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The news release is not dead. Even in the constantly evolving digital age, a news release is one of the best ways to disseminate a message. It’s also a great vehicle to reach media contacts. A news release for social media and one for traditional news media are different, however. To reach an online audience, releases need to be social. By being so, the release can be shared in various communities by people beyond media contacts. Journalists, bloggers or social media users who work mostly online prefer a news release containing embedded video, audio files, images and links. Links to social news releases can be sent via email to a reporter or tweeted to an audience.

In previous editions, we’ve noted engagement with brands’ social posts on Facebook in Q3 has been modest or even down (see PRNP, Nov. 7 & 21, for example). The thinking then was brands were investing more effort in other social channels, such as Instagram. Data for U.S. B2B brands in Q3 (July 1 – Sept. 30) on Instagram, provided exclusively to PR News Pro by Shareablee, proves the point. Total consumer actions, or engagement, with B2B brands posts on Instagram increased a whopping 80% compared to Q2 2015. Engagement with photos grew a modest 4%, yet video engagement grew a healthy 74%. Actions are defined here as the sum of reactions and comments.

Among the keys to a successful Snapchat effort is an editorial calendar, says Larissa von Lockner, PR & social media manager at PwC. A sample of the brand’s editorial calendar for Snapchat is shared exclusively with PR News Pro readers below. PwC’s belief that using Snapchat must track with a brand’s larger PR and business goals is seen in columns 2, 3 and 5, as the campaign, stakeholders/requestors and strategy are listed.

As the year draws to an end, there are many lessons that young PR people should have learned from 2016 news reports that can apply to our business. Here’s a look back at the learning moments of the year that sprang from the headlines.

Developing a brand message can be difficult. It can be even more difficult to ensure that your message stays consistent across all channels, both internally and externally. And when you have a crisis on your hands, and don’t have the luxury of a great deal of time in which to craft messages that address the crisis, that can be more difficult still.

“Finding the right influencer is like dating,” says John Walls, director, brand PR, luxury & lifestyle brands, Hilton Worldwide, who’s newly married. Agrees APCO Worldwide managing director Lisa Osborne Ross, “[Beginning a relationship with an influencer] is like starting any relationship…etiquette is etiquette…[and the relationship] really clicks when each side has something to offer…I’ve been married for 28 years…I’m very clear what my husband offers and what I offer,” Osborne Ross says in deadpan gest.

Taco Bell is often held up as a brand that knows what it’s doing on social media. Before you follow Taco Bell on Snapchat and steal its ideas, take a look inward. Are burritos and… Continued

If you’re with a B2B company, professional association or government agency, finding your visual identity for Instagram and Snapchat, for instance, might be the subject of weekly, or daily, meetings. These meetings might have proved fruitless. Keep in mind your visual identity can be as simple as a single color. Is there one color that dominates your logo or calls to mind an emotional connection with your product or service?

Given Snapchat’s reputation as the new kid on the social media block, it’s no surprise that Snap Inc. continues to add new features to the platform, even as its competitors develop and release copycat interfaces. At PR News’ Snapchat Boot Camp Dec. 7 at the National Press Club, Larissa von Lockner, PR and social media manager at PwC, and Megan Frantz, senior producer at The Shorty Awards, shared the most recent updates PR professionals should know about—and how best to use them.

The dedicated PR and communications professionals behind the best PR and marketing campaigns of the past year were honored on Dec. 6, 2016, at PR News’ Winter Awards luncheon, held at the historic National Press Club in Washington, D.C. At the luncheon PR News announced the winners of its 2016 PR People Awards in categories that included Brand Marketer of the Year, Spokesperson of the Year, Social Media Professional of the Year, Intern of the Year and Public Affairs Professional of the Year, among others.