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Influencer marketing is evolving, and so is the way brands measure success. That’s why Meltwater is proud to announce a new partnership with YouTube, integrating YouTube’s Creator Partnerships API directly into our Influencer Marketing platform.

Introducing Verified YouTube Data in Meltwater Influencer Marketing

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

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

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

Kim Kardashian is now worth around $350 million. The star has ventured into numerous markets including TV shows, food, clothes, beauty, and even computer games; transforming herself into the ultimate brand! Much more than just a pretty face, Kim has built an empire in a short space of time with much of the credit going to her prosperous personal brand strategy. Love her or loathe her, she can teach us all a few things about brand strategy:

Optimise your Brand Strategy by Crafting The Perfect Message 

As an expert in carefully crafting a brand strategy and message, Kim has successfully moved away from the idea that she is only a socialite and is now seen as an influential businesswoman and couture fashion icon.

Like all brands, personality and positioning are sculptured through clear messaging and when crafted effectively can change the way a brand is perceived by the audience.

--> For inspiration check out the best B2B Instagram profiles

Kim and her army of publicists have worked hard to create and implement her new personality and the role of social media has played a significant part in shaping this. Kim's Instagram is full of images of luxury garments and a Twitter full of beauty and fashion-conscious posts. Kim tailors her brand strategy message around the interests of her desired audience.

Consider who your audience is, and post content that will entertain or solve problems for them. 

We can now find Kim in the front row of Fashion Week, (apparently) raking in $500,000 from a single post or donning the cover of Vogue- a stunt that truly cemented her role in the fashion industry.

Influencers come in all shapes and sizes, we must be sure not to revert back to basics by solely targeting journalists to spread our message. An influencer can be a blogger, a TV personality, a singer, etc. The formula of influence is simple: Trust + Reach= Influence. Influencers earn this position based on their reach, quality of content, and how well they/ the publication are respected.

However, don’t underestimate the impact of influencers with a small following. After all, reach can be manipulated by buying fake followers. So when choosing influencers, remember to look at the kind of engagement they’re getting on each post and whether they’re involved in the community conversation.

With a predominant image in the music and fashion world, Kanye West was the perfect influencer to endorse the Kim Kardashian brand. Now, we’re not saying Kimye hooked up for publicity purposes, but rather the advantage this has had on the success of her brand strategy and influence this has had on them becoming the ultimate power couple.

Build relationships with influencers for maximum success. 

As marketing and PR professionals, we must ask ourselves the below questions, the answers will point us in the right direction of the best type of influencer we should be targeting to endorse our brand strategy.

What are we trying to achieve with our brand strategy?

What is the brand strategy message we’re pitching?

Which potential influencer’s values align best with our message and desired outcomes of our brand strategy?

Whose endorsement of our brand strategy will mean the most to our audience?

Increase Brand Awareness through Engaging Content

Kim is often involved in publicity stunts to ensure she stays relevant in the media. Take her attempt to break the internet for example. Posing nude (for free) for Paper magazine was no financially driven deal, but rather a very successful attempt to further fuel awareness of the Kardashian brand.

Companies use news and social media mentions as a core metric for measuring brand strategy success. Media exposure & share of voice shot through the roof for Kim after the snaps were published. What made this stunt so successful was that it was crafted with engagement in the forefront.

--> Learn how to boost your engagement with social media

Give your audience something to talk about

Kim knew the images would make people talk, whether it was her fans going crazy for her curves or critics poking fun at the photos with witty comments and user-generated memes. The self-assured hashtag #BreakTheInternet came very close to doing just that.

Give your audience a sneak-peak at new content & products

Kim and her team are also pros at extending the life of buzz by integrating various platforms into the brand strategy. A teasing image of a new shoot may be posted on Instagram, fed into Twitter, and then shared on her blog days later, only to resurface once the shoot is made public.

With such an active presence on social media, Kim often shares news about her life, career and responds to fan's comments, knowing how powerful they are as a marketing tool. Moreover, Kim shares fashion industry-related content. Being a part of the conversation we desire to be associated with only enhances our position as experts in that field and our social profiles become a ‘go-to’ for our audience wanting to know the latest news around the subject.

