Vox Optima

02/14/2025

The Threat of Social Media and Internet Apps

Social media and Internet apps present a major blind spot in cybersecurity. Because these platforms often display user posts publicly, attackers can silently gather data without the user’s knowledge. Information shared on social media can be exploited to guess passwords, impersonate individuals, or craft targeted phishing attacks.

Attackers often target businesses, as they offer higher rewards. A common attack strategy involves:

1. Target Selection – Reviewing LinkedIn for high-value corporate employees and low-privilege users who may be more susceptible to social engineering.

2. Data Collection – Scouring social media for personal details such as pet names, favorite sports teams, or education history — clues that can be used to guess passwords or answer security questions.

3. Attack Execution – Deploying phishing emails, brand impersonation, malware, and social engineering tactics to gain access to credentials, leading to potential data breaches. ~ Torsten George via Security Week

Millions of uninformed users have flocked to DeepSeek and share personal information without considering security or privacy risks.

02/14/2025

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02/14/2025

Challenges and Opportunities

Despite the opportunities presented by new tools and platforms, media relations in 2025 will also face new challenges. Journalists are under increasing pressure to produce content quickly, leading to the potential for misreporting or sensationalism.

As such, PR professionals must find new ways to ensure that their messages are accurately conveyed in a crowded and often chaotic media landscape.

The increasing importance of influencers also presents new challenges. While influencers offer brands a way to reach targeted audiences, they also bring new risks.

PR professionals must vet influencers carefully to ensure they align with the brand’s values and ensure their audience engagement is authentic. ~ Ronn Torossian via 5WPR

Learn how media relations is evolving in 2025 with AI tools, social media platforms and personalized outreach replacing traditional PR strategies and press releases.

02/14/2025

Wishing everyone a very special Valentine's Day with their loved ones!

02/13/2025

In response to the backlash to extravagant influencer trips, Coralie Hampson, who is business director at the agency Socially Powerful, is seeing her clients “reconsider” their approach and shift to customer-focused activations – or community-focused activations, as social media marketers prefer to say.

“The era of lavish trips to secure Instagram-worthy content in exotic locations has evolved into something more meaningful,” she says. “We’re seeing a strategic pivot toward community-focused experiences and local activations that prioritize organic engagement over manufactured moments.”

Hampson acknowledges that customer trips will have a lower return on investment; however, they are more valuable in the long term. “When given exclusive access and benefits, consumers naturally create more earned content.” ~ Hannah Bowler via The Drum

Heated backlash to influencer getaways has left social media experts questioning their future.

02/13/2025

Are typos sabotaging your media outreach emails? Think about it—would you trust a pitch riddled with errors? Me neither!

Whether you’re reaching out to journalists, influencers, or business partners, correct grammar can make or break your first impression. After all, there’s a reason we say, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”

But grammar accuracy doesn’t merely polish your image—it amplifies your message. ~ Jessica Perkins via Agility PR Solutions

Are typos sabotaging your media outreach emails? Think about it—would you trust a pitch riddled with errors? Me neither! Whether you're reaching out to journalists, influencers, or business partners, correct grammar can make or break your

02/12/2025

"I guess I’m a public relations purist, but I think of as relationship management, and that means with every audience that you have. I’ve never been a fan of convergence or communications.

"We did communications, we did news , and we did all of those in my office, but we kept them slightly separate because to me, the overarching framework was this relationship management. You can’t manage a crisis well if you’ve got a marketing mindset. If your first instinct is to protect the organization or to sell the organization, you are not going to be able to fulfill your ethical responsibility to be open and honest with all your publics.

"So, I always think of the organizational structure that way. Everything we’re doing is helping to sustain the organization, to make it successful, and move it forward. Our key goal is managing relationships, and it goes back to that long-time definition, with as much mutual benefit for both or all parties, not just internal, but also the external ones.

"When you become a spokesperson, for example, for an organization during a crisis, you have to be seen as a credible speaker, somebody who understands journalism and journalistic , and you have to be able to talk to them, not as you would if you’re a marketing professional." ~ Bill Swanger via Bill McClennan of the Ethical Voices Podcast

Bill Swanger, APR, Fellow PRSA, the founder of William Swanger Communications, shares a number of important ethical issues, including: 1) Why it is important to ethically address financial mistakes and clarify misunderstandings 2) Ethically navigating paid and unpaid content

02/11/2025

Amid ongoing concerns about its links to the Chinese government, and its alleged national security risk in the U.S., TikTok has published a new overview of the various measures that it’s undertaken to ensure that U.S. user data remains separate and that TikTok operates without CCP influence.

Which may be true, but then again, previous reports have indicated that TikTok’s not always 100% clear on these links.

TikTok, which is currently, technically banned in the U.S., based on the passing of the Biden-approved “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” is engaged in negotiations with both the Trump administration and the Chinese government, as it seeks to remain in the U.S. and in contact with its 170 million U.S. users. ~ Andrew Hutchinson via Social Media Today

TikTok published another overview of the measures that it has undertaken to keep U.S. user data safe.

02/11/2025

The Ad Meter can give communicators a glimpse into the current mood of the country and what resonates. Currently, simple ads focusing on Americana, made-in-America messaging and the underdog (or horse or potato) are coming out on top.

These are classic themes for any Super Bowl, of course, but given the current political climate of the nation, the success of these ads further reinforces a desire to return to a simpler time that feels familiar to many. ~ Allison Carter via PR Daily

Plus: Comms response can’t fully save McDonald’s from E. coli fallout; Trump announces steel, aluminum tariffs.

