Challenges Persist for PR Pros in 2022

MuckRack Reveals Media Responses, Budgets and Measuring Impact as Top Hurdles

There are still plenty of obstacles facing public relations professionals in 2022, ranging from reaching media to measuring the impact of PR campaigns to being stretched too thin, according to MuckRack’s new report, The State of PR 2022.

The biggest challenge PR pros relayed is getting a response from media to their pitches. Of the 1,800+ PR pros that participated in the survey, 52% said that this is their biggest challenge, which shouldn’t be too surprising since we know that journalists are being pulled in multiple directions.

Earlier this year MuckRack revealed that the average journalist now works four beats in 2022, up from three in 2021, in its report, The State of Journalism 2022.

With reporters focusing on so many topics on a given day or in a week, it can be incredibly challenging for a pitch to break through the clutter.

At the same time, 37% of respondents said it’s a challenge to discover relevant journalists to connect with. Considering reporters are covering so many beats, it’s understandable that it can be difficult to pinpoint what reporters to target if it appears their topics for reporting change weekly.

To find relevant reporters for their outreach, 73% of PR pros use media databases, 60% use personal contacts, 57% use Google and 33% use social media.

The second biggest challenge PR pros face, according to 45% of respondents, is budget limitations. However, what firm or client would not benefit from greater funding, considering so many budgets were cut or eliminated over the past couple of years during the pandemic?

Coupled with rising prices, PR firms or brands are likely unable to spend as much as they used to and need to stretch their resources as much as possible.

MuckRack’s report also found that PR pros find it challenging to effectively measure the business impact of their efforts. Of participants, 38% said this is an issue, but when broken down 40% of PR agencies said this is a challenge, as compared to 35% of brands.

This is an understandable barrier in the industry, as PR campaigns don’t always strive to increase sales of products. Rather, it can be harder to measure if a spokesperson’s messages during an interview influenced readers’ actions or swayed their opinion about a specific matter.

Despite these challenges, Xenophon diligently works to support the needs of our clients by providing highly tailored strategic plans that are realistic in scope and expectations. We also make sure we can provide our clients with reliable results that measure the success of a campaign.

For more information on our media relations practice, please visit us at: https://xenophonstrategies.com/services/media-relations/.

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