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Generative AI is everywhere now. You see it in content, campaigns, customer experiences, and even internal workflows. It promises speed, scale, and efficiency, but there’s a harder question sitting underneath all that progress; Do your audiences actually trust it?

Trust in the Age of AI: What Consumers Really Think About AI Generated Content

Today, PR teams aren’t just tracking media coverage and share of voice. They’re also measuring how their brand shows up in AI-generated answers, search summaries, and large language models (LLMs). This new LLM visibility layer is quickly becoming a critical part of PR performance.

15 Must-Have PR KPIs and How to Track Them

See how one platform can power every decision across PR, communications, and marketing.

The Meltwater Blog

Blog Topics: Generative Engine Optimization, Media Intelligence, Media Relations, Social Listening, Consumer Intelligence, Influencer Marketing

Find out how you can leverage Facebook to boost your brand's online presence and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

Facebook Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage Instagram to boost your brand's visual appeal and gain a competitive edge. Explore our category page today!

Instagram Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage LinkedIN to grow your professional network and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

LinkedIn Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage TikTok to elevate your brand with creative content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

TikTok Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage X / Twitter to engage your audience effectively and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

X / Twitter Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage YouTube to create engaging video content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

YouTube Blog | Meltwater

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is transforming how brands show up in AI-powered search. Explore insights, strategies, and best practices to help your content rank and resonate across conversational engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot.

Explore insights and strategies for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) to help your brand stay visible and discoverable in AI-powered search.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Blog Collection | Meltwater

Every day billions of conversations take place on social media: tweets, posts, comments, blogs, reviews, podcasts, and much more.
Learn how to use social listening to make sense of all of that data.

On our social listening category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around social listening and social media monitoring. Read more.

Social Listening Blogs | Category

Business Reputation Management: What does it take to add reputation management to your marketing strategy? More importantly, how do you keep your reputation sparkly and shiny? Here’s your all-access guide to online reputation management for the long term.

On our reputation management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around business reputation management. Read more.

Reputation Management Blogs | Category

From your brand's logo to your website, your social media presence to your customer support—these elements combined are what constitutes a brand in the minds of customers. But, there are thousands of other businesses that have a logo, website, social media presence, and website. So, how can you position your business on the market and make it stand out from the competition?
The key to success is branding & brand management!

On our brand management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around brand management. Build your strategy and reach your goals!

Brand Management Blogs | Category

Competitive intelligence and the act of collecting competitive data can be seen as growth drivers for a company. Our guide will help you understand the concept of competitive intelligence (CI) by answering questions such as: What is the definition of competitive intelligence? How is competitive intelligence useful to organizations? What is the goal of competitive intelligence? And more.

On our competitive intelligence category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around competitive intelligence. Learn how to stay ahead.

Competitive Intelligence Blogs | Category

Let’s dive into the customer journey framework and how to optimize the process by creating a customer journey map and using metrics that matter when analyzing the customer journey.

On our customer journey category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Customer Journey Blogs | Category

What Is Data Analytics? [Beginner’s Guide 2023]
How can I grow my business? 
How do customers interact with my newly launched product?
How do I increase the productivity of my employees?
How do I know if my marketing efforts are working?
We have just two words for you...Data analytics!

On our data analytics category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around AI and data analytics. Technical and still easy to understand.

AI & Data Analytics Blogs | Category

Public relations and media relations can add impact to any marketing strategy. It’s an opportunity for brands to grow their reach beyond traditional sales messages. PR helps to shape the image you want people to have of your brand.
So, what is PR and how do you use it? This guide shows you everything you need to know to build a strong public relations foundation.

On our public relations (PR) category page, you find all our blogs covering public relations and communications topics. Step up your PR game.

Public Relations (PR) Blogs | Category

We all know exactly what the roles of sales or accounting are in a company, right? We might even have a slight idea of what the IT guys are doing.
But there is another business discipline, that plays a crucial role in organizations, even more so during the pandemic – internal communications!
But what exactly do we mean by that, what purpose does it serve and what steps can you take to ensure you and your employees will communicate effectively?

On our internal communications category page, you find all our blogs about internal comms topics. Learn about the intranet, internal newsletters, and more.

Internal Communications Blogs | Category

As the internet has taken root in more areas of our lives — everything from entertainment to shopping to paying bills and more — traditional marketing is becoming less impactful. As any marketer knows, you need to focus on where your audience is if you want to reach them. Since the average person spends about seven hours a day online, it’s no surprise that content has maintained its hold on marketers.

Here's a closer look at what content marketing is and why it matters more than ever in our digital-first economy.

On our content marketing category page, you find blogs about content marketing topics. Learn about strategies, KPIs, tips, and more. Make your content king!

