Most PR now adopt AI tools for measurement, content – Report

By Abimbola Mohammed 

Against the backdrop of public relations experts adopting new technology to meet clients’ needs, a study by Prowly has shown that PR professionals are now adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools for media measurement, ideas, content generation and research.

Prowly, a PR & media relations, internal and external communications software, showed that of the PR expert poll, 68% use AI primarily for ideas, content generation and research, while those who have adopted AI technology, almost 66% give it a seven out of a possible rating of 10 and over 50% claim they are satisfied, up from 35% in 2022.

But 72% said budget constraints prevent them from using any tool, versus 47% last year. In addition, 50% were uncertain in their AI abilities and 26% said they don’t have time to learn.

In a comment, James Hayward-Browne, Co-founder of creative PR agency Bottled Imagination, said: “I find it astounding that over 30% of respondents are not measuring the success of their overall strategies. Gone are the days of cutting up clippings and sending them to your client as a measurement of success. We now have the ability to track real metrics that affect the bottom line, revenue, clicks, share of voice & share of search to name just a few.”

In the same vein, Tonya McKenzie, Founder of Sand&Shores, said: “The people that are confident and comfortable with AI have found ways to utilize it to assist them in their workflow. Those that find themselves in the lower satisfaction group have not quite found how this new tool can help them in their processes. They may not have an established consistent process or they may fear technology.”

In the report, measurement ranked the lowest among expected benefits, while one third had no system for measuring.

On his part, Gini Dietrich, founder of Arment Dietrich, while advising PR experts, said: “The next time you pull a media list, email news out to reporters, monitor news and social media or create a dashboard of results, track how much time it takes you. Then multiply that by your hourly rate. I’m willing to bet it costs you far more in time than any PR tool costs annually.”

Among those who measure, the most popular metrics are the number of media placements and online mentions, followed by audience reach and website traffic.

But only 20% are calculating AVE (advertising value equivalent).Yet 38% were interested in improving their measurement, compared to 22% in 2022, and 17% wanted to boost their reporting, up from 5% in the prior year.

On the average, budget for PR tools varies by size of the company, and Prowly survey showed that Solopreneurs and small companies spend up to $1,000 per year, while mid-size companies and agencies (10 or more employees) spend from $1,000-$3,000 per year. Large companies (500 or more people) do $5,000 to $10,000 per year.

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