Stories by Hayley Jennings

On the morning of Nov. 30, Marriott announced that the data of approximately 500 million customers had been compromised by a breach of the Starwood Hotels database. Starwood became a subsidiary of Marriott when it was acquired by the hotel chain in 2016, and according to the statement on Marriott’s news site the breach has been an ongoing occurrence since 2014 but wasn’t detected until Sept. 8, 2018. The breach impacts guests who booked stays at Starwood properties on or before Sept. 10., and could be the second largest in history.

The social media landscape has shifted considerably this year and YouTube is no exception. The video platform, one of the most used among U.S. adults, recently announced changes for 2019 as a way to remain competitive. Here are three changes you can expect at YouTube in the coming year.

When it comes to search engine optimization, the way you structure the content on your own website is just as important as the links you have coming back to your page. Having top-tier copy can increase the likelihood of your brand garnering the links it needs to appear on the first page of search results. And this starts with curating your primary keywords for brand recognition and relevancy in your industry. But what happens next? Here’s how Verizon approaches keyword strategy in SEO.

Transparency is important in all areas of communication, but particularly in health care. The need for transparency has focused on consumer communications, yet a transparent internal culture is necessary to provide safe, effective care. Google’s decision to hire Dr. David Feinberg to lead its health care effort is a vote in favor of transparency.

PR professionals are in the business of influencing public opinion. But the methods around that influence have changed with the times, says Andy Cunningham, PR entrepreneur, author of “Get to Aha!” Discover Your Positioning DNA and Dominate Your Competition” and PR News’ 2018 Digital Awards Luncheon keynoter. Cunningham, who helped Steve Jobs launch the original Macintosh, shared best practices for establishing a digital footprint using memes and a special kind of content marketing in an exclusive Q&A with PR News.

Even the most adept social media professional can struggle to effectively show their C-suite why their contributions matter. But these conversations are an unfortunate reality, so here’s how you can determine which metrics are right for your brand and how to explain these metrics in a way the C-suite understands.

For many brands, Pinterest doesn’t even register on their social marketing radar. But this could be a huge mistake. Though Pinterest only has 200 million monthly active users (compared with Facebook’s more than two billion), the platform remains one of the best in terms of return on investment (ROI). So, while the reach of posts on platforms like Instagram and Twitter may be larger, Pinterest could have a bigger impact on your organization’s bottom line. Here are five tips for social marketing success on Pinterest.

As of Oct. 2018, Redditis the fifth most popular website in the United States, with a total worldwide monthly user base of more than 330 million people. So, it’s not hard to see why Reddit is known as “The Front Page of the Internet.” The quality of conversation on Reddit and the aversion to promotional content actually makes it a fantastic tool for social marketers to know what’s happening in regard to your brand and the industry at large.

Properly pitching journalists is a subtle art, especially in our rapidly changing media landscape. So how can communicators use these shifts to their advantage in their pitching strategy, instead of getting lost in the shuffle? Here are some tactics top communicators use to make sure journalists not only see their pitches, but want to write about their brands’ stories.

Since he took office, President Trump has managed to sidestep the expectations typically placed on leaders in how they present themselves to the media. Though he may receive criticism from those who disagree with his policies, he has retained ardent supporters, while many CEOs are stepping down for infractions like a flubbed statement or a poorly-handled crisis response. Trump might be an anomaly in that fashion, but he also provides some valuable insights—both positive and negative—into how communicators and their senior leaders can deal with the media.