Content Marketing Blogs | Category

The rise of the influencer marketing space – today a $10 billion industry, growing 50% per year – is one of the clearest examples of how social media is transforming traditional marketing. These days having a business website, presence on social, PR coverage, and your own content isn’t enough to compete.
We'll dive into the intricacies of influencer marketing to help ensure that you're equipped with the insights needed to be successful in this space.

On our influencer marketing category page, you find blogs about influencer marketing topics. Build your strategy, find influencers, and measure results.

Influencer Marketing Blogs | Category

Have you just launched a new product or service that you want to get the word out about? Maybe you want to share with consumers why it is awesome and how it is so much better than the one your competitors offer.

Well, then, there is one thing you can't do without...Marketing!

On our marketing category page, you find blogs about marketing topics. Learn about all the different angles and types of marketing and improve your results.

Marketing Blogs | Category

In this guide, we want to give you a peek into the definition of social media management, the daily schedule of a social media manager, social media platforms to promote your business, and the do’s & don’ts of social media management.
Are you ready to begin the journey of becoming a social media superstar?

On our social media management category page, you find blogs about social media management topics. Build and manage your online community.

Social Media Management Blogs | Category

Building a following and using social media platforms to reach a wider audience requires a well-planned social media marketing strategy. In this guide, we’ll be looking at why social media marketing is so essential and how you can make it work for your business.

On our social media marketing category page, you find blogs about social media marketing topics. Learn how to get the highest paid social ROI!

Social Media Marketing Blogs | Category

In the fast-evolving realm of digital marketing and public relations, utilizing the right tools is crucial for success. Our interdisciplinary category showcases all the pertinent tools for digital marketing & PR. These tools help in enhancing your online presence and effectively reaching target groups, whether through reputation management, influencer marketing, or social media management.

On our digital marketing and PR tools category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Digital Marketing & PR Tools Blogs | Category

So, the professional conference season is upon us! Once you’ve decided to go to a conference and have your travel set, what do you do to get yourself ready?

A PR and content marketing team has specific objectives at each PR conference, but in prepping, I realize that there’s a lot of pre-planning and strategy involved. Along with lots of learning and networking, conference goals including producing quality content, and having a well thought out process will be essential for fitting everything in.

A recent report by event software company Bizzabo says 85 percent of marketers cite event production as “essential” to their marketing strategies, while 41 percent consider event marketing the most crucial channel to achieve their goals. Two-thirds surveyed say they plan to increase spending on live events in 2019.

As more organizations look to live events to boost the bottom line, they’re also looking to their PR teams to help get the word out to improve visibility and drive attendance.

Events allow face-to-face interaction with prospects, helping them establish a more personal relationship with brands. And they can get feedback in real-time – versus waiting for customers to try the product and share comments, which may never happen.

“For instance, intimate VIP events may help to win new customers, while thought leadership and networking events may help to increase brand awareness, and awards ceremonies may help to generate revenue from ticket sales and sponsors,” says Bizzabo.

Given this rise in live events, how can PR pros help brands make the most of these opportunities?

4 Ways to Use PR & Content Marketing for Events 

Use press releases to create buzz. These can be written in advance and pitched to relevant publications, posted on your website and social media, and issued on wire services.

“What doesn’t work is writing the same old press release for the event,” says Vannessa Wade, Founder, Connect The Dots PR. “Add flare. Talk about the event with excitement. Have a clear call to action.”

“Whenever possible I try to connect client events to a local community conversation or a trend,” says Olivia Adams, communications strategist, Byrum & Fisk. “This makes media advisories, press releases, pitches, and social media content all that more relevant and impactful when the event is connected to a bigger conversation.”

In addition to press releases, invite media to attend and cover the event. Post the event to local listings and event calendars.

Leverage event headliners in your PR efforts. Set up an interview with them before the event so you can create a press release or blog post. Beyond that, pitch an interview with them to local media. Then, share the articles that result on social media and the event landing page.

Beyond press releases, craft blog posts to talk about not only what your company is doing at an event but what you’re looking forward to. Are there themes you’re excited about? Are other brands participating that you may be able to include in your post?

You can also create a landing page with all the information about the event – the who, what, when, where, why, and how that answers all the questions potential attendees might want to know. Include a sneak peek of behind the scenes footage or images, a program of speakers with excerpts from their work, and so on. After the event, you can write another blog post that recaps the highlights. Include photos or videos from the event. Be sure to post this on social media, as well.

Leverage social media with scheduled posts, as well as live updates during the event. Post it on Facebook Events. Enlist partners and sponsors in your social media campaign to promote events. Be sure to tag them in your posts to increase the likelihood that they’ll share them. You can also create sample posts for your employees and third parties to share, making it easy for them to cut and paste.

