Social media revenue grows for public relations firms and advertising agencies
How effectively is social media being used by PR firms and advertising agencies?
A recent study conducted by the Transworld Advertising Agency Network and Worldcom Public Relations Group shows social media has increased revenues in the industry.
According to the study, in 2010, 28% of PR agencies reported social media accounted for between 15% and 33% of total revenues. That has increased to 40% in 2011.
Experts believe this increase has taken place because the PR industry is more effective at leveraging social media than advertisers.
Public relations proved to be a better fit for social media according to the study. 84% of PR agencies and 67% of ad agencies called PR “innovative” and said it was “keeping pace” within the industry. At the same time, only 68% of PR agencies and 52% of ad agencies believed the same about the advertising industry.
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This realization has brought both ad agencies and PR firms together, working in tandem towards the same goal of starting and facilitating conversations with their audience.
The three most used growth strategies for social media were reported as well and include:
-Integrating social media in all marketing communications campaigns and program planning. This has been done by 32% of the respondents.
-Investing in new people or training to get their organizations up to speed. This has been done by 16% of the respondents.
-Educating their clients about the potential of social media. This has been done by 8% of the respondents.
PR professionals should be using social media to facilitate conversations among their audience. As any trained PR professional will tell you, building mutually beneficial relationships is the name of the game. We’ve been trained to be effective communicators and social media allows us to do so. With the power, prevalence and adoption of social media within society, it’s much easier than before to find access to the audience members we seek.
Allowing the communications trained in public relations to facilitate the conversation, your PR may become more effective and appear to be separate from your advertising efforts.
For more on this study, take a look at this article from eMarketer.
