The Irish Academy of Public Relations, in conjunction with Opinions.ie, conducted research to find out what is happening at the most senior levels in the communications industry – with particular emphasis on PR. The research consisted of 3 surveys, conducted over a 2-year period.
The Irish Academy of Public Relations, in conjunction with opinions.ie, conducted research to find out what is happening at the mostsenior levels in the communications industry – with particular emphasis on PR.The research consisted of 3 surveys, conducted over a 2-year period.
So, what did these surveys unearth?
- They showed that the greatest pressure on PR practitioners, by far, came from trying to keep abreast of social media. A whopping 57% are struggling with that on a daily basis.
- A further 52% are under pressure to maintain brand profile. This, surely, must be linked to the explosion in social media.
- 49% of respondents were struggling to keep a breast of technology, while 41% were worried about winning new business.
Let’s look at who participated in these surveys which were conducted over a two-year period.
- 31% of people who responded to the surveys worked in PR. This figure declined to 21% by the final survey.
- Interestingly, and we don’t know if there is a co-relation, those working in marketing increased from 8% of participants to 19% in the same period.
- The event management professionals who participated also declined slightly over the period (from 10% to 8%).
- Broadcast media journalists remained constant at 3%.
- Two new categories of occupation appeared over the period of the research. Mid-way through approx. 4% of people said they were working full-time in social media. At the end of the research that had risen to 10%.
- Advertising had also appeared as a new category with 3% selecting this title to best describe their work.
The seniority of those participating changed little however.
- Those with 1-5 years experience fluctuated between 25% and 28%.
- Those with 6-10 years experience ranged between14% and 16% of participants.
- The highest category by far (57%-62%) were partitioners with 10+ years experience.
The results of this survey really reflect the opinions of senior practitioners in the industry.
One final piece of insight into those who responded, approx.53% were in full-time employment, 31% were business owners and 9% were working part-time.
So what can we conclude from all this?
Pressure: I think it’s fair to draw the conclusion that, at the most senior levels in public relations, practitioners are struggling to build and maintain brand profile for their clients.
Why?: because they are struggling to keep abreast of social media and the constant fluctuations in that area.
Further pressure: This in turn applies pressure to try to find new technologies to help (which they are also struggling with) and a combination of all of the above is creating worry about their ability to win new business.
