Social Media & SEO

With the start of the year, social media platforms released features that should help communicators with planning for these tools. In addition, Facebook offered users a tool that allows them to see and delete data other companies have collected based on interactions with those brands. It’s far from certain how many users will use the tool.

A decade ago there were fewer than one billion social network users. Last month, that number was 5.2 billion. And their expectations and the number of platforms they use are rising. One expectation is that they can shop instantly from any piece of content. Hence, the rise of shoppable posts, blending e-commerce and content. PR has a large role to play in this trend.

The hunt for the perfect influencer usually starts with seeking out those social media accounts that can increase reach, raise awareness, build engagement and drive business results (sales, donations, conversions, etc.) for your organization. This means pinpointing the influencers who stand out among billions of users; true digital denizens capable of adjusting to ever-changing social media platform algorithms. It also means attracting the right influencers to your brand, and ensuring they yield a strong return on investment.

One of the complexities of PR crises is ensuring that, aside from crisis response, the company’s day-to-day work continues. Sometimes, though, normal work flow becomes the problem. For example, regularly scheduled social content posted during a crisis, or immediately after, can become a tone-deaf disaster. That’s why a social media pause button can help immensely.

For several years, marketers and communicators have feared the damage done to the brands and public figures they represent via the propagation of “deepfakes,” videos and photos that use the assistance of machine learning technology to replace faces and objects with false, but realistic, images. As fake news and misinformation continue to plague online discourse, Facebook says it has taken a significant step to deter the spread of doctored video and photos.

We’ve never experienced an economic recession in a heavily connected world. It might look very different from earlier downturns. And it might turn out that influencers, who can provide relatively low-cost content that connects authentically with audiences, will be an asset during a recession, argues Kaitlyn Hieb, a strategist at R/GA, a consultancy.

Plenty of PR pros have made predictions for the year ahead. We go farther. As we embark into a new decade of opportunities, what will PR look like in 2030? A trio of brave PR prognosticators looks 10 years hence. In spite of huge technological change, at least one PR pro sees relationships maintaining their importance in 2030.

With PR increasingly becoming a strategic asset to business, CMOs and their teams need to augment their skillset to keep pace with the newest trends and technologies, Page’s new chair Charlene Wheeless argues. During an interview with PRNEWS prior to starting her tenure, Wheeless said she envisions “a powerful new opportunity for CCOs to be relevant, central leaders in transformation.” Page will respond with new skills and leadership training, she said.

Sure, Twitter has a relatively new 280-character limit. But just because Twitter doubled its 140-character limit doesn’t mean you should use all of them. So what’s the ideal length of a tweet? A hashtag? How else can you make your tweets more readable and engaging? Let’s look at the research.

It’s not easy to admit that your communications effort is not all it could be. Sometimes the culprit is failing to keep up with communications technology. It takes courage to admit you’re behind. Funds and teamwork are need to catch up. Here’s how Cleveland Clinic’s PR team remedied the situation it found itself in a few years back.