#public-relations

#public-relations

The industry is crowded, competitive, and still shackled by advertising restrictions. To get noticed, brands are often told they need to hire a "specialized cannabis PR agency." But here's the reality: too many of these agencies overcharge while underdelivering. Campaigns vanish after a press release cycle, leaving brands with little more than a hefty invoice. What if there was a smarter, more direct path?

Will Critchlow is joined by Ross Hudgens, founder and CEO at Siege Media. Ross brings a complementary skillset and background to Will's, with a deep focus on content and PR, and together they lay out a blueprint for the future of e-commerce SEO. This episode is produced by Mark Cotton and hosted by Will Critchlow - you can follow Will on Twitter: @willcritchlow.

This year, many agencies are increasing spending in areas that help them align immediate client needs with longer-term growth. For some, that means investing more heavily in data and analytics to sharpen decision-making. For others, it's doubling down on talent development or technology to stay competitive. Here, 14 members of Forbes Agency Council share the line items their agencies are devoting more of their budgets to this year and the strategy behind these decisions.

Executives are learning that what happens in the crowd doesn't stay in the crowd when cameras are everywhere. Whether it's a Jumbotron at a concert or a television broadcast at Flushing Meadows, internet sleuths are quick to discover the identities of business leaders behaving badly. Overnight, relatively private people can be vaulted from obscurity to viral infamy.

They were swaying in mid-hug when the roving kiss cam, a staple at the band's performances, zeroed in on them. You have probably seen the clip of what happened next. The two of them scrambled like kids caught raiding a cookie jar. Even Coldplay's anodyne frontman Chris Martin couldn't ignore their response. "They're either having an affair, or they're just very shy," he remarked. The CEO and his subordinate are no longer with the company.

The traditional buyer journey-the familiar path from awareness to consideration to decision-is disappearing. Today's buyers are moving faster, skipping steps and often making decisions after a single trusted source validates your brand. What's driving this shift? Earned media and AI-driven research tools. Public relations has always been seen as a credibility builder-a way to get your brand noticed and trusted.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of optimizing content to appear in AI-generated answers, distinguishing it from traditional SEO by focusing on conversational clarity and relevance.

In the new reality, every press release, thought leadership piece, and media interview you produce will have two readers: humans and AI models.

AI isn't going to replace creativity or the human instinct behind great storytelling. But it will definitely make us faster. I think of it as an accelerator. It can help draft responses, shape early ideas, stay within brand parameters, all in seconds. Especially during a crisis, having that kind of speed can be a real advantage.

"These are baseless tropes from Arthur's scorched earth PR campaign aimed at scaring the public - it makes me wonder whether you have collaborated with Arthur's PR team."

For every one dollar businesses invest in public relations (PR), they earn an average of $5.50 back in media coverage.

Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met.

To boost SEO and SERP rankings in this environment, a solid online reputation-fueled by strategic PR mentions-may now carry more weight than site traffic and backlinks.

Public relations professionals must adapt to AI Mode in Google Search, as it fundamentally changes how audiences seek information and interact with brand narratives.

Baden Bower has built a $30 million annual recurring revenue business by promising media placement or giving the money back, challenging traditional PR practices.

The PR teams that learn how to feed this ecosystem properly—via smart content, precise localization, and semantically aligned narratives—will see their clients get surfaced more often.

"The financial realities would force states to sell off our public lands," warned Newberg, highlighting risks of transferring federal land to state control.

Press releases enhance a company's visibility and credibility, building trust through media coverage and improving search engine rankings via effective backlink generation.

The CEO of 1047 Games said the 'Make FPS Great Again' hat aimed to grab attention for Splitgate 2, not to be a political statement.

Tracking PR performance shouldn't feel like piecing together a giant puzzle; structured PR report templates bring clarity and efficiency to the reporting process.

What drove people here crazy was Katie Miller, and the fact that she was on Elon's payroll the whole time she was a special government employee here.

The entire scheme runs on the absurdity of pairing meaningful academic discussions with a blatant marketing ploy, showcasing the lengths to which some entities will go for backlinks.

Allbee's dual roles raise concerns about potential conflicts of interest, as his outside consulting work connects with his position in Haney's office.