PR, AI & Marketing Takeaways from the Mid-Atlantic MarCom Summit

This year’s Mid-Atlantic MarCom Summit and ADWKDC held in Arlington, VA did not disappoint. It’s tough to fit a full day of PR, AI, and communications knowledge into one post, but here is a sampling of insights and actionable ideas:

💬 Trust is shifting.
With confidence in national media continuing to slip, people are turning to independent journalists, influencers, and platforms like Substack for information that feels more authentic and relatable. The challenge on the creator side is marketing and monetization.

🔗 LinkedIn is earning that trust.
Speakers said LinkedIn is the place for brands to be, and LinkedIn newsletters are driving big results. Hilton’s social team saw “crazy growth,” reaching 600,000 subscribers in a short time.

🔍 Search is getting conversational.
Sure, people are OK with searching Google and getting a list of blue links, but the future is asking AI a question and receiving a full answer. PR is the best way to appear in those results.

🧠 Update your surveys approach.
Designing a “how did you hear about us” survey? Now is the time to add LLM as an option. Bonus: add a secondary dropdown that asks “what question did you ask?”

🎥 Authenticity wins.
We’ve heard this before, and speakers confirmed: slick, ad-style social posts tend to flop. Real, human content performs better.

⚙️ Beware the AI “gurus.”
Watch out for the AI gurus and their 18-page prompt suggestions and magic tricks. The algorithm changes constantly. Some marketers went all-in building Reddit AI search strategies.

🗞️ Publicity key to AI results.
Earned media remains a dominant factor in AI search results, and “freshness,” meaning regular posts and news updates, helps even more. “Feed the LLMs,” one speaker advised. Another said, “consumers are gravitating toward answers, not articles.” Reddit is not going away, but it’s not the miracle source everyone was talking about a few weeks ago.

🎙️ Pitch the podcasts and trades.
Podcasts, and especially niche podcasts, should be part of your earned media pitching that reaches audiences who care. Trade press coverage helps as well. Both contribute to AI search responses.

📍 Back to local roots.
In a “Fireside Chat” with Sara Fischer of Axios, Chuck Todd, former Meet the Press moderator and now host of The Chuck ToddCast, said audiences are craving local—very local—news they can use, from weather updates to community sports. He’s developing a model focused on hyperlocal, service-oriented journalism to help rebuild trust and strengthen community connection.