The subject of dealing with negative social media comments crops up in almost every social media training course I run, so I thought I’d share… Read More »Dealing with negative social media comments – dos and don’ts
In my opinion, modern and professional communications has nothing to do with spin, lies and propaganda.
This is my idea of what we do.
Communicators often confide in me that they don’t really like using Facebook (and other social media) for their organisations because people will probably post snarky things… Read More »Is your fear stopping your social media comms from saying anything?
* 09/01/21 Social media response flow chart – updated for 2021! When I first posted this chart 7 years ago (and more than 52,000 downloads… Read More »Social media response flowchart for comms pros
Storytelling on Facebook is one of the most effective skills you can have in your comms bag of talents. And I’m getting my best Miley… Read More »Powerful real-life storytelling on Facebook is content of the week
Winner of content of the week is a Christmas message video: What a fun and creative idea to turn the house from Christmas movie, Home… Read More »A touching Christmas message video is content of the week
This week we’re celebrating a cheeky and fun Facebook post from South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue (SYFR)! If it seems familiar, but you can’t put… Read More »South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue’s Burger King spoof is content of the week
I want to talk about social media illustration and cartoons in your comms. It seems relatively rare! We see so many social media graphics that… Read More »Council’s social media illustration is content of the week
I made up a word: “commsplanation’. Have you ever been commsplained? It’s where someone who is less qualified than you, or less experienced, explains something… Read More »The ‘commsplanation’: duff advice from the non comms colleague
Getting a celebrity to promote your brand has long been a desirable but costly way to get your audience’s attention. Some charities could rely on… Read More »Cameo celebrities: endorsement not-for-profit brands can afford
Creative thinking is not just something we do at work when we’re designing campaigns. We can apply creative thinking to all parts of life and… Read More »Creative thinking for comms pros: brand metaphors
You might imagine that the phrases social media managers hate to hear would be “we’re out of coffee”, or “there’s nowhere to charge your phone”.… Read More »Ten phrases social media managers hate
I hope you know that you’re not alone if you find your comms strategy dream does not always match the reality. I drew a doodle… Read More »Comms strategy: when dreams don’t match reality
A day in the life of a social media manager.
This is a practical guide to maintaining creative social media during the coronavirus crisis. Actually, all of the advice here is relevant at any time,… Read More »Creative social media during the coronavirus crisis – 5 tips
As a creative PR and comms trainer, I’m often asked, ‘What is the future of PR and communications?’ It’s a fun and daunting topic to… Read More »The future of PR & communications: 2020 & beyond
Developing an interesting and engaging social media tone of voice is a hot topic for lots of us who look after social media for brands.… Read More »How to give your brand an engaging social media tone of voice
If you’re anything like me, you do your shopping at the very last minute. And maybe you save time by wrapping your gifts in scrunched… Read More »The comms Christmas gift list
Take The 31 Days Of Creativity Challenge Unleash your creative side in under 15 minutes a day Our gift to you: an easy programme with… Read More »Take the 31 Days of Creativity Challenge
Lately I’m lucky enough to have got some help with responding to email enquiries and such like. What a luxury. When I was an in-house… Read More »Are you inbox zero or creative hero? My email rebellion
Being a creative comms person is not the easy option. You create something a little different that you think is pretty good – but you… Read More »Do you get the comms butterflies of dread?
I am seriously concerned about the stress faced by the hundreds of comms and PR professionals took part in a survey, and the hundreds of… Read More »A PR and comms stress epidemic: survey results 2019
Stress is often seen as part of the job of being a communications, PR and marketing professional. But I don’t think the pressure we face… Read More »Comms and PR stress, and the workload dilemma
It’s National Punctuation Day! So I thought I’d share five more-interesting-than-it-sounds trivia about punctuation. Because I KNOW you comms creatives have a sneaky obsession with… Read More »Punctuation: five fun facts
How much do you let your inner critic hold you back? Maybe it’s a comms and marketing thing, but we seem to be quite hard… Read More »Replace your inner critic with an inner fan club
Hey! I have taken on my first permanent member of staff, and guess what? She’s my big sister! Introducing Lel Reynolds: bringing order, ideas and… Read More »Could you work with your brother or sister? Introducing my new business manager, Lel
For a few reasons, creative, engaging social media doesn’t just take skills and creativity – it takes guts.
