| Danielle Capriato 
The countdown concludes! As the year comes to a close, we’ve compiled the best practices you need to know for 2016. Get more tips in our Best of 2015 series. If I were asked to describe the current state of public relations, I would choose one word: Dynamic. The industry is one of constant change. PR pros are faced with new challenges and have consistently risen to the occasion — turning challenges into opportunities for learning and growth. This year, we’ve watched as PR continues to evolve and as its practitioners strive to develop new ideas, methods, technologies and strategies to meet the rising demands we are facing. Keep reading for some of our top blog posts, white papers, and other content about public relations from the past year. 6 Brand Stories the Media Wants That You're Probably Not Telling Media relations continues to be an important tool in the PR practitioners’ toolbox, and telling the right story is the key to earning coveted editorial coverage. That means telling a story that is not the standard company profile. This blog post breaks down the types of stories journalists, bloggers and other influencers want to hear from your brand. New PR Approaches for Outbound Communications Strategies Leveraging owned and social channels to communicate with a known and established audience allows brands to maintain their market presence. However, in order to grow, public relations practitioners must spread their message beyond that existing footprint and attract new audiences. This white paper discusses how to use all available communications channels to get your brands’ or clients’ stories in front of evolving audiences. How to Turn Your Data Into Stories Data and statistics can lend credibility to your content, offer actionable insight to readers, and give journalists and other influencers valuable information to work with. But numbers alone aren’t enough to drive your story. Learn how to turn cold, hard data into a story that will better resonate with your audiences and get the attention of the media. Pitch Perfect: Tips for a Media Outreach Strategy That Sings Journalists, bloggers and other influencers can provide invaluable reach and credibility for your company's story when they share it with their audience. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to distinguish yourself from the hundreds and thousands of pitches landing in a journalist’s inbox each day. That’s why it's more important than ever to hone your pitching strategy. This list covers five things to keep in mind as you prepare your media outreach. What Does a PR Professional Do? From media outreach to crisis management to writing press releases and other content, a day in the life of a PR pro can be often busy, sometimes stressful, and rarely fully understood. Share this post about PR practitioners’ responsibilities with your friends and family outside the field, so they can get a taste of the daily grind. 5 Tips to Channel the PR Force #LikeAJedi If your friends are still asking questions about your job, just tell them you’re a Jedi–a Public Relations Jedi. This blog post describes the journey of a PR Jedi, with tips on how to channel the Force when working with journalists, building relationships on social media, and finding the right angle for your press release. Content We Love: Show Off Your Earnings With Multimedia Even financial earnings releases are experiencing an evolution, as companies start exploring the use of dynamic, multimedia elements to accompany their more traditional business news. Here we examine how one company — Sanofi — used a multimedia-rich microsite in conjunction with a standard earnings release, proving that engaging multimedia can truly make all content stand out. The Future of PR Is Now [Infographic] PR Newswire recently asked customers and industry professionals to fill in the blank: “PR is now ____.” and share how public relations has changed since we originally released our popular #PRis infographic in 2012. Thoughts on the past, present and future of PR ranged from insight on relationships and reputation management to the drive to meet business goals and impact bottom line results. Check out some of the responses in the gallery below, then catch up on all of our other ‘Best of 2015’ installments and have a wonderful New Year! Danielle Capriato is the manager of strategic communications at PR Newswire. Follow her on Twitter @dcapriato. | 
