Latest Posts

The word “engagement” gets thrown around so often, it’s become nearly meaningless in the social media world. And, while most buzzwords come and go, real engagement is a long-term play. If you’re not seeing a lot of engagement from your Facebook posts, tweets or product pictures on Instagram, you may want to take another look at your long-term strategy. True audience engagement isn’t easy, and it takes a long time to see results.

We’re guessing the sudden and untimely death of Deadspin (no pun intended) as a purveyor of no-holds-barred sports and social commentary will provide a case study for business students in what not to do with a successful endeavor. This post, from PR pro Dave Dykes and PRNEWS staffer Nicole Schuman, argues that the incident also offers a bevy of PR lessons.

You’re a communicator who loves what video can do for your brand. The problem is that you’re a PR army of one. You lack the resources (budgetary and personnel) to create video. PRNEWS has gathered a trio of video experts who believe otherwise. Ahead of a Nov. 19 webinar about this topic, they share tips about how to create video as a PR soloist.

Most companies remain silent when a competitor makes news. An unorthodox approach is to seize the moment to get your company’s views and executives into the conversation. Just as important is to make sure your customers are aware that you have their best interests in mind at a time of unsettling industry news.

On November 4th, Apple announced a massive initiative intended to combat the housing crisis in California. The $2.5 billion plan not only marks a larger investment than Google’s previously announced $1 billion effort to combat the California housing crisis, but goes into much greater detail than Google’s initiative around how, exactly, those funds will be allocated. Apple’s ownership of its role in contributing to—and remedying—this crisis offers lessons for brands hoping to take on a social good program with substance.

Airbnb gives users a lot of freedom. It allows people to become entrepreneurs and host strangers in their homes. In addition, travelers can forgo expensive and occasionally bland hotels for the comforts of home, or the adventures of living as a local. But with freedom comes responsibility. After a tragic event occurred at one of its host properties, the company worked quickly to limit the PR damage.

“Be yourself.” PR pros offer that advice often. At the moment, the language espousing it has morphed to “Be authentic.” In this continuing series with IPR about learning from early failure, veteran communicator Brian Lott describes a moment in his youth that drove home the lesson of authenticity. He adheres to its tenets to this day.

On Oct. 25 Google debuted BERT, its biggest algorithm update since RankBrain in 2015. And BERT is definitely big. Google says BERT will impact one in ten search queries. In short, BERT improves Google’s understanding of language and should benefit authentic content that addresses readers’ pain points.

It’s not a secret that inboxes are forever overflowing, and journalists’ inboxes are no exception. Breaking through with your pitch to a journalist is a first step to getting coverage. As a prelude to our Dec. 12-13 Media Relations Conference in Washington, DC, we spoke with Laura Brusca, VP, corporate communications, Forbes, about pitching tips she’s learned by working with Forbes journalists.

A primer from writing guru Jonathan Rick counsels that PR pros should avoid using jargon generally, especially in headlines. He also urges that you create two headlines: one for human beings and laymen; the other for search engines and insiders.