Facebook has been in hot water ever since the news broke that Cambridge Analytica, a political data consulting firm, harvested private data on over 50 million Facebook users without the users' permission. This is just one of many scandals that Facebook has had to weather recently, including recent criticism over the role it played in the 2016 election. With the #DeleteFacebook movement gaining momentum, and brands such as Tesla and Pep Boys removing their company pages from the platform, Facebook is facing a massive PR nightmare.

During the month of October, things always get a little spookier — bare tree branches cast eerie shadows, nights are longer and more bone-chilling, and neighborhoods are full of haunting Halloween decorations. In the world of public relations, however, October isn’t the only time of year when horror stories abound. Over the past year, some companies experienced truly nightmarish PR blunders that they hardly escaped from alive. These are their stories…

Are you a recent grad looking for a career in public relations? If so, you’re in the right place! Aria Marketing is located just outside of Boston, a city overflowing with universities (and therefore, a lot of new grads). Over the years, our team has perfected the art of what to look for when hiring a candidate right out of school. I spoke with Aria’s leadership team (EVP Jessica Cohen and SVP Ross Homer) to see what they look for/value in a candidate. Read on to find out!

There are many opportunities in healthcare journalism for thought leaders to contribute content. Healthcare reporters are continuously soliciting bylined articles from healthcare industry thought leaders and experts to keep up with the content demand of digital media. As a healthcare focused public relations agency our goal is to amplify our client’s thought leadership platform and we see the byline article as one of the greatest ways to do so as they enable experts to directly communicate their insights and expertise in their own words to their desired audience. In general, contributed content – like a bylined article – is an excellent way for the client to control their message and eliminates opportunities for outside biases and perspectives. That said, publications and editors often have very specific criteria and sometimes unspoken expectations that contributed content must adhere to. Below we’ve shared the top three best practices to consider when drafting a byline or any other kind of contributed content.

Second only to my passion for healthcare, is my love for my favorite TV shows. While television can provide an escape from the craziness of the world, as a PR professional, I often find myself walking away from an episode with key takeaways to apply to the work I do here at Aria Marketing. Believe it or not, Netflix is a treasure trove of content on public relations. Here are four PR lessons we can learn from hit TV shows.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating to global society and economic activity, and we will surely be coping with its aftereffects for many years to come.  However, there have been some silver linings, such as less pollution, normalization of remote work, accelerated use of telemedicine.  In our work, we have also seen a real boost for health care PR and thought leadership.  Healthcare and the ideas and technologies that make it work have become headline news, and while our clients have benefitted from the 24/7 COVID-19 news focus, we are starting to see the total dominance of that issue in the media begin to give way to interest in other stories.  As a result, we are working with our clients to start preparing to adapt their strategies to a next phase, where it’s not “all pandemic all the time,” and other news and ideas can get attention.

Over the past 15 years, LinkedIn has changed the way people network, interact with their professional audience and even apply/recruit for job openings. With more than 500 million professionals actively using the site, getting your company onboard should be a no-brainer. While we can digress into a number of different uses of this professional platform, this blog will focus on our top recommendations for leveraging LinkedIn for your organization.