Stories by Seth Arenstein

The impact coronavirus could have on commerce and travel is clear

Many PR pros, like those in other sectors, will consider home their office next week as the virus spreads.

You have a business trip. Should you stay or should you go? How about an event? Cancel it or allow it to go ahead?

The Institute for Public Relations postponed its annual conference in Washington, D.C.

Where does the communicator start? With panicked stories circulating in the media, employee and customer concerns are rising.

In a PR crisis, consistent messaging is important. In communicating about a potential health crisis, consistent, factual messaging becomes paramount. The country’s coronavirus situation is rapidly rising beyond politics. It is imperative for all communicators, including the president, to speak from the same script.

Our regular look at data features exclusive figures from Shareablee about the most-active nonprofits for the first months of 2020. Overall, nonprofits enjoyed a slight jump in consumer engagement with their social posts, though engagement was off on Instagram and Twitter.

PR pros continue to consider earned media a valuable tool, according to a snap survey of 150 communicators. On the other hand, a majority say gaining media coverage is harder than ever. Perhaps as a result, 90 percent of those surveyed told us they spend very little time pitching and developing relationships with media.

As measurement of communications becomes more mature, vendors are scrambling to add capabilities to their platforms. We talk to two vendors about this and all things measurement, including the future of measurement and AI’s role in it.

Here’s a brief guide to what communicators should be doing and thinking about as the virus begins to make its way across the country.