Top Articles for PR & Comms Teams to Prepare for 2025

2025 was a busy year that brought new challenges to the PR and comms industry: Increased pressure to “do more with less,” rising expectations from the C-suite, AI acceleration, shifting audience behaviors, and the list goes on. As you get ready for the year ahead, we want to make sure you have access to our most valuable insights on the topics that matter most to you.

We also kept busy over the past year: We surveyed thousands of journalists, gathered insights from hundreds of your peers, and spoke with dozens of industry thought leaders. Our goal? To capture unique perspectives that can help you tackle even the toughest challenges.

These insights and data inspired us to create dozens of resources, including guides, reports, tip sheets, articles, webinars, and podcasts. In this article, we’ll shine a spotlight on the articles our readers loved most and found most useful to help you craft impactful media pitches, build a successful career, make your brand stand out, and improve your strategies. 

Upgrade your pitching game (and win it)

Crafting pitches is a big part of your role. These articles cover essential pitching elements and expert advice to maximize your chances of getting media coverage.

• 5 Things Journalists Wish PR Pros Knew

  You don’t need to guess what journalists want from you – they told us, through frank, candid feedback in our State of the Media survey. We gathered the revealing and insightful quotes and compiled them into a comprehensive list of five must-know “rules” for media relations today.

• Timing Is Everything: The Best Time to Send a PR Pitch

  Having a great pitch is not always enough to get coverage – it must also land in journalists’ inboxes at the right time. This article explores data-backed best practices for refining the timeliness of your pitch for maximum impact.

• How to Follow Up on a Media Pitch: PR Advice from Journalists

  Getting coverage isn’t just about writing the perfect media pitch – it's also about what you do after sending it. So, should you follow up? The answer is more nuanced than a simple yes or no. Find out how to identify the right approach based on individual journalist preferences and see which ones appreciate follow-ups and which prefer a single outreach. 

Build a successful PR career

The employment of PR specialists is projected to grow 6% in the next eight years. With that in mind, we wrote a few articles to support those interested in pursuing and succeeding in a PR career. 

• Thinking of a Career in PR? What You Need to Know

  For those interested in starting a career in PR, this article is the perfect place to start. Check out the pros and cons of working in this industry and those must-have skills that can push you to success. 

• Success Tips for Starting Your PR Career

  A role in PR is complex as it requires a mix of both hard and soft skills. This article covers examples of both, plus top tips and practical advice for achieving PR success. 

• 20 Top PR Experts and Influencers to Follow Right Now

  No matter where they are in their career, top-performing PR and comms pros have one secret: They keep up with industry changes. That’s why we encourage you to tap into the collective wisdom of the PR community. Here we’ve listed the top PR influencers and experts you should follow. 

Keep your eyes on your brand

Behind a powerful, trusted, and reputable brand is a savvy PR team – which means a huge responsibility for you: From building awareness and loyalty around it to protecting its reputation. Check out these articles to see some focus points you should have when it comes to your brand. 

• How Public Relations Can Improve Brand Sentiment

  When it comes to brand reputation, PR teams are not only expected to monitor it but also shape it. Find out how to influence and improve brand sentiment by taking a strategic approach. 

• How to Build Brand Loyalty as a PR Professsional

  You already know brand loyalty plays a crucial role in your strategy. But how can you build it successfully? This article reveals those tactics that can help you make brand loyalty strategies as effective as possible. 

• How to Build Trust and Strengthen Brand Reputation: A Guide for PR

  With more information – and disinformation – at consumers' fingertips than ever before, trust is non-negotiable for brands. Discover how to ensure transparency in messaging, how to measure brand trust, and the role you can play in building it.

Sharpen your strategies

Effective communications strategies are the pillars of PR success. But they should never be set in stone – these articles give you key pointers on how to continuously refine your tactics.

• How to Move from a Reactive to Proactive Communication Strategy

  A reactive comms strategy doesn’t cut it anymore – in fact, most PR professionals say it’s the biggest obstacle to their efforts. Moving to a proactive one can enhance brand reputation, media relationships, and overall effectiveness. Find out how to make that switch.

• How PR Teams Are Rethinking Their Social Media Strategies

  Social media is not just a distribution channel – it's an opportunity to explore current trends and best practices that can help inform your own PR strategies. Get actionable tips on how you can use social media to your advantage.

• PR Tactics to Refresh Your Comms Strategy

  Changing audience behaviors, shifting business priorities, or stalled performance are all signs for you to take a step back and reassess your strategy. This article explores key areas to focus on when you want to re-organize, refresh, and revitalize your current PR strategy.

Embrace AI in PR

With three in four comms professionals confident in their organization’s ability to take advantage of AI (according to a Cision/PRWeek survey of 400 PR industry leaders), the impact of AI on the PR industry is undeniable. Let’s see below how you can make the most of it. 

• AI in Public Relations: Definition, Benefits & Examples

  Do you feel ready to embrace AI’s benefits? Read this article to learn more about the AI tools your team can use, and how you can make the most of this powerful, fast-moving technology. 

• AI Experts Answer Your Burning AI in PR Questions

  AI in PR raises a lot of questions: From the risks around its use to its implementation. Inspired by a two-part webinar series we held in 2025, ithis article answers to the most pressing questions around AI in PR. 

• How to Introduce AI into Your PR Workflow: 5 Tips from an Expert

  Introducing AI into your PR workflow doesn’t simply mean using ChatGPT or Gemini to help craft your pitches. It’s more than that: You need careful planning, consideration, and stakeholder buy-in from across the company. Use this article to get tips on effectively integrating AI into your workflow. 

Find out how CisionOne makes it easy to get actionable insights by scheduling a demo with one of our experts.