Kim Kardashian Has 3 Things to Teach Us about Brand Strategy

As we continue to lead in media intelligence across the globe, we, at Meltwater, are honored to hold an elite place as one of the Top 50 Best Products for Marketers 2020, recently announced by the independent reviewer, G2. 

As the largest tech marketplace for businesses, G2 is changing the way decisions are made. Until recently, selecting business solutions was hard, risky, and inherently biased. G2's real-time and unbiased user reviews help objectively assess what is best for businesses by leveraging the crowd, limiting the risk, and getting what works.

Their prestigious awards list is independently compiled based on thousands of reviews from real customers of various SaaS companies. These software tools are then rated against competitors, and their pros and cons are distinguished. We are grateful to our 30 000 clients globally who rated Meltwater’s media intelligence tool as one of the best in the world, and we are pleased to be ranked as one of the best products for Marketers in 2020.

With the way that the needs of PR, Communications and Marketing teams are constantly changing, we have continued to innovate and look for ways to add features that improve the efforts of our customers. This is what we achieved with Fjord, our latest product release that enables comprehensive AI-powered insights and breaks down the silos between PR and Marketing, by offering an all-in-one solution. The platform prioritizes simplicity yet still captures more content than anyone else within the industry. If you are looking for a solution that will advance your analytics into insights, let Meltwater show you how here.  

But while we are a tech company, and still hold the fresh, start-up culture within our organization, our customers have also enjoyed the content we provide them on a weekly and monthly basis. From our blog articles to our webinars and guides that are freely available resources, we have ensured that we not only build a formidable platform but build valuable content - solidifying our place not only as one of the best marketing tools of 2020 but true global leaders in media intelligence.

In addition to having an award-winning tool, the support structure that Meltwater offers - in terms of dedicated Account Managers, 24/7 Live Chat, and plenty of product-related resources - is also of the highest standard. 

One of our clients said of our Support Team, “The support [team] is also amazing and goes above and beyond to understand what our company's mission is and how they can support that mission. The software is also very user friendly and I have picked up many tricks by using it.”

What Makes Meltwater The Best for Marketers?

When it comes to marketing, you cannot measure what you cannot manage. But with Meltwater, we are helping to change that for marketers. We have the largest media database in the world, so tracking and analyzing media mentions, as well as social listening, has been a feature that marketers love about Meltwater, and a feature that is highly rated on G2.

This speaks to the investments and acquisitions that we have made over the years to ensure that we remain the chosen all-in-one tool for Marketers, helping Marketing professionals around the world consolidate their efforts, and prove the worth of their efficient work. We know that digital data is always growing, and at an exponential rate. But we lead in this industry because of how we can apply AI to spot trends, track and analyze content, and help our customers find the right influencers to engage with.

But it doesn’t stop and end there for us. We also pride ourselves in bringing advanced analytics through our dedicated team of media analysts as well as morning reports delivered right to your inbox. We understand the importance of not only tracking the mentions that matter, but proving the marketer’s efforts through our Meltwater reports. 

Another client said of their Meltwater Reports, “The most helpful thing about Meltwater are the Morning Meltwater Reports. They help my team stay on top of mentions in the media and on social media. Meltwater acts as the eyes and ears for our brand. I don’t know what we would do without them.” 

“It is such an honor to be recognized on G2’s list of the Top 50 Best Products for Marketers in 2020. We are thrilled to be in the Top 20, amongst some of the most effective marketing tools of the year. We’re also incredibly grateful to the thousands of Meltwater clients around the world, for using and reviewing our Marketing software!” said Angela Wiesenmüller, Marketing Director for EMEA at Meltwater. 

With technology that can decode billions of data in real-time, the Meltwater solution:

Connects you with influencers and journalists to generate earned media 

Creates presentation-ready reports to prove your ROI 

“I love the Outreach tool that allows me to contact the media directly in the program and track who read, skimmed, or ignored my messages. This allows me to adequately follow with specific people. Another great feature is the reporting capabilities Meltwater has,” said one validated G2 reviewer.

