For those who would rather learn from others’ mistakes than make the same ones themselves, last year was a treasure trove of wisdom. Nearly every week, some misstep or misdeed made the news, pushing brands and individuals into a glaring spotlight. But that’s no reason to be smug. Truth is, we’re all capable of making mistakes, errors in judgment or timing or tone that create PR issues we never intended.

It’s the knowledge of our own fallibility that makes learning these lessons that much more important. So, while we may be willing to give these brands some latitude, we definitely don’t want to repeat their mistakes.

Yes, there can be a lot of flash and redirection in the course of a public relations campaign, but, at the heart of every campaign, there should be a fundamental sense of authenticity. Your audience should understand that you are coming from a place of honesty and commitment to your core message.

Sure, you might be starting from a place of pain. You may even be in a PR crisis unlike anything you have ever experienced. You may have made a big mistake, or you make be the victim of someone else’s big mistake. Whatever your starting point is, your PR response should feel authentic, connective, and relational.

For many people, sharing their message is easy. The real hurdle is how to get people to listen. The fact is, that can be a moving target, but there are some guidelines you should understand in order to craft messages that are heard, understood, and acted on.

The first part of step one is to understand your own key message. What is the core of what you want to communicate. If you had to take one thing and say “this is it, this is what they MUST understand,” what would it be? You may want to say “everything,” but that doesn’t get you any closer to where you need to be.

Brands in the online world are constantly looking for ways to strengthen their presence and reach new markets. Usually, this means experimenting with new types of content, new marketing formats, and unique communication strategies. One of the most recent solutions to emerge in the digital world, is “interactive native content”.

Native content and interactive content both give marketers a unique way to connect with their target audience. While native content blends seamlessly with the space it’s published in, giving readers a more organic experience, interactive content helps to keep customers engaged with gamified moments. Together, interactive native content helps to give an audience a fun experience that feels natural in the right environment.

Landing an important interview with a popular industry publication can be an exciting part of a company’s PR strategy. However, while good interviews have the potential to improve a firm’s credibility, deliver stronger results from their marketing campaign, and even strengthen their reputation, a bad interview can have the opposite effect.

No matter how prepared the spokesperson for a brand feels they are, some interviews can go south very quickly. People in the middle of an interview that goes in the wrong direction need to know how to stay calm under pressure and continue representing their business in a positive light – even in difficult circumstances.

Building a brand is no easy task. A lot of people assume that their brand is just a logo or a specific selection of colors, but the truth is that there’s so much more to it than that. A brand is actually a company’s reputation – the things that people think about them, and the image that they have both online and offline. In today’s digital world, every company has a brand whether they like it or not. A world of review forums and social media channels means that there’s a constant conversation happening about today’s businesses, and the only way firms can set themselves up for success is to take control of their brand image. Here’s how groups can define their brand in 2018.

The first step in effectively defining a brand, is figuring out what people are already saying about the company in question. Unless a business is brand-new, it probably already has some reviews and information lingering online. Conducting a quick google search and using social media listening tools can allow companies to find out what people are saying about their organization, and whether public perception fits with their image goals.

PR experts have a lot of experience creating exceptional content for their brands. In the digital marketing world, making the most of this content generation ability now means investing in new content marketing plans to ramp up brand awareness and cultivate customer engagement. For PR pros, the rise of content has provided countless new opportunities to communicate with important audiences and raise visibility for critical clients.

Of course, as valuable as content marketing can be, it’s only effective if companies know how to use it properly. The following tips could help any PR agency make the most out of their content plan.

One of the most important parts of any PR agency’s job is finding the right media coverage for their clients. Whether it’s a television slot or an interview in a magazine, the right PR placements are a critical part of building brand awareness for any business. Unfortunately, while PR placements might have been the peak of the agency journey a few years ago, that’s not the case anymore.

Once an organization has achieved the right PR placements, there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done to ensure that they get the most out of every piece of coverage. The steps taken after a PR placement appears can make or break a company’s marketing strategy.