This is a guest post by Dina Mostovaya.

The role of PR professionals has evolved significantly. Numerous global studies show that nowadays, a head of communications plays the part of a company’s business partner, becoming critical in the process of achieving the firm’s business goals.

Gone are the days when PR solely provided support; now, it is recognized that communication must have a strategic focus. The definition of public relations has expanded and now includes activities such as managing social networks, developing blogs, implementing email marketing campaigns, participating in events, and more. In essence, the goal is to use a wide range of channels to effectively convey the brand's key messages, mission, ideas, and values, all of which ultimately convert into tangible business metrics and leads.

In that context, Iliyana Stareva’s "Inbound PR" is an excellent guide on how to create content that helps generate inbound inquiries and provides data with which to measure the impact of strategic communications. I first read this book a few years ago, and still consider it one of the most useful.