Social Media & SEO

The global vice chair of Hill+Knowlton Strategies, Peter Zandan, PhD, argues that communicators must self-police themselves or risk the weaponizing of communications.

How can senior executives establish themselves as thought leaders via social media? Authenticity, transparency and timeliness are crucial, says Dominique Scott of APCO, who offers a four-point plan designed to launch a successful thought leadership effort.

The Fraudnomics Summit last month in NYC made one of its goals eliminating the estimated $1.3 billion in influence marketing fraud. Unilever N America’s Casey DePalma McCartney told us communicators must think long term and holistically about the influencer ecosystem.

Are you up-to-date on the biggest brand players on social media? Take this quiz to find out.

Social media has made listening easy, right? Not so fast. There’s listening and then there’s critical listening. It’s not hard to figure out which kind is more advantageous for communicators. Tips and thoughts about listening will help your career blossom.

The privilege of pulling the data can sometimes cost thousands of dollars. With top-flight offerings requiring a significant buy-in, it’s easy to believe that SEO requires deep pockets. With a little effort, what’s freely available online can give you the same results as the heavy hitters in the industry. The expensive tools will do all the analysis for you, taking all the disparate data points presenting them in one place. But if you’re willing to do the work, you can avoid the big spend.

Anything can be politicized, however, it takes a very serious turn when the safety of people is at stake. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, home of the National Weather Service, continues to be at odds following a tumultuous week with the White House on the communication of disinformation regarding Hurricane Dorian and the state of Alabama.

With the continual introduction of new platforms and instant response, management and moderation becomes a key skill for any brand. Contrary to popular belief, the titles social media manager and community manager are not interchangeable. Both work towards the positive promotion of a brand underneath the direction of the marketing department, but the similarities really stop there.

Trying to plan out or refurbish a social strategy can seem overwhelming. Gone are the days where brands can set and forget a strategy for a year. A social plan evolves with not only brand changes and promotions, but also platform innovations and announcements. Before you sit down and decide on content and where to post that content, you need to take a look at the intended audience and goals.

Instagram is growing like a social media mushroom, doubling its monthly active users in two years and eclipsing the 1 billion mark last year. The picture-centered channel also is constantly adding features. We asked several Instagram users about some of their favorite new features. In addition, we asked about features they’d like to see on Instagram in the future. Three of the speakers will be featured on the Sept. 19 PRNEWS webinar, “How to Use Visual Storytelling on Instagram to Build New Audiences.”