A recent survey among PR professionals points to a big disconnect between how the PR industry measures success and what senior leaders and budget holders are hoping to see. The study points out that there is increased scrutiny on PR teams to demonstrate their worth.

The study found that less than half of PR professionals currently consider new business and sales when measuring the impact of their work. The focus instead tends to be on outputs and audience, with 96% citing target audience as a key measurement criteria and 66% high volumes of coverage.

While some would suggest this is a bit like dodging the question – deflecting – the reality is that this is what PR has always been. Rarely is PR about lead-gen first and foremost.

And with spend shifting more and more to digital marketing activities, the study revealed that budget cuts in PR are being seen (33% on the agency side and 22% in-house) – with 50% of those respondents saying that reductions would have been less likely if they could better prove commercial relevance.

It begs the question: How would you rate your PR effort results versus your digital marketing results?