RELIABLE PR

The Journal

Field notes on
getting found.

Real takeaways on PR, brand, social, paid, and growth from the work we do every day. No fluff. No "5 tips" listicles. Just things that move the needle.

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Featured

A phone on a ring light stand recording a vertical video of a woman
Instagram ·Social Media

Instagram Trial Reels: How They Work and What 40 Tests Showed

Instagram trial reels go to people who don't follow you first. We ran 40 on one account. Here's how they work and what actually moved the views.

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Email Marketing ·Analytics

Does an Email Tracking Pixel Hurt Deliverability? We Tested It

The same pitch scored 10/10 sent plain and 6.9/10 with an open pixel. What the pixel changes, why open rates lie, and why we kept tracking on anyway.

Five wooden stars in a row on a navy blue background
Amazon ·Reviews

How to Get Reviews on Amazon in 2026 (Contact Customer Is Gone)

Amazon removed Contact Customer on critical reviews in June 2026. What sellers can still do to get reviews, what Vine costs, and what gets an account flagged.

A woman writing notes in a planner beside an open laptop
Social Media ·LinkedIn

Does LinkedIn Penalize AI Content? What It Says About AI Slop

LinkedIn limits the reach of what it calls AI slop, not AI assisted writing. Here's what it officially said and shipped in 2026, and which claims are rumors.

A magnifying glass held over the Facebook app icon on a smartphone screen
Meta Ads ·Paid Advertising

How to See Your Competitors' Facebook Ad Targeting

Meta shows a competitor's age, gender and location targeting only for ads that ran in the EU or UK. What 204 ads showed us, and how to spot the ones that sell.

A clinician in a white coat talking with a patient during a consultation
Paid Advertising ·Meta Ads

Weight Loss Clinic Marketing and the GLP-1 Ad Rules for 2026

What Meta, Google, FDA and the FTC actually allow in GLP-1 ads, the words that get weight loss clinics in trouble, and the content rules we use with a clinic.

Delivery boxes and padded mailers stacked at a front door
Paid Advertising ·Meta Ads

Facebook Ads to Amazon: Attribution and the Brand Referral Bonus

How to run Facebook ads to an Amazon listing: why Meta can't see the sale, how Amazon Attribution tracks it, and what the Brand Referral Bonus credits back.

A hand holding a smartphone that shows a loading screen
Meta Ads ·Paid Advertising

Complete Registration Event on Meta: Which Signup Step to Track

A software client's site fired Meta's Complete Registration event only after an emailed code. What that did to a signup campaign, and which event to choose.

A laptop on a desk showing a Google Analytics dashboard
Analytics ·AI Search

How to Track ChatGPT Traffic in GA4 and Tell When It Sent a Lead

A ChatGPT visitor asked us for an audit, and a day later GA4 still had the visit in the wrong channel. How to track AI traffic in GA4 and prove a lead's source.

A smartphone showing a social media profile screen on a desk
Social Media Management ·Branding

The Brand With No Social Accounts Already Had Three

A new client's intake form said no social accounts yet. Their exact handle was already registered on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, all close to empty, owner unknown. Here's the handle check we run before launch now, and what each platform actually says about taken names.

A person looking at an online course on a laptop at a kitchen table
Online Communities ·Customer Retention

Members Were Paying for Courses They Couldn't Open

We audited a paid Skool community as an ordinary member and found four of its ten courses locked behind point levels nobody had ever reached. Here's how Skool's levels actually work, why gating backfires in a young community, and the four settings that fix it.

A person holding a phone and typing a search
AI Search ·Local SEO

Bakersfield's Two Top-Rated Roofers Have 467 Reviews. AI Named Neither.

When a customer asks ChatGPT or Perplexity for a local recommendation they get one to six names, not ten blue links. We ran the test across three Bakersfield industries and found that ranking at the top of Google does not mean AI knows you exist.

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