r/Communications

How many of your teams have a website-specific person? We have two websites/brands we manage that support $175M+ in projects and programs. The websites are difficult to keep up to date and are underperforming with engagement and traffic because of understaffing. We're trying to advocate for more staff, including a web content manager, but a field read here would be helpful! If folks have insight and other ideas on how to advocate that this type of support is needed, not just spread thin between staff or adding consultants. We have just under 25 staff, there are only 2 of us doing all of the Comms work for both brands. Thank you! EDIT: we also do all of the graphic design, social media, outreach, and eBlasts.

Just a (hopefully relatable) rant, really.

A - some people just don’t get comms do they? Comms can make or break a project, we always seem to be brought in at the last minute - a postbox rather than a partner.

B - I feel like I’m always fighting a losing battle with project teams!! You can create all the comms guidelines, best practice docs etc you want, and they’ll always be either ignored or argued about. Particularly when it comes to Plain English stuff - I work in a charity that works closely with the public sector on stuff - people insist on using performative jargon bullshit, which completely contradicts programmes that they’re trying to run (for communities facing inequalities, mostly).

C - no one seems to want to do a comms plan, just spurt out random info about projects. Everything is always last minute and urgent.

Arrrrrggghhhh. Please tell me I’m not alone! How do you manage this? Pulling my hair out 🥴

Hello,

Looking for opportunities in the Communication Industry for below roles:

- Public Relations Manager
- Account Supervisor
- PR Relations Executive
- Communication Advisor

I have over 5 years of international experience and am try to land a job in the industry. If anyone can help with an opportunity in their organization or through an acquaintance or referral, please PM. Any help would be deeply appreciated 🥹

Thanks in advance!

I need advice I’m in PR. I have a very difficult client who I’ve only been working with for 6 months. We get along personally really well but he has a major ego problem professionally. In the first three months of working together I secured 40 press placements for them including a feature story in southern living and two inclusions in Forbes. I was pretty proud of our first quarter together but he was not happy. He said he wanted more strategic focus on marketing activations, awards applications, national storytelling, etc. so for the past three months I’ve been shifting my focus there. Every week he sends me another article that he’s mad he wasn’t included in or points out another problem he has with me and I’m growing super exhausted of it. It’s a lot of passive aggression too. A lot of his goals are veryyyy North Star goals that will take more than 6 months of a PR relationship to accomplish and I’ve told him that several times but he doesn’t seem to care. He wants overnight acclaim and accolades. How should I best manage this

My org is increasingly encouraging use of AI across all staff to create comms that previously would have come through the comms team.

In just the past few months, I have to admit that AI is doing a much better job (although the comms team does get better results than others across the org who try create for our channels - unsurprisingly.)

I am supportive of use of AI when it’s used properly. When I try and say anything about the quality of the work I am shot down and come across anti-AI. I use it myself and have worked hard on improving outputs.

At the same time, we’re told using AI will allow us to focus on strategy and telling the brand story. But we have an external agency that does a lot of the strategic stuff. The agency has been employed since before I started but has been given an increasingly strategic role.

AI is only going to get better and my org is only going to use it more and more. The role of comms is changing. How do I carve out a place for my team in this new normal?

Hi everyone,

26F living in Cape Town, South Africa, and looking for some career advice.

I currently have around 1–2 years of experience in a marketing coordinator-type role, mainly doing content scheduling, email marketing, social media copywriting, some content creation, basic design, etc. It was quite execution-focused and for a specific brand within education.

I then took a year to study and completed a postgraduate qualification in Marketing & Advertising Communications. This year, I moved into a digital agency that focuses heavily on AI and currently work on the marketing operations side of the agency so I’m not client-facing.They operate across different countries, so I’ve been exposed to different markets and the broader process of aligning marketing with business and sales objectives.
It’s been a really valuable experience, but I’ve realised that long-term I’m much more interested in strategy, brand thinking, consumer insights, human behaviour, communications and PR.
I’d ideally like to move into a creative/advertising agency where I can work more closely with brands, have some creative freedom, build a strategic portfolio and gain exposure to different industries. I’m interested in eventually moving towards roles like Junior Strategist, Brand Strategist, Creative Strategist, Planner or PR/Communications.
At the moment, though, I feel like my experience is positioning me more towards marketing/brand management and operations, which isn’t really where I see myself going.
For anyone working in agencies or who has made a similar pivot, how would you recommend making this transition beyond just applying for jobs?

Would building a strategic portfolio, networking, freelancing, doing spec projects or taking specific courses actually help? And would you recommend taking a more junior agency role to get that initial experience?
Would really appreciate any advice, especially from people who have made the move from marketing into agency strategy/creative/PR.