“A major problem for brands in today’s digital world is that they tend to be faceless among a social feed of other brands,” said Deirdre Lopian, creative director, DLPR. “But influencers know how to create engaging content that will stand out and resonate with their audience.

What types of initiatives can influencers help brands with? Keynote speeches, panel discussions, promotions, and live-streaming are a few examples Lopian cites.

Got an Upcoming Event? Here’s How PR & Content Marketing Can Help  

If you aren’t signing up for a full pass, you might want to look into other options. This can mean general press or industry access or an exhibition hall pass. Getting the correct access is the beginning of your event journey, so make sure that you have the right credentials.

If you’ve registered as a full attendee, roll up your sleeves and enroll in workshops or breakout sessions before you get there. Wait, you might say, “How do I decide which ones to go to?” Hopefully, the blurbs on the site give you enough information to make decisions. If you want to guarantee an engaging speaker, Google videos of them, or plugin a relevant search into your media intelligence platform and check out videos and authored articles/posts.

Get Your Social Media Accounts Conference Ready

If you don’t use your social platforms for work, either clean them up or start new accounts especially for professional venues, such as conferences and to give to future colleagues. Stymied as to where to start? LinkedIn for professional networking, and Twitter and Instagram for monitoring the event and connecting with fellow attendees in real-time.

Depending on the conference, it may be possible to see an attendee list with accompanying social handles before you arrive. Also, if organizers provide event-specific Twitter and Instagram handles—you’re ahead of the game! Grab all of these and put them into Twitter lists. If you’re super organized, separating out speakers and attendees can be useful later when you’re on-site covering the conference. Since Instagram doesn’t provide the ability to make lists, just follow those handles.

If no attendee names or social handles are on the conference website, uncover attendees by looking at who is using the event hashtag and Google speakers’ names. In the case of South by Southwest, for example, I searched for the 2017 event by branded hashtag #SXSW, in addition to “South by Southwest,” and “southbysouthwest.” Plugging a boolean search into a media intelligence platform has the advantage of keeping searches running, gathering results throughout your planning process, as well as gives you the ability to spot possible trends ancillary to the event.

After you reach a certain tipping point, say 100 attendee handles on your Twitter list, a nice pre-conference engagement tweet might be to ask, “Who else is going to #SXSW? Putting together a list of attendees and don’t want to miss anyone!” Doing this serves you three-fold, it will broadcast your attendance to other Twitter list makers, second, it may then lead to introductions. And third, this callout may net you some responses; it is possible that your Twitter list will be the most comprehensive (and therefore will be utilized on the ground, during the conference).

At this point, you may have an idea of how you’d like to cover the conference. During an event, especially one that is a week-long, it is challenging to do anything other than focus on what’s happening in the present. You’ll be busy networking, attending sessions, taking notes, watching exhibitor demos, going to happy hours, and dinners. So, having an idea of what your coverage will look like and prepping for it before arrival, is the best way to create and produce content while you’re there. Block out time in your schedule to get your project together, so that it receives a maximum impact. Producing and pushing content marketing (whether this is a blog post or infographic) before (or soon after) the conference is over will allow you to leverage the hashtag in social channel promotions. It can also help cement new relationships you’ve forged at the event, and position you as an essential part of the community that the conference caters to (the first step towards industry thought leadership).

Man-on-the-street interview videos to be used in daily Twitter updates

Photo project highlighting speakers or attendees that reflect your audience’s demographic

Facebook live or Snapchat videos from the conference floor, promote these widely on social channels

Live tweet with attribution (Twitter lists comes in handy here)

General social coverage of the event on Twitter and Instagram with hashtags (helps cement new relationships)

Infographic or blog post-round-up that includes lessons learned and favorite quotes

A big part of conferences is the networking opportunities. As un-conference YxYY puts it, “At your average conference, we know the best conversations happen in the hallways. They happen over late-night drinks, and on the walk from point A to point B.”

If you’re new to this particular conference and even new to the profession, how can you guarantee opportunities to have these conversations? Again, social listening is your friend. As you research the conference branded hashtags, include “happy hour,” “attendee dinner,” “VIP dinner,” “drinks,” and “after hours” to get a sense of what’s happening and who’s going. To attend events, RSVP to as many events with open invitations as you’ll really go to. You might also surface posts from fellow attendees suggesting IRL engagement. If you’re feeling bold, answer the call of: “Does anyone at the conference hall want to grab dinner?” or throw out a social invite yourself. Either way, conferences are a way to get out there and meet like-minded colleagues discussing your industry. Using media intelligence and social channel searching you can enrich your conference experience and make it productive.

We’ve covered sessions, prepping personal social media accounts, tracking conference attendees’ social accounts, listening to hashtags at the conference in real-time, and contributing with your take on the conference, and now the after-hours events.

