Social Media & SEO

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.”

PR pros can learn much from the messaging of businesses, organizations and government agencies during hurricane season, from communicating in a calm, measured tone to what language should be avoided. While some may lose reception in the thick of a storm, a sound social strategy during prep and recovery can help many withstand, and, if necessary, rebuild.

To get you ready for this month’s PRNEWS webinar on Instagram storytelling, our monthly roundtable addresses recent and future Instagram features that are influencing storytelling. The respondents in this roundtable also will be speaking during the webinar.

Many communicators have added games or game-like elements to their brand messaging, including making games a significant part of internal communications. We take a deep-dive into gamification, looking at its pros and cons. Communicators need to be aware of pitfalls before they begin gamifying their messages.

Instagram is growing like a mushroom. It doubled its active monthly users during the past two years, eclipsing the 1 billion mark in 2018. On top of that it has a relatively young demographic. With our webinar

Emerging platform TikTok has seen a lot of buzz these days, and perhaps rightly so: It has added 1.2 billon users over just one year. A new shoppable hashtag campaign from Ralph Lauren is already… Continued

An internal struggle can emerge, reminiscent of impostor syndrome—the worry that everyone else has it handled but you. Deadlines and extra channels go hand in hand. How can a communicator be expected to stay on deadline when they’re constantly translating company news across multiple channels and formats, seemingly without end?

Most of the time you should just say no to Facebook, target tweets carefully and, most importantly, embrace LinkedIn and its tools. LinkedIn exists to help people and businesses connect, and an effective strategy will put your story in front of a large audience. It is best used as a platform to highlight your thought leadership, announce the good stuff you’ve got going on, and put your savvy people up front to let them shine.

Nearly everyone in PR has heard the order from someone in the C-suite: “I want to be in The NY Times or the Wall St. Journal.” Getting your story in a major outlet is not a media relations strategy. Michael Brito, an EVP at the Zeno Group, proposes a balanced media relations approach, including pitching stories to smaller publications where they may resonate better with readers. He uses data to bolster the logic of his proposal.

We know influencer marketing can provide third-party authenticity to brands. It also can raise awareness and bolster sales. On the other hand, it means allowing an outsider to be your brand ambassador and losing some degree of control. Here are three tips to reduce your anxiety when working with influencers.