Stories by Sophie Maerowitz

New Hurricane Harvey-related public health concerns arose Aug. 31 when two explosions were reported at a chemical plant in Crosby, TX, about 25 miles outside of Houston. The plant, owned by French chemical company Arkema, lost power on Aug. 26 as a result of Harvey’s floods. Here are five ways Arkema’s communications team has responded to the crisis so far.

If you’re a Snapchat aficionado, you’ve probably heard of Julieanna (“Julz”) Goddard, better known as YesJulz to her followers. The agency founder and philanthropist has earned her social media stripes by growing a sizable Snapchat and Instagram following, and covering live music and events. We talked to Julz to find out more about her approach to social media, how brands can work with their ambassadors to merge philanthropy with influencer marketing and how her childhood camcorder sparked a life of digital influence.

Swipe, skip or scroll, audiences are increasingly dismissing advertisements on Instagram. Many users take to the platform primarily to promote their individual interests, and smart brands must think about how to give audiences the spotlight rather than the other way around. Here are five ways communicators can use the tactic to convert Instagram audiences into content heroes.

When a crisis breaks, users inevitably Google the brand in question (or, for smaller brands, look them up on Yelp). But the last thing communicators want is negative headlines or reviews topping the list of search results for their brand. Here are five ways to make SEO an integral and immediate strategy when developing a crisis management campaign or handling Yelp customer reviews.

This season, you’ll find your Trending tab awash in bizarre holidays like National Watermelon Day (Aug. 3), National Lazy Day (Aug. 10) and National I LOVE My Feet Day! (Aug. 17). We took a look at three brands in different verticals who saw high engagement around their #NationalWatermelonDay posts, and pinpointed how each contender entered the conversation in a relevant way.

Pop-up ads, TV commercials, ad-blocker-blockers, sponsored posts: How many of these messages have annoyed you in the past day alone? Consumers are faced with interruptive marketing tactics at every turn, and the fierce resistance to this messaging bombardment is a common barrier for many brands—maybe even yours. In his book “Friction: Passion Brands in the Age of Disruption,” Jeff Rosenblum argues that it’s imperative for brands to escape such “Mad Men”-era aggressive marketing and find a new way to stand out, build loyalty and win evangelists.

In the 24 hours following statements made by President Trump and the Department of Justice that could endanger the civil rights of LGBT Americans, the ACLU rapidly established itself as the dominant counterpoint in the media narrative, and deployed successful calls to action from organizing rallies to soliciting followers’ questions and concerns, which were addressed by ACLU lawyers in a live stream that garnered thousands of views and shares.

LinkedIn is set to unroll its native video feature in coming months, so now’s a good time to get familiar with LinkedIn video’s upload process and capabilities. Tatiana De Almeida, a PR manager on LinkedIn’s corporate communications team, shared a 3-step guide to help communicators integrate LinkedIn video into their mobile workflow once the feature is rolled out, as well as 4 potential applications of LinkedIn video for communicators to keep in mind.

It may be a little late to the party, but with its upcoming native video feature, LinkedIn is poised to provide brand communicators with a new way to capture attention on the platform. PR News asked Tatiana De Almeida, a member of LinkedIn’s corporate communications team, about LinkedIn video’s likely applications for professional communicators, how to measure its success and how it’s unique among video features on other social platforms.

Measuring reach on Facebook has become far more complex than simply using one metric to count how many people witnessed a piece of content. A mix of different KPIs must be considered in tandem to determine where, how and why users are seeing (or not seeing) your brand’s Facebook content, according to Karen Vega, senior director of social media activations and earned media at Viacom Velocity.