University of Kwazulu-Natal

New Muck Rack Report Reveals Half Of Pr Pros Only Somewhat Confident

Bonisiwe Shabane
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new muck rack report reveals half of pr pros only somewhat confident

November 07, 2024 08:45 ET | Source: Muck Rack Muck Rack Miami, Nov. 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nearly half (45%) of PR pros’ budgets could be impacted by their ability to reach their goals, but they are split on whether one of their top reporting metrics,... The fourth annual State of Measurement in PR report released today from Muck Rack, the leading provider of award-winning PR software built for how brands and agencies work, highlights how and why PR pros... Nearly 400 individuals were surveyed to offer insight on topics including the importance of measurement, which metrics they trust, how they coordinate reporting, and what challenges they face. Measurement directly impacts bottom line for halfAn overwhelming majority (82%) of PR pros find it useful to track their efforts, and 86% report measuring their efforts is very important or extremely important.

For 40% of those surveyed, reporting is a major part of their job, with measurement listed among the top five most time-consuming parts of one’s role. While media relations remains by far the most common task, measurement and reporting is nearly tied in importance with content creation and thought leadership. Eighty-nine percent of respondents track and report their efforts in order to demonstrate their impact to stakeholders and show the value of PR, and nearly half (45%) report their budget could be impacted by... Half say they are only somewhat confident in their metrics and another 38% are very or extremely confident in them. With budgets and resources at stake, PR professionals need to prioritize metrics that are clear, reliable and prove their value. Most popular metrics also among least trusted Despite tracking an average of five metrics, PR pros believe three top metrics can accurately measure their efforts: stories placed, reach/impressions and key message pull-through.

While reach and impressions is one of the most popular metrics (about three quarters of PR pros use it), respondents are split on whether it's reliable. Just under half say it's trustworthy, while about a quarter outright say it isn’t. Additionally, about one third of PR pros don’t trust pitch performance as an accurate measure of their efforts, and some also question sentiment and revenue impact. Measurement provides communicators with pertinent data to prove their worth (and PR’s worth) to leadership. Whether it’s looking at numbers of impressions, audience sentiment in regards to a new campaign or referral traffic to a website, tracking metrics serves as an important part of every PR pro’s strategy. And yet, communicators’ conflicted relationship with measurement revealed itself in Muck Rack’s fourth annual State of PR Measurement.

For example, 89 percent of survey respondents said demonstrating the impact of their work is the main purpose of measurement. However, half of those surveyed said they are only “somewhat confident” in the metrics they typically report to stakeholders. So what does this mean for measurement as a whole? How can PR professionals measure the value of their work and tell that story to their stakeholders if they don’t fully trust the systems they are working with to do that? Some of the questions that may come up for communicators who are trying to prove the effectiveness of PR with measurement could include: Gregory Galant, CEO of Muck Rack, says that because PR reporting metrics are traditionally less concrete than marketing metrics it makes it more difficult to show the impact of PR on business outcomes.

It comes down to a simple question: How do you measure the value of reputation and trust? Muck Rack Report: 88% of PR Professionals Feel Leadership Understands Their Work Pros at agencies are more likely to feel valued than those at brands MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The vast majority of PR professionals feel that leadership understands their work at least somewhat well, with more than half of those at agencies feeling very valued by leadership, compared to only 22%... The 2024 report, which surveyed more than 1,100 PR professionals on the current state of the industry, also found that despite nearly half of PR professionals reporting lack of sufficient resources as a top... “It’s always been a challenge for communicators to showcase the value of earned media, but we’ve seen a shift in recent years as leadership's understanding and appreciation of PR and its impact on a...

“Companies need to continue investing in building a strong communications function to ensure the right messages are reaching their target audiences, that they're maintaining a positive brand reputation and that employees are supported through... The media landscape is shifting fast, and the newly released State of Journalism 2025 report from Muck Rack confirms what we at Proof are already seeing: relevance, personalization, and trust are everything. Based on insights from nearly 2,000 journalists across the globe, here are some key takeaways and why they matter for our clients and the future of earned media. More than 75% of journalists now use AI tools like ChatGPT in their workflow, yet most newsrooms don’t have a formal AI policy in place. For PR pros, that means being transparent about AI use in content creation and pitches is essential. It also means fact-checking, sourcing, and accuracy matter more than ever.

An overwhelming 86% of journalists say they’ll ignore pitches that aren’t relevant to their beat. At Proof, we’ve always believed in relationship-driven media outreach. This data proves the power of personalization. Generic blasts? They’re dead. Strategic targeting?

That’s how stories get told. LinkedIn was ranked the most trusted social platform by journalists this year, beating out X (FKA Twitter). Our takeaway: PR pros should double down on using LinkedIn as both a pitching tool and a visibility platform. Journalists are there, and they’re watching. More than one-third of journalists now self-publish outside traditional newsrooms. As the industry decentralizes, PR strategies need to evolve too.