Using this as a guide for your coverage strategy and listening to socials throughout your conference, (before, during, and after) will guarantee a productive event! 

Read our latest eBooks for a deep dive on how you can leverage influencers and make the most of media relations to supercharge your event marketing strategy.

Make Your Presence Felt: The PR and Content Marketing Guide to Productive Events

Right now, it can be difficult to figure out how to best communicate about COVID-19. With information related to the novel virus changing almost hourly, it’s essential for marketers and brands to remain informed of the latest COVID-19 updates before posting something on social media that’s out of touch.

And what’s unique about the current situation is that although we are physically removed from the outside world, we are still very much connected to the digital world. For this reason, the content you share online is of particular importance.

And when it comes to content and social media specifically, the expectations are high — 90% of consumers expect brands to provide them with meaningful content. But half the content people experience they don’t find useful.

Although this is true, 55% of consumers do believe companies have a more important role than governments today in creating a better future, and 77% prefer to buy from companies that share their values. How and what you say on social media during a crisis, nonetheless, is crucial.

So, how are brands responding to COVID-19 and what’s the best method for business? In this blog, we will look at the HATCH model and examples of brands who have responded to the pandemic, giving you tips on how to manage your brand reputation and providing advice on how to communicate around the crisis

Principles to consider when it comes to your content

Our needs have shifted overnight, which means as a brand, your communication strategy has to change too. Creating meaningful content right now is not easy and requires the right kind of thinking, research, and processes. The good news is the time spent on social media has climbed, with the usage of the Facebook app alone has increased by 37% during this pandemic. (That’s a lot more eyeballs looking at your content!)

The thing to consider is not whether or not you should be posting as a brand, but what to be posting and how your content is going to contribute to audiences whose lives are now isolated. There lies the challenge for brands and one that we hope to help provide some insight into. The general theme? Consumers want the brand to give them peace of mind.

Have you heard of the HATCH method? If you have, here is a refresher. And if you haven’t, well, we hope this can help your communication strategy.

In this time where people’s lives have completely been re-imagined and nothing works the way that it normally does, people are looking for different needs and they’re looking for brands to fulfill those needs.

West Elm did just this. Of course, the company is all about enriching your home. They immediately responded to this crisis and offered to help people’s user experience on Zoom by providing virtual backgrounds that showcase a West Elm design environment, ya know to hide your dirty laundry and everything. And they also have been showcasing the best examples of how people have used West Elm products to enhance their work environments and those celebrating them on social media. Helpful box, checked.

Let’s first define accuracy: making sure that you distribute accurate information and keep your customers or your audiences aware of what your company is doing during this crisis to make their lives easier.

The brand that nailed it? Delta airlines. They have a really good understanding of social and a good grasp of what their audiences want. Here you can see that not only were they extremely timely in acknowledging the issue, but they really understood what matters most right now to their consumers or the travelers that are still, you know, jumping on planes and needing to go somewhere. And that really is cleanliness. So cleanliness and the new kind of Delta clean standard that they’ve now introduced is forming a really rich platform for their content. The key takeaway? Understanding what’s important and accurately communicating with the audience in a timely manner.

Timing really is everything. And when it comes to crisis management, you cannot be late. Needless to say, this situation is changing every single day. So making sure that you respond in a timely fashion and acknowledge what is going on and how you can, or how you’re playing a role is critical.

Nike just did it. The brand proactively recognized it was a time for them to encourage people to stay home, but still remain active. Nike stuck to its simple but powerful brand voice, joined the stay home movement in the digital landscape, and did it all before most brands. We call that a brand crisis communication win.

Showcasing compassion is something that all brands seem to be doing. It is something so vital right now, as consumers who are isolated are naturally yearning for it.

And as if we didn’t love Target enough already, the brand didn’t disappoint with their compassionate content. The brand not only acknowledged the issue first, but also got creative with it, and added human touch.

By recognizing the fact that these days are quite difficult for most and asking people to share what makes them smile, shows consumers that the brand cares about them personally.

Another thing Target is doing well, is asking their audience what they would like to see on their Instagram Story. (Take not other social media managers!). With the questions, quiz, and poll features available, they instantly gained insight into what their audience wants to see and hear.

Last but not least, being human. Social media is a two-way street. It truly is a conversation between brands and people and as a brand, it is important to have a human perspective and showing that you understand your audience on a personal level.

UNICEF has done a fantastic job at centering and focusing on the issue that matters most to its audience, which is a force. The company looked at what parents might need in order to equip their kids with the right information around Coronavirus, for example, by distributing a guide for children around understanding what Coronavirus is.

