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Just as communicators are starting to ‘get’ millennials, there’s a follow-on cohort, Generation Z. While there’s debate about the age range of Gen Z, we’ll define it here as those born from 1995 to now, meaning anyone 21 or younger. As a communicator you can think of Gen Z-ers as the poor man’s millennials and treat them as you did their predecessors. This is a mistake. It’s better to see them as young evolutionaries. Of the characteristics that will influence how brands interact with this group, the most important may be Gen Z’s sway over family spending (more on this below). These toddlers, tweens and teens represent 28% of the population. In four years this is expected to be 40%. While the implications for communicators are clear, a paradigm shift makes Gen Z’s influence even greater. Unlike their predecessors, they have more sway over not just their piggy bank but family spending. It started with putting Gen Z in the driver’s seat for low-stakes purchases and has evolved into many Gen Z-ers making family decisions for tech devices, vacation and cars. In terms of back-to-school buying, a 2015 National Retail Federation survey found 10% of parents admit their children influence 100% of what they buy, up from 8% in 2014.

Chalk up the lack of media buzz around Instagram to the vagaries of our what-have-you-done-for-me-lately digital media world.

Writing—and the rules associated with it—is, without a doubt, one of the most-argued-about tasks for any public relations professional. Between obeying basic grammar expectations, observing the rules of AP style and adapting it all for individual client preferences, writing press releases and other material can be a bit confusing. Some rules should always be followed. Here are a few that can (and often, should) be broken.

Securing that coveted top ranking in search results requires equal parts art and science. Search companies are constantly changing and updating their algorithms, and recently they’ve been favoring quality content over quantity of content and keyword stuffing. To rank well your content has to first be good, and then be optimized.

Beleaguered, embattled PR pros have been trying hard to keep up with all the updates from Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, YouTube and more, but it may be time to monitor another blip on the radar: Tumblr. On July 26, the microblogging/social networking platform announced it would introduce ads “so that later this year people can start making money from their blogs.”

Navigating the various social media platforms can be a little like traveling the globe. Each network has its own individual customs, languages and culture. If you want to thrive in such strange and often disparate arenas, you’re going to have to approach each social space on its own terms. Just as every traveler needs a pocket dictionary to help fumble through choppy conversations in a foreign tongue, myclever Agency created an infographic that should serve as a helpful reference for communicators who navigate the wide world of posting on social media.

In a situation where the reader automatically deletes messages from unknown senders, then nothing will help you get read. In other scenarios, well-crafted subject lines are crucial to get readers to at least open your message. At that point “the key,” says Sheri Johnson, president of Morningstar Communications, “lies in creating personalized, relevant content delivered at the right time to fit your prospects’ needs.”

As communications professionals, we must make sure the connection between PR and the customer service department is solid, guaranteeing that when the rare but potentially inflammatory incident occurs, all possible reputational ramifications are addressed.

Ten years ago, Yahoo and AOL were cutthroat competitors for search engine and web portal dominance. Today, however, Yahoo’s unexpected PR savior in the post-sale fallout has been AOL’s CEO Tim Armstrong, who, having recently sold his own company to Verizon, has taken the opportunity to spin the Verizon acquisition as a merger of two user bases and an opportunity for digital advertising sales, refuting the media’s portrayal of Verizon’s opportunistic seizing of a sinking ship.

Although DNC officials are bound by the rules of their own party to remain neutral in the primary contests, the leaked emails show some of them discussing how to undermine the campaign of Bernie Sanders in favor of Hillary Clinton. Among the more objectionable content were suggestions to question his religious beliefs and raise questions about whether he is an atheist.