How PR Pros Can Cut Through Social Media Noise: 3 Tips from Journalists

PR pros and journalists share many things in common. They’re both in the business of telling stories that inform and entertain their audience, and social media is playing an increasingly important role in that task. Whether it’s using these platforms to source information or to share content, PR teams and journalists know how challenging it can be to cut through social media noise.

With new platforms emerging all the time (e.g. Bluesky), a social media strategy isn’t just a nice-to-have, it's essential for staying across the conversations that matter to your brand and industry.

At a live Cision event, freelance journalist Emily Chudy said social media played a key part in PA Media’s coverage of the Taliban returning to power in Afghanistan in 2021. “We really wanted to hear from the voices on the ground and it was hard to know where they were,” she explained. “We embedded ourselves over a lot of separate social platforms and we found that X, Twitter at the time, was where the majority of content was coming from. We were able to really zone in on X where it mattered.”

Chudy, who also writes for Big Issue, The Independent, and Slate, joined The Guardian’s social platforms editor, Nikhita Chulani, at the Cision event to share social media tips that will resonate with any PR professional looking to filter through the noise. Here’s a recap of three of the biggest takeaways from the day.

1. Only Jump on Trends if You Have a Unique Point of View

Every PR professional has been there: A trend explodes on social media, and there’s a temptation to look at “newsjacking” the topic to put your brand in the conversation. However, both Chudy and Chulani stressed the importance of approaching this with caution.

Social media moves so quickly that trends can quickly become yesterday’s news. For example, making the most of 2025’s online buzz around Dubai chocolate, luxuriant bars filled with pistachio cream, tahini, and knafeh pastry, would need a fresh point of view to work socially.

“If anyone were to [create a social campaign] on Dubai chocolate now, it wouldn’t really make much of an impact because people will have already seen that native content,” said Chudy. “Something that I think people can to do sidestep that mistake is to make sure that everything you’re doing is evolving the story and moving the story on.

“You’ll see if you do a Google search on one topic that a lot of [the results] might be quite similar. If you do something different that will make it stand out.”

The Guardian’s Chulani echoed the importance of being able to “take the conversation on,” and tapping into relevant metrics to judge the impact of any social media content you produce. “The way I measure success for a social video will be the average view duration. [That will show] what we’re telling you is interesting enough that you’re staying with us,” she noted.

2. Listen to Your Audience (And Get to Know What They Want)

Managing your brand’s social media can be challenging if you don’t have a grasp of your audience and what makes them tick. Journalists, like PR pros, are well-versed in tapping into analytics platforms to get inside the minds of their audience and understand the topics that matter to them.

Analytics tools like GA4 and social listening can help you cut through social media noise and see the conversations your audience is having online. Chudy used both to inform recent content she has been writing about personal finance.

“I use social listening all the time in my journalism. I'm working on projects with The Big Issue about finance, and we've taken some of the social listening data we've be monitoring about the cost of living crisis. 

“We saw the conversations that people were having and the specific questions that they were asking via Google Analytics... we were able to take that data and ask experts and work on our content based on exactly what [the audience] wanted.”

Chudy added that these social listening tips were also particularly helpful during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing them to understand what audiences were looking for during a “noisy” time on social media.

3. Understand What Makes Compelling Social Media Content

It sounds obvious, but immersing yourself in social media is the best way to understand how to identify and create content that’s capable of cutting through the noise.

“What would you stop for when you’re scrolling?” asked Chulani. “Break this down for yourself, would I be interested this? Would this resonate with me? How are we selling this to them? The headline, the caption, how does it all fit together?”

Chudy suggested that it’s not always enough to be looking at social media from afar. Instead, it pays to engage directly with platforms to learn what type of content they favor – and prioritizes serving to users.

“It's really important to remember that social media isn't a monolith,” she said. “Each platform has its own personality, has its own distinct things that it can deliver. Make sure you're really embedding yourselves in each platform. I think PR professionals [should] use TikTok, get on X, get on Instagram, really see what your audience is seeing.”

Final Thoughts

For both journalists and PR pros, successful social media strategies are built on understanding your audience deeply, finding authentic ways to contribute to conversations, and staying immersed in the platforms where your audience spends their time.

Rather than chasing every trend, focus on the conversations that genuinely matter to your brand and audience. Social listening can help here, enabling you identify opportunities where your unique perspective can add real value.

For social media and PR professionals ready to level up their game, a tool like CisionOne can help transform how you identify trends, understand brand sentiment, and measure the true impact of your content. Social media noise will always be present, but with the right strategy in place you’ll be able to understand what your audience is saying – and create content and campaigns that they hear loud and clear.

Ready to learn more? Find out how CisionOne Social can help connect you keep track of the conversations that matter to your brand. Speak to an expert.