They’ve been repurposing relevant content that’s being shared by people across the world, for instance, a TikTok video that was published by a boy in Vietnam who did the handwashing dance, hoping to get the importance of washing your hand’s message across.

Overall, the time spent on social media has risen and brands are a big part of this picture. Marketers should be asking themselves the question: What are people looking for from us? We have found the overall takeaway is that personal factors now play a crucial role in how brands communicate.

To bring it back to COID-19 and how you could consider these things, it’s really looking at a couple of critical criteria in how you assess and evaluate what you say and how you say it on social media.

Meltwater wants to help you best deal with crisis communication during this time. Download our free eBook to learn how to use media intelligence to manage crisis communication or read our blog on mastering brand crisis and reputation.

*This blog piece covers key takeaways based on a recorded transcript from our most recent webinar. Please note this is a summary of the discussion and uses examples from the speaker’s verbiage.

How brands have responded to COVID-19

Today, social media represents the front lines of just about any brand crisis. But don't wait until you see a crisis coming to start planning. For a complete guide on how social listening can help protect your brand, read our ebook on using media intelligence to manage crisis.

Social media lets your business connect with an audience in real time. It can also accelerate negative comments about your business. 

If a digital PR crisis occurs, you need to be ready to give a quick response to help minimize the damage done. Preparation is key to responding to a crisis across all of your business’ channels, and it can ensure a smooth and effective response that helps to restore public trust in and loyalty to your business. The following tips can help you make that happen.

Understand the Importance of a Fast Response Time

When a brand crisis takes place, it’s vital to respond quickly and genuinely, ideally within minutes or hours of the issue occurring. Anger carries quickly on the internet, and a single social media post can rapidly turn into a much larger issue that’s more difficult to manage. Instead, be prepared to get ahead of the issue from the start. 

Pepsi’s response to the controversy surrounding its ad starring Kendall Jenner is a great example of how brands need to move quickly in times of public crisis. The company was accused of trivializing societal issues surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement for marketing purposes. Pepsi promptly responded on social media and released an official statement, apologizing and immediately pulling the controversial ad. 

A quick response along with effective communication can help you rapidly minimize the effects of a crisis, so establish ways for your business to conduct social listening and ensure a prompt response. Be sure to set up social media alerts and monitor all of your business social media accounts for negative comments, tweets and hashtags. Using Google alerts for the company’s name and relevant keywords can also ensure that your communications team will immediately know about brand mentions, so you can effectively manage your brand reputation online. 

Establish a PR and social media crisis management plan so that your business is well-prepared to quickly respond in a potential crisis. Know the appropriate role of social media management in creating and executing your strategy. Map out the steps that you would take, including which of your team members would take the lead in a crisis response. Focus on details, like who will be responsible for strategizing and writing a response, and how those people will come together – whether it’s an in-person meeting, a conference call, or another strategy – to quickly respond. 

Realize that no business can ever anticipate all of the situations or actions that could anger an audience and cause a crisis. Instead, be prepared to be humble and honest with your audience in your crisis response. For instance, when Nike came under fire for not providing its sponsored athletes with paid maternity leave in 2019, the brand’s initial response was on the defensive side. Nike stated that it had changed its policy in 2018 to support female athletes, but didn’t go into detail. 

However, the brand then assumed a more humble tone, admitting that it could and would do better. This prompt response, paired with an honest apology, won over Nike’s audience and turned the crisis into a win for the brand. If a brand as large as Nike can admit that it made some poor choices, this strategy of an honest apology can work for your business, too.

As you develop your crisis plan, you should also create a crisis communication team equipped to deal with these issues. This team should include your social media team or social media managers, your public relations team, and even your CEO. Create a chain of command and identify responsibilities so that all team members know what their role will be during a crisis. 

Work to streamline the crisis response process as much as possible. This means outlining your specific strategy and the channels you would use, such as posting to your website and social channels, and working with press contacts to quickly push your response out. 

Don’t forget the importance of working with your influencers, too. It’s possible that your influencers could receive angry comments on their own social media posts, so plan to communicate with your influencers during a crisis. Reach out to them initially to let them know of the issue and explain that your business is preparing a response. Once your response is ready, send it to influencers along with guidelines on how they should handle negative social media comments on their posts. 

Establishing your response team is an important step, but it’s equally important to hold regular team check-ins. These meetings let team members share their insights with one another, strengthening the team’s knowledge and preparation on the whole. 

You won’t always be able to anticipate threats or missteps, but if there are hot-button issues or conversations circulating, it’s important that your whole team is aware of their potential to experience a crisis. You can also gain awareness by studying the crises or challenges that your competitors are facing. Consider having your team draft or outline a response to some of these challenges so that there’s some initial preparation if one of these situations does arise. 

