Ragan Communications

10/02/2026

Adding Substack writers to a media list is easy. Pitching them like traditional reporters is where it goes wrong.

Subscriber counts are often private and misleading. Substack's own messaging system can flag a pitch as spam. And new AI detection tools mean a templated pitch stands out more than ever to writers who left institutional newsrooms specifically to build closer relationships with readers.

Specificity isn't optional here. It's the whole game.

Read more:

How do you best pitch Substack editors?

10/02/2026

Your team's best practices shouldn't live in the heads of just a few people.

Join Ragan on Thursday, Nov. 12 at 1:30 p.m. ET for a 60-minute interactive tutorial on turning your approved messaging, standards and review rules into a reusable Claude Skill your whole team can use. No coding experience required.

Learn More:

Join this 60-minute interactive tutorial to learn how to build, test and troubleshoot Claude to enhance your communications.

10/02/2026

Search is becoming social. Creators are becoming media companies. Organic reach keeps shifting under everyone's feet.

Ragan and PR Daily's Social Media & Marketing Conference brings together the marketers and comms leaders navigating all of it, with real strategies for AI, content and community, not theory.
March 3-5, 2027. Walt Disney World, Orlando.

Register now.

Join us March 3-5, 2027 at Ragan and PR Daily's Social Media & Marketing Conference at the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort in Orlando.

10/02/2026

Most teams say they're "using AI." Few can say exactly where they stand.

Ragan's Center for AI Strategy built a confidential assessment that takes 5 to 7 minutes and scores your team's AI readiness stage, with recommendations for what comes next.

Take the assessment:

GET YOUR CONFIDENTIAL SCORE NOW! Find out your team’s AI readiness stage and get recommendations on advancing! AI MATURITY STAGES Takes just 5-7 mins to complete Discover your AI readiness level Get score + Recommendations By taking this short assessment you’ll get the insights and recommendatio...

10/02/2026

CCOs still earn less than other C-suite leaders. Half don't sit on the executive committee. Companies spend far more on advertising than on comms.

After four decades in the field, Mark Bain argues the industry won't fix this through incremental improvement. He's calling for consolidation across a fragmented ecosystem, shared tools instead of siloed innovation, and comms owning adjacent functions like investor relations and change management.

Evolution hasn't closed the gap. He's arguing for something bigger.

Read more:

Communicators should take bold steps to supercharge the field's impact and reputation.

10/01/2026

Your AI tools are getting used, but can you prove they're paying off?

This free guide from LineZero offers a practical framework for connecting AI-powered employee experience investments to real business outcomes, plus a budget-ready checklist for 2027 planning.

Download your copy today.

Proving the ROI of AI-Powered Employee Experience Employee experience just got more expensive to defend. As organizations move quickly to add AI-powered search, assistants, content tools and personalization to the employee experience, EX, HR and internal communications leaders face a harder question...

10/01/2026

For a while, GEO strategy ran on guesswork. Teams sat in a room, wrote down prompts people might type into ChatGPT, and optimized against the guess.

Real conversation data flips that. Once you can see what people are actually asking AI, content stops getting built for assumed questions and starts getting built for the ones that actually get asked.

Precise optimization against the wrong target still misses.

Read more:

AI visibility strategies were built on guesses dressed up as data. Actual behavior changes what gets built and what gets cut.

10/01/2026

AI usage numbers don't tell leaders whether AI is actually working.

Ragan's AI Strategy Certificate Course starts Nov. 4 and shows communicators how to assess AI readiness, measure adoption and workflow gains, and build executive-ready dashboards that prove business value.

Complete all three sessions live or on demand.

Join this AI certificate course to help turn AI adoption into measurable business value, positioning comms as a strategic enterprise partner.

10/01/2026

Everyone's using AI now. That's not what sets teams apart anymore.

The divide is between teams still bolting AI onto old workflows and teams who've rebuilt around it. Ragan's AI Horizons Conference is built to get you into the second group, with real frameworks for crisis response, brand voice at scale and proving ROI to the people signing off on budget.

Feb. 1-3, 2027. Carlsbad, CA.

Register now:

Join AI Horizons to turn AI from an interesting tool into a strategic advantage for your team and your organization.

10/01/2026

Congratulations to the winners and honorees of Ragan’s CSR and Nonprofit Awards - we had a great time celebrating you in NYC this week!