Andrew Bruce Smith, FCIPR, MPRCA

Andrew Bruce Smith, FCIPR, MPRCA, is a digital PR specialist, social media, SEO and analytics trainer and consultant. With a career spanning 37 years, he has developed and implemented many highly successful strategic digital communications programmes for some of the world’s biggest brands including IBM, CapGemini, Apple and Checkpoint.

He is a CIPR Fellow, Chair of the CIPR’s AI in PR Panel, a member of the PRCA’s Innovation Panel and co-author of the PRCA’s Beyond Share of Search and Data Literacy in PR guides.

In 2018, Andrew was cited by the UK Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) as “one of PR's greatest thinkers” as part of the CIPR’s group of members who've made an outstanding contribution to the Institute and the wider PR industry. He was also a key contributor to the CIPR’s 2021 Professional Practice Review into Research, Measurement and Evaluation in Public Relations and Communications.

He is a co-author of ‘Share This’ and 'Share This Too' (publisher: Wiley), best-selling, practical handbooks to the biggest changes taking place in the media and its professions. Commenting on the first volume, Lord Sugar said: “This book is a useful guide to using social media effectively”. Andrew has also contributed a chapter on the impact of AI and automation to the PR industry in Platinum, a CIPR book comprising contributions from more than 50 thought leaders - including CBI Director-General Carolyn Fairbairn - on five key areas, namely: perspectives, practice, performance, provocation and the future potential of the profession.

Andrew is currently a trainer and consultant in social media, analytics, SEO and digital marketing for the CIPR, PRCA, the Amber Group, the Media Trust, the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA), Understanding ModernGov and the SMi Group. He has consulted or provided training to over 3000 organisations in the last 15 years including NATO, the Department of Environment (DEFRA), NHS, Specsavers, Sky, Jaguar Land Rover, Disney and many others.

He has also provided analytics and digital marketing training to numerous charities and charitable foundations including Wellcome Trust, Alzheimers Society, Cure Parkinsons, Dogs Trust and Blesma.

Andrew has been a consistent digital innovator, being among the first UK communications practitioners to exploit e-mail (1990), the World Wide Web (1994) and Twitter (2007). Described as the "de facto godfather of PR blogging", he is a regular speaker and media commentator on the integration of PR with social media, search optimisation and analytics. He has passed the Google Analytics Individual Qualification five times as well as being an approved Google Partner in search advertising.