All of these exercises help in mastering crisis management, but hopefully your business will never need to put an actual plan into effect. Regardless, when you’re prepared with a great plan, it can help you tackle risk management, or handle any issues that do arise.

Crisis Response Across Channels—Best Practices for Social Media

Public Relations has changed dramatically over the past decade. It has grown and matured as an industry, yes. But the most striking moves have come in how we work. The changes have been less disruptive than those in advertising, but the rise of digital and social media has given way to a new world of digital PR. And the rules and tools have changed accordingly.

So, what’s different, and how can we take advantage of the changes? The goals of a typical digital PR program are similar to those of traditional PR with distinct tools and targets. We still prize earned media stories and we work to create branded content. But the most frequent targets are digital media outlets with high domain authority―top outlets like Refinery 29 or Business Insider. We push for links to a company or product website as a matter of routine.

Content has changed, too. In fact, the unofficial birth of digital PR was probably in late 2011 or early 2012, when Google changed its algorithms. The original Panda and Penguin updates favored quality content and penalized black-hat SEO techniques that had propelled dubious websites to page one of the search listings. Later updates defined non-linking citations as implied links, meaning that brand mentions in digital media worked nearly as hard as links, rewarding good digital PR work with higher search rankings. And for many brands, search rankings were the name of the game.

Gradually, PR morphed from delivering “earned media” to something PR Council president Chris Graves calls “earned influence.” To my way of thinking, this means a broader range of both tools and outcomes, from straight-up publicity coverage to paid third-party endorsement, and everything in between.

What impact has the new digital PR had on those of us in the business, and how do we leverage opportunities?

Instead of press releases and a giant Rolodex, it makes more sense to break a story through Facebook Live, or possibly a tweet with a link to a microsite with details of the story. Instead of a full-blown press conference (where breaking news could derail plans and quash media attendance), it’s smarter to share news through an exclusive arrangement with a single digital journalist. The old ways and tools still apply, and access to media and influencers is still vital. But where we once used a blunt instrument, we now have more refined ways of getting the job done.

Digital PR practitioners today need a newer and more varied skill set to take advantage of opportunities and maximize outcomes. Content used to mean good journalistic writing, a well-researched white paper or op-ed … or maybe a sassy blog post. Today it’s about digital storytelling techniques where visual impact may be more important than persuasive writing. And any PR person who doesn’t understand analytics, or at least the basics of SEO, will find themselves working at a serious disadvantage.

Digital PR has ushered in a whole new way of thinking about content. For years we focused primarily on earned media, which still has a hallowed place as an outcome of good PR. Then social media blurred the lines between paid and earned media, and “owned” or branded content expanded as companies and their agencies ramped up blogging and thought leadership content that lives on a branded website. Most PR agencies have adopted the PESO model, for Paid, Earned, Shared, and Owned content that works together to drive search visibility, brand awareness, and the all-important customer engagement.

Anyone who grew up working at a major PR firm has partnered with ad agencies. There was also the occasional sales promotion tie-in, or maybe coordination with a direct-marketing campaign or consultant. Crisis experts routinely work with law firms. But today’s PR people may partner with teams expert in digital marketing, SEO content marketing, email marketing, content marketing, and more. That opens up a new world of “co-opetition” where we might be indirect competitors for the same budget yet must work as a team for the sake of maximizing outcomes.

Aside from content overall, nothing has changed PR more than the rise of the digital influencer. What we’re seeing here is a move from celebrities to less-known figures who can offer authentic engagement without breaking the bank. Lately, many brands and agencies have turned to micro-influencer programs that collaborate with personalities who have fewer than 100,000 followers (primarily on Instagram) but who ideally offer a less commercial and more meaningful relationship with fans and followers. Although micro-influencer programs have their detractors, they are popular because they’re designed for visual platforms and are more easily scalable at nearly any budget.

Tools and skills are part of the picture, but real success in the digital era requires nothing short of a mindset shift for most “traditional” PR professionals. In the past, the creative efforts of PR practitioners were directed toward journalists. As bloggers grew, the influencer economy took off, but we were still working to generate branded messages and stories through the filter of the writer. More recently, PRs are charged with developing “viral” content that engages consumers directly. This requires new storytelling skills and represents an enormous mindset shift and has required new talent.

Committing to Outcomes as well as Outputs

Today, everything is measurable and measured. PR floated for too long in a kind of netherworld―we urged clients to take it on faith that earned media would move the needle or we promised brand reach as measured in impressions … but very little beyond. Today, the good news is that there are easier methods and a new mindset for evaluating PR outcomes. And with that data, we can maximize our digital PR strategy. Our focus as professionals can then be on quantifiable changes in SEO, web traffic, brand engagement, and ultimately on the one metric that’s familiar to any marketer―improving business outcomes.

