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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.”

Two more brands stepped into the gun control debate. Walmart, which sells arms, said it would halt sales of handguns, though it will continue offering hunting rifles and ammunition. Grocery chain Kroger, which, as far as we know, doesn’t sell guns, joined Walmart in asking customers not to carry arms in its stores. Did these brands make the right call?

Demand for public relations agencies continues to grow. But with the entire concept of strategic communications quickly evolving, the business model of the agency needs to be reassessed and, often, modernized and right-sized. Here are some considerations as a jumping off point.

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.

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.

As professional communicators, we must align common practice with the business community’s demands. If executives require information and context to determine which investments are most likely to produce viable long-term success, PR’s earned media data stream must integrate with other business data. The good news is that new ways to measure earned media are at hand.

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

Our monthly roundup of data-related items begins with a 500-person survey about PR measurement. While it’s said to be common knowledge that the amount of data is overwhelming communicators, this didn’t rate very high in the survey. Next, a FleishmanHillard report shows consumers don’t expect companies to take stands on every issue. Last, a survey debunks the notion that coverage of the 2020 elections will make it impossible for companies to tell their stories on TV.

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.