How the PR industry is changing: From media relations, to social media management and content marketing

To what extent the lines between PR, marketing, social and digital are blurring is quantified by a recent study, State of PR 2020, from social media analytics and monitoring platform Talkwalker in association with research firm YouGov.

When asked what the main offerings of PR are, the top four are: social media management and campaigns (77%); content marketing (77%); influencer marketing (67%); and link building on SEO (56%).

PR professionals are now more ‘social’ than ever

The benefits of social listening and analytics in PR are not fully utilized yet

The PR landscape is changing

Vanity metrics still used to prove value of PR work to stakeholders
Particularly in MEA, APAC & Northern Europe 2020

Discussing the study, Lama Barr, marketing manager, Middle East & Africa at Talkwalker, says: “We conducted this research to paint the most detailed picture of the PR industry today. Currently, 77% of marcomms professionals classify ‘social media management’ as a PR offering. These intersections between the worlds of PR, social media, digital marketing, and SEO are precisely what we set out to explore. The goal was to have a truly global overview of what PR professionals do today and how they integrate with previously siloed counterparts. We analysed the findings across different regions to allow PR professionals to benchmark themselves against a global standard. In doing so, we hope to empower brands and agencies to unlock a competitive edge in their respective markets and continue to adapt their offerings to keep up with the shift to digital.”

Not AVEs again!

PRmoment often debates the issue of measurement in PR, and despite the general opinion that AVEs are a poor way to measure value, this study shows that vanity metrics continue to be used to prove the value of PR to stakeholders, with around one-third of respondents relying on AVEs.

Methodology

Online interviews were via YouGov’s proprietary panel and Talkwalker’s database. All fieldwork was conducted between 29 Oct and 31 December 2019, There were 3,700 respondents across 82 countries. Click here to see the full study.