Recognized as a high performing tool for those working in PR, we are proud to also be named in the Top 10 PR Analytics Software, as well as a being named a High Performer, based on the reviews of customers and the criteria that:

Our product has a high quality of support

“The ease of use is wonderful. It allows me to get my information out to the contacts I want. I appreciate the fact that I can organize my contacts by groups. The feature that is most helpful to me is being able to search for news contacts in different areas of the country. I also can check with the local area to update old emails as well.” - Validated G2 reviewer

Along with being named as one of the best marketing tools in 2020, we have also received the following the G2 Awards and badges for 2020 in the PR Analytics category:

As an independent review platform, G2 has over one million validated user reviews, amplifying the voice of customers and users while playing a role in decision making through transparency. An award like this shows our consistency in being one of the best tools for marketers, but achieving success while doing it.

From our employees across 60 global offices to all our valued customers, thank you for your trust in our product and capability to lead as we do. We are honored for an achievement like this and we look forward to bringing you only the best in media and business intelligence in 2020 and beyond.

Meltwater Named One of the Top 50 Best Products for Marketers in 2020

As brands navigate their way through a crisis, communications teams take center stage. When organizations have to figure out what to say—and fast—they call upon their communicators to help them strategize how to respond and which audiences need to hear which messages.

While some organizations focus primarily on their external messaging, internal communications plays a pivotal role in ensuring workers receive the latest information. Keeping your workforce well-informed affects external communications, as well. If your brand strategy doesn’t include open, transparent communication with employees, you may be failing to leverage what could be your best advocates.

“Alignment and coordination of internal and external communications are critical every day, and it’s imperative during a crisis,” says Mike Myers, director of communications at Nationwide.

The best leaders keep both in mind as they strive for effective business communication.

“My thought is always that you should be communicating to your employees first before anything else goes out the door,” says Nicole Tabak, marketing and communications strategist at a global B2B technology company. “It’s so important to remember these are all humans trying to do the best they can for the company’s success.”

“In times like these, everything speeds up, and there is less time to make sure internal and external messages are consistent and aligned,” Myers added. “The only way to do that in a larger organization is to ensure solid relationships exist between those teams.”

With that in mind, here are some tips to enhance your internal communications efforts:

How to enhance your internal communications efforts

Foster an atmosphere of trust
Trust is the key factor in how these teams work together. “Having solid relationships between internal and external communication teams builds trust, and that is how high-performing teams work well together in a crisis,” says Myers. Don’t wait for a crisis to build trust between the two teams. Find ways to build those relationships continually. Best practices in internal communications advise brands to be open and honest—don’t hide information. It will come out regardless, and then you’ll appear to have been covering it up, which only hurts credibility, thereby damaging trust.

Watch your tone
“We’ve really looked at the style, tone, and frequency of our internal communications—making sure it’s simplistic but educated, sensitive but comforting, and frequent but not overly frequent,” Tabak says. “It’s a hard mix. We’re definitely learning as we go.”

Listen to feedback
What are your employees saying in response to your communications? “I think listening to feedback is vital to making sure you’re getting that mix right, and it’s a different mix for each company,” Tabak said.

Keep it positive
You need to be open, but you should also try to keep the messaging optimistic if possible. Beyond disseminating information, consider sharing messages of encouragement and support. Be human. Let your team know you’re there for them, whatever the circumstances may be.

Consider change management as part of the effort
I also believe change management is an important factor to internal communication,” Myers said. “Awareness simply isn’t enough. Making sure associates know what’s changing, when and why it’s changing and how it impacts what they do is critical to gaining buy-in and making sure everyone feels informed. Associates who feel informed and understand the why behind the change will embrace it and, in many cases, even help others get on board.”

Only communicate information you’re confident in
During the current COVID-19 crisis, false information has been circulating. Before sharing any messages internally or externally, be sure to fact check. Sharing anything that’s not true can cause confusion.

