As per the Davis+Gilbert Public Relations Industry 2021 Survey Trends + Highlights, PR firms are witnessing a rebound in financial performance.
As compared to 2020, 77% of PR firms in 2021 are expecting increased revenues. 72% of PR companies also expect profits to have gone up this year. Only 9% firms expect revenue to remain the same as in 2020, and 10% of firms believe the same about profits for 2021.
Over the next five years, revenue growth is expected to be driven by earned media (38%), shared media (28%), owned media (17%), and paid media (17%). In the first eight months of 2021, social/PR/content creation, creative services and digital were the drivers of revenue. The report also observed deal activity to have more than doubled in 2021 for larger PR firms.
Amid the pandemic, PR firms reduced discretionary expenses and entertaining expenses, cut speculative travel and took other measures to increase profitability. Going forward, PR firms aim to focus on cross-departmental trainings. 95% of those polled expect net revenues to increase for 2022. Only 5% respondents are forecasting a decrease in net revenues.
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