Abracadabra integrated communications, a regional agency for public relations, event organization and digital media, in cooperation with the MASMI research center, conducted a survey on PR market trends in which 60 PR experts from the corporate sector of Serbia and Croatia participated.
“The main goal of the research was to analyze past and predict future trends in the relationship and work of the corporate sector and PR agencies. The focus is also on the main performance indicators (KPIs), their definition and use, and we decided to conduct research because we believe that fruitful cooperation in the client-agency relationship should be based on two-way communication and coordination of the evaluation process. she said Manuela Schoolgeneral director of the regional agency Abracadabra.
Which agencies have priority?
Large companies (with more than 500 employees) that have many years of experience in PR participated in the research of the Abracadabra agency (their PR departments were established almost a decade ago, while among the respondents, more than 60% of them have long-term cooperation with PR agencies)
That public relations play a very important role in the company’s operations in both markets is shown by the fact that PR influences 46.7% of Serbian companies’ decisions, while in Croatia that percentage is higher and amounts to 66.7%.
Although the current market conditions are largely favorable for the entry of foreign agencies, the results show the opposite. PR experts in the Serbian and Croatian corporate sector emphasize a good understanding of the local market as the main criterion for selecting a PR agency.
Lack of money and ideas
Almost all PR experts of the corporate sector from both countries (86.7% in Serbia and 90% in Croatia) believe that the communication markets are in an unenviable position, and they cite the following as the main reasons:
- Lack of joint initiative within the same industrial sector in Serbia;
- Lack of integrated approach of marketing experts in Croatia;
- Media crisis in both markets.
The economic crisis in the region had the greatest impact on the choice of PR strategies in the last few years, and at the same time it led to a significant drop in investment in PR activities, which affected the reduced number of original, local campaigns.
How do clients measure the agency’s success?
The majority of surveyed company PR experts in Serbia determine key performance indicators (KPI) independently (66%), in contrast to the Croatian market, where approximately the same number (61%) determine KPI in cooperation with a PR agency.
When it comes to KPI, the majority consider that the number of publications is the most important goal of PR (86.7% in Serbia and 83.3% in Croatia), and such a trend will continue in the future. AVE budget and number of impressions are the second and third factors, but they are most often used with the number of posts
“If we look back on that what is expected from PR agencies, interviewed PR experts as the most important in Serbia (93%) emphasize: expertise, reliability, credibility and commitmentand in Croatia (70%) integration of communication services (PR, event organization, social media)”, she said Teodora StankovićPR manager of Abracadabra Serbia.
Source: marketingitd.com
