Over the past couple of years companies have been spending more of their marketing and communication budgets on digital and social media. 72% of the PR firms polled by the 2015 Holmes Report rated digital and social as one of their top three growth drivers.
Statista predicts that by 2019 spend on social and digital media will grow to $17 billion in the US alone. In 2013 87% of US companies were already using social media marketing. We’re now at 89%. So the growth is not coming from more companies using digital and social – they’re allocating more of their budget to digital.
- 28% of marketers have reduced their advertising budget to fund more digital marketing (Gartner)
- Content creation and management claims the second largest share of the budget. Search is #1. (Gartner)
The digital PR agency has a bright future. Traditional PR firms that want to get on this bandwagon need to hire (or train) a team of talented digital strategists and content creators. Just because you are a PR firm doesn’t make you a digital and social expert. The skills needed to capitalize on this opportunity go far beyond the usual PR education. And the lack of those skills is a major issue in both companies and PR agencies.
Get the Digital PR Tips Newsletter
