Summer School: Staying Up on PR Trends

A couple of years ago, I wrote an article for PRSA titled “Summer Reads for PR Pros.” This year, I’m taking a similar approach and recommending my favorite newsletters, podcasts and more to stay up to speed on public relations, advertising, marketing and more.

The summer months are a great time to take a fresh look at how you’re keeping up on changes and trends in the industry, beyond your daily work. It can also be a great time to "KonMari" your email inbox, including unsubscribing to newsletters that you no longer open, cleaning out old mail, and keeping a select few that are still beneficial for reference. Read on for some staples from my own inbox.

Industry trends

• PRSA: I mean, you’re reading this article so, hopefully, you are a PRSA member. But if you’re not, then definitely join to take full advantage of publications like Strategies & Tactics and the daily Issues & Trends e-newsletter.
• PRWeek: PRWeek has several U.S. (and U.K.) Bulletins that highlight “the biggest trends in the communications industry” on a daily or weekly frequency. Some articles are free, while others are behind a paywall.
• Muck Rack: Muck Rack’s Daily newsletter is a “digest of journalism, written by journalists.” Key sections include news trends and journalism job moves.
• Ragan: The PR Daily News Feed brings the latest articles from PR Daily to your inbox.

Digital news

• Gartner: I recently subscribed to Gartner’s L2 Daily Insights and have been very impressed. The “science of data” theme spans all industries and shows how different companies, brands and organizations are making waves in the digital landscape.
• Social Media Today: If you work in social media, or if it is a part of your broader communications responsibilities, then you must subscribe to Social Media Today. It is an indispensable resource for social media marketers, often reporting on platform updates right as they’re announced by companies. (SMT is actually published by Industry Dive, which has a lot of great business/marketing newsletters in various industries, from education and supply chain to biopharma and banking.)

The world around you

• TheSkimm: You’ve likely heard of TheSkimm but, if not, it’s a daily newsletter that provides “clarity on what’s happening in the world so you’re prepared for whatever the day brings.” If you thought the hype has come and gone, think again, as the company’s new book, “How to Skimm Your Life” debuted on The New York Times Bestseller List.
• Pocket: Now this isn’t exactly a breaking-stories newsletter, but a newsletter curated by you, reminding you what articles you wanted to read each week, but saved for later. Creating an account on Pocket allows you to quickly save stories from your internet browser or on your phone to read at a later time. One of my favorite features is how infrequently you need to log in; they’ll email you so you don’t have to with: “here are 10 stories you saved to Pocket this week.” It can’t get much easier!

What are your favorite newsletters to stay up on PR trends and general news?