Consider the method used to communicate
Email won’t work for every communication or audience. Think about using other vehicles, including brief video messages, a livestream, or a town hall format.

Be clear in your communications and remember that you may need to repeat information multiple times to successfully convey it. People may be distracted more than usual during a crisis and may not absorb all the details on the first pass.

Prioritize Internal Communications During a Crisis

While keeping brand reputation in mind, companies need to aim to put internal communications first, then align with external crisis messaging to achieve their strategic business communications goals.

Why You Should Put Internal Communications First During a Crisis

Do business and politics mix? Increasingly, the answer seems to be yes. Here, we cover brands that have taken a political stand and share what we've learned from their varying approaches. With corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives on the rise, and more CEOs taking a socially outspoken stance, brands should be asking themselves if this approach is right for them. And if so, proceed with their eyes wide open. 

Prepping your CEO to be active on social media? Read our eBook on how to do it right, filled with examples from top brands that are harnessing the power of executive influence on social media.

So, Should Brands Take a Political Stance? 

That exact question has been tossed around PR and communication departments for decades with many deciding to shy away from mixing PR and politics because of the overall risk.

However, we’re starting to see a monumental shift in how brands approach highly-political situations. Brands like Nike, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Dove are starting to see political situations as an opportunity to take a stand for what they believe to be right.

And it’s working. According to the 2018 Edelman Earned Brand study, 64% of consumers reported they make purchasing decisions based on a brand’s social or political position.

This is why we’ve collected three of our favorite examples of brands taking a political stance and how powerful it can be in rallying your audience and attracting customers.

Combining PR and politics isn't just for campaign consultants and lobbyists. Big brands have been getting in on the action. Here are examples of bold moves three brands made and the reactions they got. 

In July 2018, WeWork shocked the startup industry by announcing it was going vegetarian (more or less).

In a statement to the 6,000-employee co-working behemoth, Miguel McKelvey (co-founder and chief culture officer) stated that the company will no longer serve meat at company functions, nor will it reimburse employees who want to order a hamburger during a lunch meeting.

According to McKelvey, the decision was driven largely by concerns for the environment, which is a key strategic public relations move in how WeWork chose to frame their announcement. 

Obviously decisions like this don’t come lightly and there will inevitably be both supporters and critics of the decision, but WeWork seemed to draw a positive reaction from their audience and reports alike. Major publications such as The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Washington Post all covered the news in a positive light. 

Key PR Lesson: When making a potentially controversial political decision, it’s important to frame your reasoning in terms of the bigger picture. Make it less “personal” and more about serving the greater good. 

In one of the bigger political brand moves of 2018, Salesforce CEO, Marc Benioff, made a pledge to support Prop C – A measure to tax the biggest businesses in San Francisco to raise as much as $300 million for homeless programs:

What’s most interesting about this particular situation is that Marc Benioff personally led the charge as opposed to Salesforce as a brand overall. However, Salesforce reported nearly $5.9 million in contributions, while Benioff was personally in for $2 million. 

The PR and communication teams at Salesforce successfully navigated what might have been a tricky situation by allowing Benioff to be the “face” of the marketing campaign, rather than tying it back to the brand. 

Key PR Lesson: Mixing PR and politics can garner support from your customers as well as potential backlash. By allowing a key executive to take the lead on an issue, you can help disassociate your brand from any negative press.

3. Patagonia Launches “The President Stole Your Land”

Patagonia has long been known for its pro-environment mantra—often speaking out publicly about land conservation and other highly-political issues. 

But perhaps their biggest stand yet was what they called, “The President Stole Your Land.” 

What’s so intriguing about this campaign is how well it fits into the Patagonia narrative. 

Today, many PR and communication teams fall into the trap of commenting on issues that don’t necessarily fit their overall message or brand image. What brands should be doing is carefully assessing whether or not to take a stand on a political issue by determining if the issue is truly a part of their identity.

In other words, does the issue build upon and strengthen the brand reputation we have built?

In this case, it strengthened Patagonia’s ongoing fight for conversation, with the hashtag #BearsEars gathering more than 80,000 mentions across social media (according to our social media monitoring platform).