02/10/2025

No. 4. Repurpose Email Content into Blog Posts

We talked about using your best onsite content to create compelling emails. It works the other way, too. Your best-performing emails help you identify what kind of content your subscribers prefer. Not only can you use it to refine your email campaigns, but also to better understand audience needs and optimize your content marketing accordingly.

Therefore, you should consider repurposing high-performing email content into useful blog posts to gain website traffic. Your emails work like keyword research tools. If an email campaign brings impressive results in terms of opens, clicks, and conversions, you can use it as guide for a helpful and detailed article. ~ Maria Fintanidou via WooRank

Discover five powerful email marketing hacks that drive traffic, improve engagement, and enhance your SEO strategy.

02/10/2025

No. 4. Crisis Management and Reputation Protection

Every company, regardless of size, will face crises at some point—whether it’s a product recall, an economic downturn, or a public relations scandal. For small public companies, the impact of a crisis can be far-reaching, and without a dedicated corp comm strategy, the situation can quickly spiral out of control.

Effective crisis communication is essential to protecting the company’s reputation and ensuring that stakeholders feel informed and confident throughout the situation. ~ 5WPR

Learn how corporate communications drive growth for small public companies through strategic messaging, investor relations, PR and digital marketing tactics

02/07/2025

No. 2. Repurpose your charitable work: Lush

What if your brand doesn’t sell products or services that can help in the crisis, like Lush, a U.K.-based bath and beauty product company?

Last November, Lush launched a fire-truck-shaped soap in the United Kingdom and Europe to raise money for Indigenous and community volunteer fire brigades in the Amazon. When the Los Angeles wildfires happened, Lush sold the soap product in the United States and designated 75% of U.S. sales to emergency aid for people and animals affected by the fires.

What charitable activities does your company already do? If you don’t sell a product for charity or raise money for a designated nonprofit, is there a local organization where your employees volunteer? Consider reconfiguring or complementing those efforts for the most recent disaster response. ~ Ann Gynn via Content Marketing Institute

When disasters strike, many companies send up “thoughts and prayers.” Rarely is that messaging enough. Learn how marketing can get involved to turn those thoughts into actions that actually help.

02/07/2025

No. 1. Competitor analysis:

This is where you define both direct and indirect competitors. Direct competitors are businesses that offer the same products or services to the same audience. For instance, if you run a CRM software company, other CRM providers targeting similar industries are your direct competitors.

Indirect competitors, on the other hand, may not sell the same product but still meet similar customer needs like businesses offering basic contact management tools.

Taking the same CRM software example, if you run a Pest Control CRM company, you are not a direct competitor to Sales CRM companies like Salesforce and HubSpot, even though all are technically similar products.

To explore deeper, you can use tools like SWOT analysis to evaluate their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats or rely on benchmarking to compare your performance metrics with theirs. ~ Aditya Soni via

Competitive gap analysis is a valuable process for businesses aiming to stay ahead in the market. It involves comparing your company’s performance across key areas—such as products, pricing, and customer experience—against your competitors’. In this guide,

02/06/2025

No. 6. Create a website and a blog.

It’s crucial to increase brand awareness online. While your industry and target market will help determine the extent of your online presence, a website and a blog are likely excellent tools for establishing your startup as a credible organization. Depending on your budget and skill set, you can build and manage your website yourself or use one of the best website builders and design services.

But it’s not enough to create a website and a blog; you or a team member must continually update them and offer fresh content. For example, your blog should have a consistent posting schedule and produce valuable content.

Kenly emphasized the importance of developing an SEO strategy and monitoring your website’s performance to maximize the reach of your online resources. “Right from the start, we focus on website SEO and establish baseline metrics for organic visitors, bounce rates, session duration and returning users,” Kenly explained. ~ Skye Schooley via business.com

Startups can begin building their brand from day one with a solid marketing plan. Learn what to include in a marketing plan and how it can help you grow.

02/06/2025

Leverage Visual Content

Visuals enhance readability and engagement. Graphics, charts, and videos can clarify complex concepts and break up text. Infographics, in particular, are effective for summarizing detailed information.

Include alt text for images and captions where relevant to improve accessibility. Visuals should align with the blog’s message, enhancing rather than distracting from the main points. ~ Lauren Basiura via Marketing Insiders Group LLC

A strong blog content strategy forms the backbone of effective online marketing. Starting from scratch requires thoughtful planning, clear goals, and actionable steps to connect with your audience while achieving your objectives. Quick Takeaways Set measurable goals to guide content creation. Unders...

02/05/2025

No. 8. Leverage Heat Maps And Journey Analysis Tools

To optimize UX, leverage heat maps and journey analysis tools to understand where users get stuck or convert. Then, adopt a predictive analytics platform to gain deeper insights into the true nature of your avatar and its ever-evolving behavior.

These tools help refine messaging, sequencing and visuals, ensuring your website resonates with real users and drives better engagement. ~ Austin Irabor, NETFLY via the Expert Panel at Forbes Agency Council

A seamless, engaging UX not only improves brand visibility, but also drives conversions, as satisfied users are more likely to trust and transact with the brand.

02/05/2025

No. 3) Prioritize the Facts and Rules Over Emotions

When dealing with a PR crisis, facts stand as an unbreachable wall. But only facts will not win the entire game for you. Besides telling the public how you are right, ensuring that you care about your clients is also crucial.

“Provide empathy to the audience and offer assurance that you understand their point of view. After this, transparently present the facts, rules, and background information related to the primary concerns”, said Ivaylo Georgiev, SEO Manager of VPSBG. ~ Irina Weber via Agility PR Solutions

Time and again, we all have seen consumers highlighting the negative side of a client or company. While this can happen with any brand, such thoughts or reviews affect law firms most severely. If a lawyer