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These summer reading recommendations for PR pros might not show you how to get your brand message through the media clutter, but they will inspire you with their storytelling qualities, humor and, in some cases, exceptional research.

For brands on Instagram, it might seem nearly impossible to compete with large corporations that can afford paid post after paid post in order to jump to the front of the line. But in reality, there are a few key ways to game the Instagram algorithm without breaking the bank.

Corporate responsibility leadership or PR spin? That’s a question the media has been pondering regarding Starbucks’ trainings to combat racial bias in its employees. The coffeeshop giant is shuttering all of its stores across the U.S. for four hours the afternoon of May 29.

With Instagram boasting 800 million active monthly users and 80% of them following brands on the platform, we asked communicators for best practices for being successful on the graphic-based platform. They told us carefully picked influencers and attention to creating consistent visuals are critical.

A pair of major PR firms are taking a page from the playbook of consulting firms, offering clients easier paths to a variety of expertise. Weber Shandwick is launching a unit that will consult to brands about corporate culture. On its 90th birthday Ketchum is promising to encircle clients with 14 industrial specialities as well as the traditional PR communications offerings.

Elon Musk and Bill Gates have roughly the same number of social followers and posted nearly the same amount of content in Q1 2018. Yet each of Musk’s posts generated an incredible 266,000 consumer engagements, propelling him to the top of the quarter’s Business influencers’ list. Gates’ posts did well, at about 18,000 consumer engagements each.

What data do consumers value most? Another way of asking that question: What pieces of information about themselves are consumers least concerned about sharing with brands? A survey provides some surprising answers.

Hardly anyone is suggesting abandoning the internet, though it’s probably not a bad thing for communicators and marketers, whose professional lives often revolve around digital communications, to appreciate a declining number of people see the internet as a good thing for society. The findings of a Pew poll might be more marked had it been conducted after Facebook-Cambridge Analytica come to light.

Watching the political scene can provide PR pros with a tuition-free course in media relations, argues veteran communicator Arthur Solomon. His 2017 columns about political communicators’ missteps were some of our most popular. He’s back with more lessons from the first half of the 2018 political season, including this gem: If you crave loyalty at work, bring your dog to the office.

How can communicators on social break through the timeline to create branded content that doesn’t feel forced or fake, but instead is fresh and fun—all while maintaining the organization’s voice? Arby’s tackled this problem by leveraging one of the greatest forces on the internet today: nerd culture.