I want to share some podcasts to inspire comms, PR and marketing pros, because it’s often hard for us to slot in learning, or CPD of any kind, into our schedules.
On Monday, I won Freelance Social Media Marketer Of The Year at the Social Media Marketing Awards! I’m super chuffed, especially since I was up… Read More »Social Media Marketing Awards: I won!
These days during huge news events, we are all scrolling through social media to find out the latest updates and see photos of what’s going… Read More »Social media for a royal wedding – behind the scenes
The first time I was asked to get creating a communications strategy, I was super intimidated by the task. It seemed so important and I… Read More »Creating a communications strategy – advice from a comms specialist
I’m sharing some advice for a career in communications as part of the second #CommsCreative challenge: to blog useful tips for other communicators (read more about… Read More »My advice for a career in communications
We can make a real difference to the impact of our comms by working to a creative communications strategy. The thing about being involved in… Read More »The creative communications strategy
Ever have that feeling when you see something so nifty, and simple that you wish you’d thought of it? That was me when I saw… Read More »Communications strategy, snakes and ladders style
Have you signed up to the The Comms Creative newsletter? Sign up now! Every month, I send an email newsletter with creative comms stories, interviews and… Read More »Comms Creatives Club newsletter: fancy some inbox inspiration?
It’s amazing how invigorating it can be to get out of the office to learn and network with other communications professionals. Yesterday I loved hosting… Read More »Ten tips for comms pros from the NHS Communications Conference 2018
Busy UK housing communications professionals rarely get time to meet other comms teams to compare teams and work experiences. So in early 2018, I asked… Read More »2018 survey: Comms in the UK housing sector
The modern communicator is asked to turn their hand to lots of techniques, and if you want to be prepared for all sorts – here’s… Read More »What should be in your communications kit?
Yes, public sector tweets can be exciting and interesting! In the public sector, we often have small, or no, budgets for social media. But our… Read More »The top 10 of UK public sector tweets of 2017
Public engagement is something all public services do, and many do badly. This is an opinion piece on crap apps, and what makes useful public… Read More »Public engagement: crap apps, Lego, conversation and politicians
Posting text and video bilingually to social media sites is possible, but not simple! This is a practical post on posting to social media for audiences that… Read More »Posting text and video bilingually to Facebook and YouTube
Is it ever OK to respond to a breaking story about a mistake your organisation has made – with a joke? A BBC story about… Read More »A comms guide to the ‘sorry not sorry’ statement
Do you want to cry when someone asks if they can have an app? Do you shout for mercy when a colleague tells you to… Read More »Let’s play comms bingo
I’ve been developing a course on social media evaluation, and one metric stands out to me as most important. I call it the ‘ex-haters story’:… Read More »The most important social media measure? The ‘ex-haters’ number.
If you write media statements, advise colleagues or clients or speak to the media regularly yourself – it can be comforting to fall back on… Read More »Writing statements: avoid clichés like the plague
Have you ever wandered over to your head of finance and told them how they should interpret the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill of… Read More »Standing up for the skills of the expert communicator
Most are not serial killers – in fact psychopaths are more likely to find their way into politics, boardrooms or media organisations than be jailed… Read More »Just how social is your social media?
A few weeks ago, I made the trip to London to do a podcasting course at the Guardian offices – this meant driving from South… Read More »Some tips for new podcasters
Which qualities are most desirable in a social media manager or communications employee? I think the most valuable trait is bravery.
It’s getting a bit of a cliché to describe it as a ‘social media election’ but things have changed drastically since 2010. In 2010 adults spent 14.2 hours… Read More »The social media election in nine tweets
I’ve been lucky enough to work with people doing some pretty important, serious stuff. Social work, policing, health, public finances, planning, housing, community safety: it’s all critical work.… Read More »The public sector has no obligation to be boring: tweets that show the funny side of gov