Muck Rack recently released its 2021 State of PR report. The report covers PR challenges, tech, media outreach, digital, measurement and budgets—all very exciting stuff for us and now you.
Needless to say, we couldn’t wait to dive in. 1,618 of our peeps were surveyed, with 50% being from agencies, 35% from well-known brands, and 15% from nonprofits. The report is over 71 pages and covers A LOT. For the sake of this blog and not to bore the living daylights out of you, we are focusing on challenges and measurement.
Challenges
Getting responses to press releases or pitches will always be the top challenge for PR pros. The good news for 8THIRTYFOUR is that agencies are more likely to get responses from journalists (65% vs. 51% for brands and nonprofits). This means investing in an agency to get the results you desire is well worth the cost.
Another big challenge is finding the right angle. One size does not fit all. Before we do any outreach for our clients, we craft several different pitches and customize them even further based on the reporter, publication and past articles. It’s quality, not quantity.
The report goes on to say agencies are much more likely to deliver creative solutions. When you hire us, you get an entire team.
Measurement
If you are chatting with an agency and they tell you PR can’t be measured, you need to run (preferably to 8THIRTYFOUR).
Here are the ways PR pros measure success:
- Website analytics
- Social media
- Sales
- Publication reach and UVM (unique visitors monthly)
PR pros meet internally weekly, with reporting to clients varying between weekly, monthly and quarterly.
Our team meets weekly, reports bi-weekly and provides coverage reports each month. PR is constantly changing. It is your agency’s job to stay on top of trends, breaking news and reporter shake-ups.
As for the future of PR, 82% of respondents agree that its importance will only grow. The last year seems to have opened the CEO’s eyes to the value of public relations. Budgets are trending up, with 45% increasing from the previous year.
We can tell you all day long that the investment is worth it, but you’ll need to experience it yourself.
When you’re ready, we’ll be here.
