Small business is big business in the United States. Companies with fewer than 500 employees make up 99.9% of all businesses in the United States, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. They employ 46% of private sector workers and contribute 43.5% of the GDP. That makes the people who own and work in small businesses a valuable audience for many B2B organizations. So, let’s get to know small businesses a bit better to improve our targeting and audience understanding. Who owns small businesses? According to data from Pew Research, most small businesses are indeed small. Forty-nine percent ..read more

Find out how to make all the pieces overlap. Coming up with thought leadership topics can be tricky. Without executive involvement, the content can come off as flat, lifeless and similar to a thousand pieces that have been created before. During Ragan and PR Daily’s Social Media Conference, held last month at the Walt Disney World Resort, Nicole Moreo, head of customer insights for North America at LinkedIn, shared her expert insights on how to get executives not only involved but excited about thought leadership. When finding the right executive and the right topic to launch your thought lea ..read more

Google CEO admits AI boom surprised company, Nokia to help bring 4G to the moon. A quick note to start The Scoop — with the passage of the TikTok ban in Congress, PR Daily has you covered regarding the implications of the ban for PR pros. Former Boeing manager says company pressure caused mishandling of parts Boeing has had a rough go of it lately. Between a plane door falling off an Alaska Airlines plane in January to news that lapses throughout the assembly process led to critical manufacturing errors, the aerospace giant has been on the defensive for much of 2024, with CEO Dave Calhoun even ..read more

The app won’t disappear overnight. But it is time to plan. The U.S. Senate voted Tuesday night to force TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app or face an eventual ban in the U.S. President Joe Biden will sign the bill Wednesday. The bill passed 79 to 18, a rare show of bipartisan support as the bill brought together both Republicans and Democrats concerned about to what extent the Chinese government can view data and manipulate the algorithm that controls the app’s content. The requirement to sell or ban TikTok was packaged — much to the chagrin of TikTok creators and crit ..read more

Sport Beach is returning for its second year. At many professional conferences and events, the main activities are talking, drinking or watching other people do those things. These are fine, time-honored past times, but Stagwell wanted to do something different for its Cannes activation last year. They wanted to give people not only something to talk about, but also something to do. “When you give people an activity or an experience, which is really hard to do, it changes the dynamic. It encourages conversations people don’t have, and it gives you a way to engage that otherwise you wouldn’t ge ..read more

We can only accomplish this by working together. Lauren Stralo is director of public relations at LevLane Advertising. I recently responded to a query in which a reporter was searching for a source for a national top-tier publication — a golden opportunity for any client. In my initial rush to secure an interview (we’ve all felt that, right?), I offered up an expert from one of the organizations I represent: someone whose contact details I already had and could easily reach out to on short notice – this (excellent) source happened to be a man. After a bit of back and forth, it became obvious t ..read more

From inspiring employee communications to delivering powerful stories, these organizations move on to the next round, with winners announced in August. From inspiring employee communications to delivering powerful stories, these organizations move on to the next round. Social media and digital communications work can feel thankless. Behind the scenes, creators work hard to stay up to date on trends, generate innovative ideas and move quickly. PR Daily’s Social Media & Digital Awards spotlight the hidden stars and talent behind these campaigns and showcase their work, honoring professionals ..read more

And how to make the most of them in your marketing mix. Brian Berner is head of global advertising sales & partnerships at Spotify. Marketers know that success today depends on their ability to capture and capitalize on fleeting moments of consumer attention. These ephemeral windows, aptly termed “micro-moments,” represent critical touchpoints where consumer intent meets the digital realm. Think of someone reaching for their smartphone to look up a nearby restaurant or to quickly Google an answer to a question. These are the micro-moments — the fleeting yet decisive opportunities for your ..read more

Updates from Meta, X, TikTok and more. We’ve got several major updates this week. Meta is going all-in on AI, X is embracing chaos as usual and TikTok is launching its Notes app in several countries. This all has major implications for your PR practice. So let’s see what’s up: Meta Meta has made its largest foray yet into generative AI by incorporating an AI-driven search feature into flagship products Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. The tool can also be accessed standalone at Meta.Ai. Built on the Meta Llama 3 model, this is both a competitor to OpenAI and Google Gemini while als ..read more

Ragan is now accepting nominations for our annual Game Changers award, Class of 2024. Do you know a communications or public relations professional who just won’t stop? Whose knowledge of the discipline is as exhaustive as the average dictionary? Whose list of achievements resembles a CVS receipt? Think of someone who has faced down crises and battled reputational risk, a comms champion who wields words and wisdom in the name of clarity, trust, authenticity, compassion and inclusion. That individual may be destined for induction into Ragan’s Game Changers, Class of 2024. The Game Changers are ..read more