictures of its aircraft, spacecraft and radar systems. But as it dove deeper into Instagram, the company realized the platform could be much more than just a repository of slick product pictures.

If you’re trapped at the airport or at home in the first (and hopefully last) blizzard of 2017, PR News has you covered with reading material: These sunny influencer tips from the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board will have you thinking of warmer days in no time. Bill Karz, vice president of digital marketing at L.A. Tourism and Convention Board, shares influencer tactics as a sneak peak of his session at PR News’ Digital Summit, Feb. 24 in Huntington Beach, CA.

Instagram and Snapchat feature Stories, which gives users the ability to post (and view) ephemeral photos or videos that can be viewed for up to 24 hours. This is a fairly recent for Instagram—it took hold in fall 2016. Fast forward a few months, and users and brands have had time to play with both apps, gauging which (if either) is a useful tool to reach fans and customers. With two strikingly similar options, which is best for your brand?

Online communities can deliver a richly rewarding experience for the organizations that create them and the members who participate in them. But as more B2B customer communities crop up, how is this space evolving? Here are seven key trends our research uncovered.

The top social platforms see upward of 22 billion video views per day.That number is expected to climb this year. PR pros who haven’t yet integrated video into their campaign strategy are likely missing out on reaching significant portions of their audiences. But that doesn’t mean they should jump into video without a solid game plan or expect to go viral on their first attempt.

None of the brands behind the most-talked-about Super Bowl ads (Budweiser, Mr. Clean, Skittles, Kia, Audi), took to Twitter and Facebook the morning after the Big Game when the water-cooler chatter was in full swing. Why?

Brand reputation is built on the public’s critical judgment, pro and con. And that feedback is coming from every direction, posted as comments and star ratings on review websites that have a big influence on potential customers. As most things are with the internet, online review sites are double-edged swords. Positive ratings slice through advertising and SEO clutter to bring new customers and life to your enterprise. But credible-sounding negative reviews can cut the heart out of your marketing effort before prospective clients have a chance to learn anything about you directly.