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You need better and smarter ways to approach reputation management than Googling your brand’s name or your own name. Here are six questions that, if you can answer them correctly and/or honestly, will take you to the next level (however you may define a higher level). For instance, what’s your brand’s story? Can you imagine reading a short story about your company to your child at bedtime?

Remember when everyone in PR became enamored with analytics and how numbers and math would create a Moneyball across the communications landscape? While today no one disputes the fact that analytics has become a standard communications tool, it is clear that a new—and surprising—weakness in our industry has emerged: the written word.

Hurricane Matthew recently taught millions of Americans a lesson they should have long-since learned: that it is dangerous to live or work on the coast. Of course, telling coastal dwellers this is like telling Kansans that it’s dangerous to live in Tornado Ally – or a Los Angelino that it can be unhealthy to live on a fault line.

In case you’ve been studiously avoiding all forms of media surrounding the run-up to this week’s election, the atmosphere has become politically charged in the past few months. Brands are advised to raise their shields. As we noted a few weeks back, Bisquick attempted to inject gluten-laden levity into the second presidential debate, asking the Twitterverse innocuously if it would “vote” for a pancake or a waffle. Social media winced, urging Bisquick to back off on the funny stuff during such an important moment. “Get off my Twitter feed, Bisquick,” roared one disgruntled tweeter, representing the consensus.

The Chicago Cubs taught the world last week that nothing lasts forever, especially when you define forever as 108 years. And Sir Isaac Newton, well before Blood Sweat & Tears’ Spinning Wheel, said, not sang, “What goes up, must come down.”

Those two bits of knowledge explain this week’s Data Dive, where, for the first time in quite awhile, consumer engagement with U.S. B2C brands’ posts are down, according to Shareablee data provided exclusively to PR News Pro.

M&A: W2O Group early today acquired Marketeching Solutions, LLC, a research and social listening consultancy specializing in healthcare and life sciences. Founded in 2008 by Kevin Johnson, Marketeching has offices in New Hope, PA, and Philadelphia. Johnson will remain, operating Marketeching as a subsidiary of W2O. Earlier this year, Mountaingate Capital secured an investment position in W20 to propel growth through acquisitions.

So you’ve been thinking about finally getting started with a brand Snapchat account, and all of a sudden, a new competitor comes along: Instagram Stories. An admitted copycat of Snapchat, Instagram Stories seems like a platform where you could produce the same content, which would be viewed in the same way. What’s your next move? Flip a coin?

Succinct, well-written, properly formatted writing is important; not only does it mitigate any embarrassing errors that could cost your brand some dignity points, but it also will further endear you to your clients and professional contacts as someone who can produce work that won’t require more work.

A PR pitch has about eight seconds to grab a reporter’s attention before it gets ignored, marked as spam or deleted. And while the text within the pitch copy might suit a particular reporter’s beat to a T, major outlets have become increasingly reliant on video and photo content amidst the current visual-thirsty digital landscape. So, to risk being passed over for coverage, today’s PR professionals must be able to incorporate visual assets into their content. Here are four best practices for incorporating visuals into content targeted at the media.

Starbucks released a new cup design to celebrate community Nov. 1, and in a very much precedented turn of events, people are upset about it. A misperception that this is the 2016 design for Starbucks’ annual holiday cup plus a side of political baggage has made for some heated Twitter commentary.