This article was published on this site on October 11, 2017, it originally appeared in MENG Blend, it was written by Dorothy Crenshaw from Business2Community, and legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.

7 Ways to Maximize Digital PR

Did you miss our live webinar and panel discussion about the topic: Communicating in times of crisis? Or do you simply want to learn more about crisis communication? No problem! The speaker and CEO of PRlab, Matías Rodsevich, answered all questions asked during the session in this blog. Want to see the recording of the webinar and panel discussion? Find it here!

What are your thoughts on handling general internal comms from the international headquarter to all employees, versus internal comms from the local country organisations to the local employees? Might this be conflicting?

For companies that have international and local communications, it is important to organize the content at both global and local levels so it does not become mixed up. Some information is relevant at one level but not another so you need to set up a system to manage and filter the information flow. The important thing to convey is relevancy and precision. This is why employing regional and local administrators are necessary to direct the content flow to the right employees.

When do you ignore complaints on Social Media and when do you take action? We sometimes see certain people that continue to complain via the social channels which affects our image.

Some complaints are categorized more as hate comments rather than constructive feedback. While feedback and sincere complaints should be approached with a responsive action, the more ‘hateful’ complaints can still be acknowledged. Many companies will say things like, “Sorry to hear that,” and then provide a suggestion like a customer service chat on what they can do for the customer or offering a discount code, essentially some sort of reprise to appease the customer. This way you’re able to show that you still acknowledge all customers and respect their complaints. This is always better than not saying anything at all, ignoring such complaints can foster an even worse flow of negative comments. 

How do you prepare for crisis scenarios within the tech industry?

Case studies are very google examples of concrete crisis scenarios; we can learn from how they managed it.

For tech companies, data breaching and hacking is a common scenario and you must know how to prepare for it. For example, Equifax discovered a massive data breach in July of 2017 that leaked SSN and driver license info for nearly half of the American population. A plan would help prepare ahead of time for how you should work together, what steps to take, and what initial message to release and when.

Another example to be wary of, being in the tech industry, is an IT outage. Southwest Airlines was a classic example of this in summer of 2016 when their website and other key systems were down for more than 12 hours in peak travel season. They turned to social media to continue responding to customers but even social media outages can happen. Having a backup system to rely on but also having apologies and announcements ready for remedy are good preparations to have.

Do you have any additional advice as to how to make PR expertise count in an environment where PR might be not be prioritized by the final decision-makers?

Final decision-makers may prioritize finances for a short-term bounceback, but they should still have the same goals for the company as the PR team would, which includes putting employees first or managing your reputation first. 

After the 2008 financial crisis, there were many problems that followed for companies that tried to bounce back into business mode. They prioritized short-term shareholder interests, which did not create sustainable value as their incentives were clouded from financial reasons and could’ve even destroyed economic and social value. Good PR expertise will counsel the decision-makers towards long-term growth.

Should we respond to journalists contacting us for a statement about how corona has impacted our business?

Practicing PR in times of crisis is good for your business. Journalists want to know your take and input by having you share the impact on your organisation. You can not pretend the crisis is not happening but be mindful of the facts and the emotions. Know that many others around are going through the same crisis and dealing with the impact on their lives and businesses. I encourage you to empathize with them and show vulnerability in admitting your own impacts; it shows humanity and no one is going to judge you because most companies are struggling right now, it’s nothing personal.

What are the opportunities you foresee for PR professionals in a post-pandemic world? Which industries will gain more relevance/traction?

Digital media has increased as people spend more time at home, leaving them less ways to consume in person. Opportunities for PR in a post-pandemic world are amidst social networks that may have strengthened, video services and advertising, and media platforms for content. Clearly, the supply chain has the most immediate business impact and subsequently companies that heavily rely on supply chains for their business will suffer especially since global media ads will not be as effective. This pandemic only reveals the industries that are essential to our society’s function and that includes the need for 5G technology and other remote interactions.

What about fake news these days? Who could be your allies in this case?

Fake news is much more prevalent nowadays, especially with the rise in social media. Your allies lie in the sources and credibility. You can check the mission statement of the story site or the credibility and validity of the story’s author. Make sure to check the external sources, the date of the original story, and other primary sources such as quotes or press release documents

What is your perception about the role of PR after the corona crisis?

The role of PR during the corona crisis has been great, seeing all the big companies donating what they can to contribute to different communities of need. After the crisis, these PR actions should be sustained as to show it was not just merely a PR gesture during a global crisis. The role of PR during the crisis determines how people remember your company after the crisis. If anything we learned from this crisis is how to behave and be transparent. That will indefinitely be carried forward after the corona crisis in the hands of the PR team, communication. 

