Video is no longer an awareness play, left to big businesses with big agencies and big budgets. 

Video is now everywhere and anyone with a smartphone can play. 

Many brands are jumping on video marketing as they recognise the need for it but are still struggling to create the type of engaging videos that their audience can connect to or be interested in watching until the end. 

Social networks too are placing video at the very front - Facebook launched a whole section that surfaces personalised videos to your interests and past activity, Instagram Live is booming, YouTube is at an all-time high when it comes to usage. 

But creating videos that are personalised and authentic is hard. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn't. And everyone has a different opinion.

Take the latest Gillette ad campaign "We Believe" - it sparked a lot of controversy, some loved it, others really hated it. 

Did you know that by 2020, IoT technology will be in 95% of new electronics?

That's just a year away, yes.

We thought that online and social channels were disruptive but how about innovations such as 3D printing, electric cars, the internet of things (IoT), virtual reality and artificial intelligence (AI)?

These new technologies are completely reinventing how we do pretty much everything in our personal and professional lives. 

And we will all require new skills to be able to do our jobs. In fact, in their research, Accenture Interactive predicts that more than half of the workforce will have to learn new skills within the next five years due to human-machine collaboration.

No wonder then that one-third of companies are planning to increase their innovation-related investments by more than 50% as worldwide spending on technology and services to enable digital transformation (DX) is going to reach nearly $2 trillion by 2022.

But what are some of those investments going to be? 

With the new year, the Inbound PR methodology deserved an update.

Last autumn, we introduced the HubSpot flywheel and to align with the flywheel we updated the inbound methodology from attract -> convert -> close -> delight in a linear fashion to attract -> engage -> delight in a circle. 

We define inbound as a method of attracting, engaging and delighting people to grow a business that provides value and builds trust.

Traditionally, inbound focused on the customer - your buyer persona and how you attract prospects and customers to your website and blog through relevant and helpful content, then engage with them using conversational tools like email and chat, and finally, delighting them by continuing to act as an empathetic advisor and expert. 

At The Heart of Inbound PR is Your Stakeholder Persona

What's unique about PR unlike any other industry is that it tackles multiple personas - customers, media people, employees etc. 

Happy New Year my readers!

I hope 2019 is going to be successful, happy, fruitful, filled with emotions and achievements and the most enriching experiences for all of you! 

As I said last week, I tend to reflect a lot when the year ends. Last week we reviewed the top posts on this blog based on views, this week I want to show you the 12 posts that defined 2018 for me. 

They explore Inbound PR and the book I published about it this year, internal communication, marketing, leadership and social media. 

Below is the selection of my favourite posts per month out of the 51 pieces that I wrote in 2018. 

On to a fabulous 2019 and more PR, inbound PR, marketing and business posts!

The 12 Blog Posts of 2018 that Defined Iliyana's Blog

The Christmas holiday is always a good time for reflection. 

I think about the past year and what I've done, what I've learned, what I've achieved, where I've travelled (19 international trips and 13 countries visited to be precise), the people I've met, really everything about in my life. 

I also think about this blog and how for yet another year (its 7th!), I've managed to keep up with it because it's hard to have a demanding full-time job and then keep maintaining this blog on the side in addition to publishing my first book Inbound PR. 

But I'm a firm believer that with persistence and hard work, everything is possible. 

As part of my reflection process, I spent some time reviewing the most popular blog posts of 2018 on this blog so that I can better plan my content for 2019 and respond to your needs as my readers. 

Below you can find a list of the top posts based on views and at this stage, I want to say thank you to my readers for staying with me, reading my work and engaging with this blog!