Key PR Lesson: When mixing PR and politics as a brand, it’s important to strategically evaluate the impact that it will have on your overall reputation. If you’re looking for PR coverage inauthentically, people will see right through it. But if you believe in the cause and taking a stand fits your brand identity, that’s where you can have a major impact.

What Audiences Think About Brands That Speak Out on Social and Political Issues

While traditional CSR campaigns focused on a brand’s philanthropic activities, today’s efforts take on issues including climate change, immigration, race, health, and more.

But not everyone appreciates the idea of brands taking a stand.

“Knee-jerk decisions to engage in an activism campaign can spell disaster if prompted primarily by a CEO’s or marketing department’s political itch, an in-the-moment media spotlight grab, or as precedent-setting relief from a protestor boycott,” said public relations consultant Mary Beth West.

Research conducted by PR firm Sword and the Script says that most consumers think brands should stay silent on political issues.

“Nearly half (49%) of overall respondents said brands should not weigh in on political issues,” says Frank Strong, founder, Sword and the Script. “However, it’s not a majority because about one-third said they believe brands should get involved, while another 22% were unsure. Sentiment analysis around this question suggests context matters.”

PR firm Clutch found that while businesses that speak up on social issues and those that choose to stay silent both risk losing customers, staying silent may have less severe consequences. Their study found that nearly two-thirds of those surveyed (63%) say they’re likely to continue shopping at businesses that stay silent on issues they care about.

Aligning a Brand with the Right Cause Matters

Alignment comes into play when companies build a campaign around a social or political issue. Some brands are clearly aligned with their causes. Take, for example, Patagonia supporting environmental issues.

But when Gillette came out with its controversial “The Best Men Can Be” campaign, there was significant blowback, primarily because some thought the brand was trying to appear “woke”—without it taking any action to back it up.

“We should all be asking Gillette: Where can we find your authentic commitment and action to changing this problem?” says Phillip Haid, co-founder, and CEO of Public, in Fast Company. “If brands are going to lean into a social purpose to sell products, we have to expect them to do so with substance. Raising awareness is not enough. There needs to be a genuine, informed, long-term commitment to the issue with a clear plan to achieve the change the company is seeking to create.”

Brands Must Walk Their Talk to Be Believed

If brands do decide to launch such an effort, they must be mindful. If a campaign is just words—and isn’t backed up by the way the brand does business—a company can find itself in hot water.

“Surely no company is going to launch an advertising campaign if it thinks it will lose money; therefore, by definition, any social justice-orientated marketing is driven primarily by money, not advancing the cause of human progress,” says this piece in The Guardian.

If a brand’s commitment extends just to communicating, rather than considering how it conducts its own business, it’s liable to be called out, says Sophie Lewis, chief strategy officer at VMLY&R London.

“The lack of a real plan of action seems to follow a worrying trend of brands appropriating social purpose for compelling advertising creative and quickly moving on next quarter to another ‘cool’ trend to sell their product. Sprite’s ‘I Love You, Hater,’ Audi’s wage gap ad ‘Daughter,’ Heineken’s ‘World’s Apart’ experiment, and State Street’s ‘Fearless Girl’ all speak to this worrying trend of inauthentic activity that does little to walk the walk on the issues they are addressing,” Haid says.

To Support or Not to Support — Which Is Better?

So, at the end of the day, how should brands proceed down the slippery slope of supporting social issues?

“CEOs’ advocacy rationales of ‘standing up for our company’s values, no matter what’ certainly can have an appropriate and advantageous time and place, but applied to the wrong scenario, they can present a come-back-to-bite-you outcome, aimed directly at their own bottom lines,” says West.

The prevailing advice seems to be that if a brand chooses to go down this path, it should proceed with caution. It should select an issue that’s a fit and be prepared to back up its promotional efforts with REAL actions to support the message it puts forward.

There are many examples of brands that have successfully taken outspoken stances on environmental issues, health, and more, but as we’ve seen here, there are plenty of cautionary tales as well. To prepare yourself, be sure to read our essential guides to working with influencers to expand your reach, prepping CEOs for social media, and taking proactive steps to avoid a brand crisis.

