How are companies dividing their budgets between advertising
and public relations? Eighty-five percent of PR
professionals who responded to a recent Thomas I.
Harris/Impulse Research Survey said they are spending more
on advertising than on PR and only 2 percent spend more on
PR than on advertising. In fact, respondents say they spend
over seven times as much on advertising than on PR. As for
the next five years, 54 percent expect this large budget gap
to continue to increase.
However, the budget trends certainly don't reflect a lack of
confidence in the power of PR. Ninety-two percent rated the
reputation of their organization as "very important" to
their success, and 72 percent said that PR is more important
to their business than it was five years ago. Respondents
used words such as "undervalued", "extremely important",
"vital", "very up and coming", and "invaluable" to describe
the role PR plays in their business success.
So why aren't businesses "putting their money where their
mouths are"? While PR professionals are well aware of the
benefits of building a good image through media exposure,
they have a hard time proving those benefits to the
decision-makers in their companies. Industry experts give
this suggestion: don't underestimate the power of tracking.
If the budget-makers need numbers, give them numbers.
Carefully track the media coverage of your company and
industry, then attach a dollar value based on how much an ad
of the same size would have cost. This will quickly
demonstrate how far a PR dollar can go if used wisely.
If you're forced to contend with a small PR budget, experts
recommend using the funds in large spurts rather than small
amounts over time. If you concentrate your resources in two
three-month periods, the media coverage you get will have a
much more powerful and long-lasting impact than if you
divide your budget equally over a twelve-month period. If
you have the luxury of an unlimited budget, keep in mind
that there is a point of diminishing returns. This threshold
varies depending on your industry and the number of
products, services and issues surrounding your company. For
example, a company targeting a small niche market will reach
saturation much more quickly than a company with a more
diverse consumer base, and can therefore flourish on a much
smaller PR budget.
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