Topics

When people came up for air last week long enough to discuss something other than the tribulations of Misters Comey and Trump, a few of them spoke about Apple’s new HomePod. That was our cue to ask communicators if their brands are invested in voice activation. We also wondered if it’s time for communicators to begin making significant investments in voice activation.

Few brands are enjoying more success on social media than Taco Bell. We asked Taco Bell’s social media and brand engagement manager Matt Prince to let us in on some of the secrets and best practices he uses. Rule number one: Know your audience and where it lives. Two: Talk with fans as if they were friends of yours. And drop the jargon, corporate-speak and promotional content.

Former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony to an open session of the Senate Intelligence Committee June 8 was hotly anticipated, to say the least. It was a true high-stakes test of how Comey would bear up under pressure. Most would agree: The man makes a good impression. If you work with spokespeople who are going to have some major questions thrown at them, the morning’s proceedings contain several lessons. Have your media trainee watch the footage, and give them this advice.

Size matters in some things, but not all. Steph Curry is proving that. As Shonduras said during the sold-out Social Shake-Up Show recently, brands can be successful by deploying micro-influencers who have small but highly engaged followers. Speaking of size, small, media and even large brands are taking to micro-influencers. Here’s how three of them are doing it.

Your brand launched an Instagram account and built a following, but your engagement and audience growth has plateaued. So, now what? To spark fresh interest in the platform, Noah Champion Buck, executive director of Los Angeles-based Wagstaff Digital, says it’s crucial to pair a data-based approach with ingenuity and experimentation. Buck shared six steps toward crafting more tactical and inventive Instagram content.

Ben Aronson, social media and digital director at Adams & Knight, argues that completion rate is the single metric that you should pay the most attention to, because it is the clearest way to tell how engaged your audience is. After all, if your video gets lots of shares but people are only watching the first few seconds, your message isn’t really getting across. Aronson gives the following tips to power up your completion rates and other metrics.

Usually Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WDC) is a no-brainer, page 1 story. That it’s been relegated to the business section in some sites and newspapers this week is a reflection of the severity of global news… Continued

Many people are talking about Apple’s HomePod, the monolithic and intelligent home speaker the brand unveiled at its Worldwide Developers Conference June 5. With an enviable acoustic and its ability to answer questions about music (“Who’s the guitar player on this track?”), HomePod ($349) can be a nice addition to the home. What about its significance for PR & communications? Maybe that comes down the road. For something from Apple that might have a more immediate meaning for communicators, you need to look at another announcement it made.

Aflac is among the most diverse companies in America. In fact, its workforce is comprised of a high percentage of both women (67 percent) and minorities (40 percent). In addition to employer-sponsored health care benefits… Continued

At the heart of Adobe’s core values lies the belief that groundbreaking ideas come from everywhere in the company and that Adobe’s people are its greatest asset. The company offers a variety of benefits to… Continued