PR industry stable, for now
ADOTAS — I admit I haven’t always been kind to public relations people, or as we call them in journalism, flacks.
But I spend more time now than I ever have, emailing, talking and meeting with pr folks. There are a few who have no idea what we do here, write about or even care about finding out. And then there are others, including from the Horn Group and Blast PR, who get it. Some of these people have become quick references for me when I need contacts, so I was interested in reading this study on how the industry was doing in the recent downturn. Apparently, it’s not as bad as I assume, though that might change.
According to a USC survey, while original fiscal year 2009 communication budgets of the nearly 200 organizations that participated in the survey were, on average, 7.4 percent lower than what the organizations actually spent on that function in 2008. But budget reductions have not included dramatic cuts in their internal communication staffs, preferring to reduce compensation paid to their external agencies or take action to freeze or reduce compensation paid to their own staffs.
“Overall the news appears to be somewhat heartening for the profession,” said Jerry Swerling, Director of the SCPRC, in the a statement. “While the recession has certainly hurt, and there will undoubtedly be more pain in the future, our survey respondents, who come from a wide swath of the economy, have experienced significant but not debilitating budget cuts and have been able to prevent, at least through today, widespread layoffs.”
Jeremiah Owyang, senior analyst at Forrester Research: Social Computing, had some tips for both pr professionals and buyers:
- Staff need to stay current with their current skill set, especially social media skills. Management needs to offer more ways for clients to reach intended audience.
For buyers, they should renegotiate their contracts downward, figure out what areas are not being served, or increase the budget and ask for more services at a cheaper rate.
– Express your opinion, comment below.
Reader Comments.
Lower budgets are forcing PR people to be more creative with less, a challenge I find refreshing.
As far as being flacks, yes there are some, but mostly some of us (like me) are new and just learning. We make mistakes sometimes, but I think I understand reporters needs and make every effort to try my best. Hopefully, one day I can prove to not be a flack to you Edward.
Melissa,
I apologize if you took the term, flack, as a perjorative. The term comes from the idea that they are “flack jackets” for their clients.
I’ve learned a lot more about pr people, and understand them more as well. It takes two.
Ed, you have our offices buzzing today with warm thoughts. Not only do we really appreciate the shout out, but we all really appreciate the fact that you think we get it.
Being on our side of the phone/email/IM/twitter is daunting because we know how hard your job is. It makes our job a bit easier to add value and help you in times of need.
We take our business seriously and our clients even more so. In order for us to publicize effectively, we need to know what we are talking about – so we are always evolving, and constantly learning–learning alot.
blast! PR loves technology, we love the online advertising ecosystem and those covering it–including ADOTAS.
Keep up the good work and we’ll keep trying to help.
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