What do you do if your CEO already communicates to the press before you send out the official communication? Do you adjust or stay consistent and adapt the official communication? Even if the information is incorrect? 

This depends on the type of material and communication released. You obviously don’t want to harm the CEO’s image by correcting them but you also wouldn’t want to harm the CEO’s image by letting them support an incorrect statement. It’s better to adjust as necessary in a humble and non-aggressive way. Information and situations are always changing so if approached genuinely, you should embrace the opportunity to make adjustments to statements if needed. It’s important though to make sure he/she understands your role and double checks with you before communicating with the press. Try to get them on your side by getting them to understand that you’re not a burden but you’re there to protect the company’s reputation and you can bring a strong understanding of how to deal with the press to the table. 

What different perspectives or insights, if any, apply to public institutions in relation to private companies in front of a crisis? 

Public institution or private company, you will need to restructure different areas of the administration. Public institutions may deal more with the redesign process including efficiency, transparency, and quality while private companies are dealing with government, lawyers, brand image, and employees and unions. Mainly, the insight to keep in mind for public institutions is to define a vision and strategy for the institution so as not to lead to depreciation of authority from its constituents. 

Is there a difference in B2B and B2C comms during a crisis?

Social media as communication crisis strategy works across the board for B2B and B2C companies as well as other communication mentalities that are grounded in showing empathy and action. B2B and B2C companies alike should engage in a more service over sales approach. This means companies that are used to selling products should divert some energy to providing relief services or the best aid possible they can afford. Crisis management may look different in B2B and B2C in small variance among the normal products and services offered but overall there is no distinguishing B2B and B2C in a crisis; people just come together to help.

Shall the crisis comm ‘war room’ make decisions on the communications for all departments/HQ’s around the world if we are talking about a Multinational?

Yes, definitely. The more centralized the messaging the better. Although in the case of a multinational company,  it’s important to have the global managers of teams present who will cascade down and adapt the messaging to local markets. 

How can I make clear to the CEO’s that the crisis is a theme that is for the communication department. I noticed that a lot of these actions are given to HR. And they struggle a lot.  

You can let the CEO know that internal crisis can be allotted to HR with no problem, but other communication crisis’ should be handled by those in the actual communication department. As long as you are distinguishing the clear differences and categories that HR vs. Communication handles, it will be better understood that there is a place and a job for every department.

Bringing physical together with the leadership team might be an additional risk in times of crisis. What are your experiences regarding splitting up?

I think not much has changed as long as everyone is open to the idea of digitization. What you are referring to is basically a war room with your leadership team. Keep in mind the concept: bringing in the most important people all in one space to tackle the crisis, align on the messaging, deciding how to cascade it down to the company. You don’t need to be locked up in a room putting ourselves at risk to do this. It is easily replicated online, so there shouldn’t really be any difficulties.

What’s your point of view on how EU institutions have been handling the COVID-19 crisis?

I think that EU institutions have been handling the COVID situation to the best of their ability. No one was really prepared to deal with a pandemic, let alone one the size of COVID. So as everyone looks to bandage the situation, I look to see the adaptations institutions make for the future. Sometimes, that’s how it goes with crisis communication. If we are unprepared for a crisis, we just need to learn from it and decide what we did right and what we did wrong.   

How do you deal with having different comms decision makers across different HQ’s?How can you draw on efficiency if there are different comms decisions makers between different HQs who can affect your work  (e.g. when you work at EMEA but Global HQ and APAC is involved too)

It can be super frustrating to have conflicting communication coming from two different decision makers. Typically in crisis communication, we like to have a process to define what to say and who is going to say it. But like I said, no one was prepared for this. So everyone is kind of acting on the fly. What I would recommend is schedule an online meeting with both/all parties involved, so everyone is there to discuss it. Sometimes emails just don’t work in getting your message across. So it’s important to have everyone, face to face, to ask what they want to be communicated. It’s also important to adapt the messaging to local markets, so you might want to consider adapting the messaging to global HQ to where you are, backing it up with relevant data to demonstrate that you know what you’re talking about. That way instead of being told two different things, you are mediating the situation and allowing them to come to an agreement on what the proper communication is. 

I work for an animal welfare charity. A part of our messaging consists of highlighting the source of the corona crisis. Should we use the current crisis as an opportunity to push our message, or rather refrain and reflect after this crisis?

I think this is super tricky right? There are certain industries and companies that are having huge profits from COVID, but everyone is steering putting this in the public eye. That’s why you see edtech platforms giving discounts or becoming free to use during this time. I would say that the message does have it’s timing, but that time is not now. It is far too ingrained in everyone’s mind and the threat is still too real. So I would wait a bit to send the message and monitor the situation. 

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