Dark Social: Digital Word of Mouth

By Natalie O'Grady | Mar 10, 2017

“Dark social” isn’t as malicious as it sounds. The term was coined by Alexis Madrigal in an article for The Atlantic in 2012 to describe the sharing of information in emails and instant messengers – sharing that existed long before social media platforms were popular. Social media ROI is getting easier to measure, but dark […]

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The beauty of a brand manifesto

By Kris Travis | Feb 21, 2017

I’ve talked about the moodboard process, as well as the importance of brand guides, but have yet to touch on one of the other tools in the master brand toolkit: the brand manifesto. What is a brand manifesto? As a manifesto is “a written statement declaring publicly the intentions, motives, or views of its issuer” (Miriam-Webster), […]

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How to tie your social media strategy to your SEO

By Natalie O'Grady | Jan 30, 2017

Public relations and marketing professionals have learned over the last few years that they can’t exist in silos and get exceptional results for their brands. Integrated strategies are vital for success. PR and marketing live in different sandboxes, but they have to learn how to play well together. This is particularly clear with the relationship […]

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Download our Social Analytics POV

By Natalie O'Grady | Jan 26, 2017

“Today, knowledge has power. It controls access to opportunity and advancement.” – Peter Drucker More than ever, public relations professionals are working to quantify PR’s value for their clients. This can be difficult for a number of public relations tactics, but social media is notoriously hard to pin down in terms of ROI. Executives and […]

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Designing for Gender Equity

By Kris Travis | Jan 23, 2017

On Saturday, the Women’s March on Washington took over not only the streets of DC, but cities all over the world. Participants had innumerable reasons for joining, but women’s rights and equality were clearly at the event’s core. No matter what your thoughts are about the march itself, it did bring attention to a range […]

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Authenticity and PR

By Savanna Frimoth | Jan 17, 2017

You’ll often hear that public relations is an industry built on relationships. This is true, but there is an added element that goes hand-in-hand with relationships—authenticity. In an age of curated social media posts (#blessed) and glossy corporate stories sans reference to long hours and employee burnout, consumers are left feeling dubious and duped. Instead […]

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#ThisHappened – 2016 in Twitter & YouTube

By Natalie O'Grady | Dec 7, 2016

Major social media platforms are truly a global community. If the Twitter Year in Review and YouTube’s 2016 Rewind video are any indication, this community connects on big issues like social change, elections, and human rights – but also undeniably fun carpool karaoke videos. 2016 has also shown just how powerful brands can be on social […]

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Incredible Corporate Holiday Cards

By Kris Travis | Nov 29, 2016

It’s the most wonderful time of the year for beautiful, festive holiday cards. A team photo or holiday graphic gets the job done, but how do you make a corporate holiday card really stand out? They are very much different from cards and lanyards for conferences. Here are a few examples of amazingly creative holiday […]

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What Public Relations Professionals Can Be Thankful For This Year

By Natalie O'Grady | Nov 21, 2016

For Americans, November is often considered a month of thankfulness. We’re thankful we get a day or two off work for Thanksgiving, we’re thankful to see family and friends, and we’re thankful to have the opportunity to over-indulge on comfort food while watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. It’s a time to reflect on the […]

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What Public Relations is Teaching Me

By Savanna Frimoth | Nov 16, 2016

Six months ago I confidentially strode across a stage and collected my diploma. While I now possess a piece of paper that claims I’ve learned, I definitely didn’t stop learning after graduating. After several months working for a public relations agency, here’s what PR is teaching me. Relationships are Key Public relations is an industry […]

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What My Public Relations Degree Taught Me

By A.wordsmith | Nov 12, 2016

“What My Public Relations Degree Taught Me” is part two of a mini-series on education and being a millennial in the world of PR, from some of our young professionals at A.wordsmith. Read part one here.   I veered towards PR after five years in the education and nonprofit world. The overlap between development and communications is […]

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What My Public Relations Degree Didn’t Teach Me

By Natalie O'Grady | Nov 3, 2016

Part one of a mini-series on education and being a millennial in the world of PR, from some of our young professionals at A.wordsmith. In 2014, I graduated with my master’s degree in public communication and finally headed out into the “real world.” Since I basically went straight from my undergraduate studies to my graduate […]

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