What PRs Should Know Before Their Brand Takes a Political Stand

With the firehose of digital, mainstream media, and social media content; knowing when your audience is engaged on each platform by using a social listening tool of their choice is key to a successful PR content program.  After all, you can't reach the consumers that never see your content. 

Timing is probably the most overlooked factor in decision-making and strategy. It underpins much of how we structure our day and yet we often take it for granted. That's why when you're considering the factors that result in a successful campaign, consider the time you send out a PR pitch and content. 

Pitching stories to the media is a critical component of any PR strategy. And while email is perhaps the primary vehicle to getting your company’s stories out, often it's our greatest enemy. Journalists consistently cite email as their preferred method of contact, which sets you up against hundreds of other pitches, media alerts, and press releases that flood their inboxes every day.

What can you do to cut through the clutter and ensure your pitch is at the top of your contact’s inbox? If you’ve prepared content that’s quick, to the point, relevant, targeted to the journalist, and topped off with a catchy subject line, you’re halfway there.

But before hitting send, take a quick glance at the time – the time you send a PR pitch is one of the key factors that will play into whether your email is even opened. For those who work in PR or email marketing, there are a few best practices you can follow to maximize your open rates.

Send pitches in the morning or early afternoon: 

The best time to send pitches is when the receiver is reviewing their inbox. This tends to be in the morning – many people check email just before or right at the time they arrive at work – or in the early afternoon when some people take downtime around lunch.

For major news, avoid Mondays and Friday afternoons: 

As most of us know all too well, Mondays are typically a scramble to clear out emails and tasks from the weekend or the previous week, while headspace is often occupied with planning for the remainder of the week. Friday afternoons – which arguably, create downtime for certain email recipients – are also a busy time for many others who need to meet end-of-week deadlines. Friday afternoons can be a hit or miss, but to be safe, target the middle of the workweek when people are most likely to engage with their pitches.

Of course, for marketers and PR professionals working with a global network of contacts, time zone differences are another factor to consider. If you’re in the U.S. sending news to a journalist in Europe for instance, the last thing you want to do is share an email during your afternoon, which ends up hitting their inbox at their dinnertime. Make sure to know where each journalist is based before you pitch, and plan accordingly.

If you want your story to be noticed, avoid sharing it around certain holidays. An event like Christmas is a pretty obvious time for people to go silent over email, but keep in mind the other cultural or regional events that your recipient may be experiencing, depending on who they are and where in the world they’re located. It’s not just holidays either, it’s also important to be aware of other industry events that could be saturating the media at a given time. Tech companies, for instance, should steer clear of releasing news at the same time as CES, Apple’s WWDC or Google I/O, unless they have a specific tie-in.

There are a number of things we all know are vital to keeping your pitch from getting deleted: keep it tailored, personal, brief, and catchy. But, what’s just as important is thinking about how to ensure your pitches are even opened in the first place, and this could simply come down to the right timing.

We’re producing A LOT of content these days. But is anyone consuming that content that we work so hard to create? Chances are that unless we’re posting it at optimal times, the answer could be – no.

Research says that each minute, there are:

No wonder we now live in the age of “Content Shock.”

What’s the best time to publish blog posts? CoSchedule says it depends on your goals.

To drive the most traffic, the best publishing day is Monday at 11 am EST. For most comments, the best publishing day is Saturday at 9 am EST. To earn the most inbound links, the best publishing days are Monday and Thursday at 7 am EST.

While this is based on research, it’s important to remember, “Sometimes you will write an amazing post and publish it on a Friday and still see it go viral. Sometimes your posts published at the optimal time will do nothing. Posting at the best times is like giving the article a helping hand, it’s not an actual traffic strategy,” advises BlogTyrant.

“I use Google Analytics to find where my audience is and create custom reports for the best day and time to post on my blog,” Peg Fitzpatrick, co-author of, “The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users” and blogger at Peg Fitzpatrick says. 

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