Influential voices may not come from legacy outlets; they may come from substacks, podcasts, and TikTok. Miami, Nov. 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nearly half (45%) of PR pros’ budgets could be impacted by their ability to reach their goals, but they are split on whether one of their top reporting metrics,... The fourth annual State of Measurement in PR report released today from Muck Rack, the leading provider of award-winning PR software built for how brands and agencies work, highlights how and why PR pros... Nearly 400 individuals were surveyed to offer insight on topics including the importance of measurement, which metrics they trust, how they coordinate reporting, and what challenges they face. Measurement directly impacts bottom line for halfAn overwhelming majority (82%) of PR pros find it useful to track their efforts, and 86% report measuring their efforts is very important or extremely important.

For 40% of those surveyed, reporting is a major part of their job, with measurement listed among the top five most time-consuming parts of one’s role. While media relations remains by far the most common task, measurement and reporting is nearly tied in importance with content creation and thought leadership. Eighty-nine percent of respondents track and report their efforts in order to demonstrate their impact to stakeholders and show the value of PR, and nearly half (45%) report their budget could be impacted by... Half say they are only somewhat confident in their metrics and another 38% are very or extremely confident in them. With budgets and resources at stake, PR professionals need to prioritize metrics that are clear, reliable and prove their value. Most popular metrics also among least trusted Despite tracking an average of five metrics, PR pros believe three top metrics can accurately measure their efforts: stories placed, reach/impressions and key message pull-through.

While reach and impressions is one of the most popular metrics (about three quarters of PR pros use it), respondents are split on whether it's reliable. Just under half say it's trustworthy, while about a quarter outright say it isn’t. Additionally, about one third of PR pros don’t trust pitch performance as an accurate measure of their efforts, and some also question sentiment and revenue impact. Challenges in proving valueMore than half of PR pros say their biggest challenges are managing stakeholder expectations and linking their efforts to business goals. “Other” responses indicate concern about issues like data quality, access to resources and maintaining consistent measures year-over-year. Most PR pros are only somewhat confident in the metrics they report to stakeholders and more than a third find it difficult to track their efforts.

Eighty-eight percent of respondents spend less than four hours a week on measuring and reporting, and around one in ten spend more than half a work day per week on the task. Lack of consistent coordination between marketing and PRMeasuring and reporting efforts are handled by many levels of employees–about one third of PR pros say reporting and measuring is a team effort. For others, the task could be assigned to people either high or low in the team hierarchy, although it is rarely done by executive leadership.“Other” responses included using a third party, having a dedicated... Coordinating reporting with marketing happens (or doesn’t) in a variety of ways. About one third of those surveyed say there’s no coordination between marketing and PR. A similar number share reports across teams for alignment.

And only 13% hold joint meetings to discuss combining metrics. How often PR pros report on their efforts varies. While monthly updates to stakeholders are the most common for more than one third of PR pros, 24% report every quarter and 22% report on an as-needed basis. MethodologyThe goal of this survey is to better understand how and why PR pros track their work efforts. The self-administered online survey collected responses from 472 PR professionals from October 11 to 21, 2024. Survey responses were sought primarily through email and most respondents came from outreach to Muck Rack’s database and email contacts.

Data was cleaned to remove spam responses, major outliers, identifiable mistakes, and low-effort responses. This left a total of 397 respondents. The conservative estimate of the margin or error is about +/- 5%. Download the full report to learn more about PR professionals and their reporting habits. Are you interested in exploring Muck Rack? Request a demo!

About Muck RackMuck Rack is the leading provider of award-winning PR software built for how brands and agencies work. The only public relations software powered by intuitive technology and the most accurate, comprehensive data provided by journalists themselves, Muck Rack combines media database, monitoring and reporting for seamless team collaboration, pitching and measurement. Purpose-built for communications and public relations, Muck Rack helps more than 5,000 companies worldwide analyze and report on the impact of their media relations. Thousands of journalists use Muck Rack’s free tools to showcase their portfolios, analyze news about any topic and measure the impact of their stories. Learn more at muckrack.com. Usage among PR pros nearly tripled since March 2023

Miami, Jan. 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Generative AI has become a cornerstone of public relations, with 75% of professionals using the technology. Of those who use it, 78% say it boosts the quality of their work and 93% say it speeds up their work, according to Muck Rack’s third State of AI in PR report. The report surveyed over 1,000 PR professionals to explore how AI is shaping workflows and transforming PR and communications Brainstorming and writing tasks remain the top use cases for AI in PR. The survey revealed that 82% of professionals use AI for brainstorming, 72% leverage it for drafting content and 59% rely on it for research and crafting social media copy.

Fifty-seven percent report utilizing at least one paid AI tool. There are some areas where AI is less frequently used. Only 21% reported using AI to find journalists. Interestingly, PR pros edit AI output less frequently than in previous years. In 2024, 61% reported revising most of the text output; in 2025, this figure dropped by 10%. This shift likely reflects improvements in AI’s capabilities.

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