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If you’re in charge of a brand Twitter account, the idea of using emojis has probably been floated, and probably at least one person in the room has grimaced. Sure, people use them constantly and you want to be in touch with them, but coming from a brand, emojis can seem desperately phony (see headline for verbal equivalent). But there are brands that pull it off quite well.

Earlier this year, Facebook expanded its live video service to all users, and now the social media behemoth is really throwing its weight behind the effort. A barrage of new features and functionalities is coming to the service, Facebook announced this week: reactions, going live to groups and events, live filters, live video invitations and much more embody a push to dominate live streaming.

Let’s not pretend—there are no surefire or guaranteed ways to win at the game of media relations. But there are definitely ways to improve your chances. First tip: Don’t use exclamation points in a pitch to a reporter unless you’re announcing a cure for cancer.

Veteran communicators are already comfortable navigating the ebbs and flows of a dynamic career like PR. That’s why it’s so important for young PR pros to stay on the cutting edge of the industry; not only to best serve their companies and clients, but to also secure a long and fruitful career in communications. Here are five tips that every burgeoning PR pro should keep in mind.

At PR News’ April 21 Measurement Conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Cindy Villafranca, senior specialist, communication & outreach, Southwest Airlines, will discuss the trial and error process she used to arrive at her current measurement dashboard strategy. In particular, Villafranca will talk about “socializing” dashboards, which has nothing to do with embedding social media icons in your dashboards.

Instagram arguably is the best way for visually based brands (beauty, fashion, travel, etc.) to reach women. For anyone wanting to market to women it’s an addictive form of image-based social media that should not be ignored.

Here are 10 tried-and-true tips to help you build an engaged Instagram following, from the basics to the more advanced. Think of each potential photo post as part of a whole.

Snapchat just got called up to the big leagues. The unlikely social media superstar has been on the rise for a while now, but this update shows the company is ready to acquire a larger share of the market and become one of the major players in social media. With its newest update, the company added an incredible amount of depth to its messaging offerings. By launching Chat 2.0, the company developed a social experience that looks to keep users on the platform as long as possible.

With 11 million documents under scrutiny by the world’s journalists, it seems a safe bet that more shoes will drop, perhaps implicating brands doing business in Russia, Iceland or Argentina. The question for brand communicators is what to do now? We have some answers.

Restaurants have always benefitted from the unofficial and unmeasurable—yet wildly successful—marketing technique of word of mouth, and they continue to do so, but online. Food blogs, Instagram accounts and Twitter feeds are fast replacing friends and family as the source of recommendations and inspiration for the next meal out. A big difference is that you can track and measure digital word of mouth better than ever.

When you don’t show up you risk losing your authenticity, and sometimes the trust your stakeholders have in you and your brand. When showing up, you are putting your best self forward. You are all in, whether it’s working on a project, attending a lunch with a new client, leading a meeting, listening to your colleagues, writing a report, a press release or an important email.