PR Insiders

Five communications veterans were inducted into the PR Hall of Fame at PR News’ 2017 PR People Awards luncheon on Dec. 5 at the historic National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Entry into the PR Hall of Fame is PR News’ highest honor: Inductees are PR professionals who have played longtime leadership roles, serving as sources of inspiration within and beyond the workplace, and helping to redefine and expand the roles communicators play.

In a profession that demands new skills for an ever-expanding set of digital and analytics tools, the next generation of communicators will be need to be equal parts storyteller and data scientist. And both of those sides were on full display as a fresh class of young communicators were honored as Rising Stars at the PR News’ 2017 PR People Awards Luncheon on Dec. 5 at the historic National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

With U.S. consumers spending up to 5 hours daily on mobile devices, social media usage patterns are a goldmine for marketers. Yet social media alone is not enough. Shoppers are more than their mobile Facebook or Twitter profiles. Other sources should be added to social media data, our author argues and provides 3 easy steps to augment consumer insights to create more data-driven, research-backed campaigns.

Communications executives have begun in earnest to make their way into boardrooms, C-suite meetings and the critical business conversations at their organizations. But the pace is not fast enough and the courage of their convictions… Continued

Communications executives have begun in earnest to make their way into boardrooms, C-suite meetings and the critical business conversations at their organizations. But the pace is not fast enough and the courage of their convictions not always on display. You could even say: “PR people need to get a spine.”

Letters, digital or sent via U.S. mail, are likely to make direct contact with customers. It’s important, then, to be certain they reflect your brand’s well-crafted messages. We offer many tips on how to make such letters more effective, but most important is that they burnish your company’s reputation with all stakeholders.

With the firings of Charlie Rose, Matt Lauer and Garrison Keillor, the face of crisis PR has been changed, for the moment at least. When your client is fired before he can even say, “I need crisis PR,” what’s left for crisis PR people to do? On the other hand, perhaps all these men still need crisis PR. Look at Charlie Rose, who was ambushed on the street and gave a very inappropriate response to a question.

Is your company adding to the problem of content pollution? It is if the stories and video you produce fail to engage their intended audiences. Of course, should you avoid measuring for engagement and share of voice, for example, you’ll never really know whether or not your content is resonating. Fortunately, measuring is easily done today. The hard part is stepping out of your comfort zone, abandoning flawed vanity metrics and aligning measurement with goals and targeted audiences.

Measurement is said to be PR’s albatross. Heck, many PR pros entered the field specifically so they could avoid working with numbers. Fortunately, measuring and mining data for PR insights are far less complicated operations than measurement naysayers would have you believe. Advocating for measurement programs, our author says you can begin a measurement effort simply and inexpensively.

At the PR People Awards luncheon, which will be held Dec. 5 at the historic National Press Club in Washington, D.C., PR News will announce the winners of categories such as Crisis Manager of the Year, Digital Leader of the Year, Marketer of the Year, PR Intern of the Year and Media Relations Professional of the Year, among others. And as we celebrate these champions, we’ll also raise a glass for the future and shine a spotlight on the 2017 Rising PR Stars.