Muck Rack Report: 88% of PR Professionals Feel Leadership Understands Their Work

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% of those at brands, according to new survey results from Muck Rack's sixth annual State of PR report.

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 concern, most expect their budgets to stay the same or increase over the next year.

"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 company's bottom line grows," said Gregory Galant, cofounder and CEO at Muck Rack. "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 strategic internal communication."

Challenges and Diversity

In addition to having enough resources, other top concerns include getting journalist responses (46%) and managing stakeholder expectations (37%).

Diversity continues to be lacking across the industry. Despite more than two-thirds saying their workplace has at least a moderate amount of diversity, over half report little to no diversity in leadership.

AI and Social Media

Forty-four percent say their companies need to incorporate AI tools into their workflow to ensure success in the next five years, a 13% increase from last year. AI now ranks as a higher priority than media relations and is just below strategic planning.

Half of PR pros say LinkedIn is the social media platform they value most: 61% plan to spend more time on it and 84% use it in social and communication strategies.

Salaries, Work Habits and Personalized Pitching

More than half of PR pros reported working over 40 hours per week, a 9% decrease from last year. The average salary in the US is $84,000.

Most pitch one to two days per week and more than half always research the journalist before sending a pitch. When it comes to finding journalists, 71% use a media database like Muck Rack and 37% say that aligning the pitch with the journalist's coverage area is the key to success.

Eighty-three percent say that a 1:1 personalized email is the preferred pitching method. The majority also aim for pitches to be under 300 words and sent on Tuesday before noon, with follow-ups sent three to six days later. These findings line-up with most of the journalists' preferences reported in Muck Rack's 2024 State of Journalism report, besides that they prefer pitches to be 200 words or less and don't care what day they're pitched.

Download the full report to learn more about the current state of the industry. Interested in learning more about Muck Rack? Request a demo today!

Methodology

The self-administered survey collected 1,116 responses from April 4 to May 10, 2024. Most respondents came from U.S.-based PR and communication professionals, with additional representation from Europe, Canada and Asia.

About Muck Rack

Muck Rack enables organizations to build trust, tell their stories and demonstrate the unique value of earned media. The only public relations management platform 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.