2017年全球通讯报告：挑战和趋势（英文版）.pdf

2 5 7 8 TIME FOR BETTER MEASUREMENT How can a better understanding of contents impact on consumer behavior elevate the comms function? RECOGNIZING THE OBSTACLES Exclusive survey data on tightening comms budgets and content. CHANNELING YOUR SOCIAL EFFORTS Find out which social channels reign supreme for brands globally. EXERCISES IN INFLUENCE From targeting tactics to identifying the most effective, discover the global PR communitys sentiment on influencers. 2017 GLOBAL COMMS REPORT: CHALLENGES AND TRENDSFrom analytics to content, results from the recent Cision /PRWeek global survey shed light on the steps necessary to elevate comms standing in the C-suite.W hat if comms pros could provide metrics to the C-suite that unequivocally illustrate how a piece of content turned a customer target into a purchaser? Or how it delivered on another KPI vital to the company? Surely the comms department would get a bigger piece of the marketing budget, possibly even from the advertising side. Tom Noland, SVP, corporate communications at health insurance provider Humana, says you better believe it. “Every company has competition for resources, as it should. The CEO has lots of competing metrics to think about,” he adds. “And the resources are going to those areas where direct impact on the bottom line can be most precisely demonstrated.” Therein lies a terrific case for PR to demonstrate the bottom-line value of its work to first protect and then gain more budget. However, a survey done in partnership between PRWeek and earned media software and analytics company Cision shows comms pros are struggling to connect the dots between content and actual business results. The survey polled CCOs, CMOs, SVPs and even presidents on the client side from around the world. And 63 percent cited the inability to measure impact effectively as one of the three most difficult challenges they face. This is a troublesome barrier to growth in PR. Comms departments are under increasing pressure to justify their existing spend, let alone get approval for budget increases. In fact, 65 percent of respondents said the tight- ening of budgets is one of their other top three challenges. Content is critical The growth of digital comms such as social media, video and podcasts has given PR pros more options for content creation. And 66 percent of pros ranked content creation as one of their three most important activities with 32 percent ranking it most important. On its news site, humananews, Humana features news stories, videos, and other multi- media content. Some of the content celebrates how its employees are giving back and helping the customers and communities it serves. Noland says it is easy to see the strategic rela- tionship between the content they are producing for the site and the companys overarching goals. “We can see the close linkage between our strategy and the messaging we use both inter- nally and externally. But it is difficult to measure that relationship,” he explains. While solving the measurement puzzle has been an issue for decades, Noland notes, “there has been progress. We have gone way beyond measuring impressions and clicks on social media.” “The next generation of measurement needs to find a way to directly relate earned media coverage to bottom-line growth,” Noland says. “I, and many others in PR, are pushing providers A survey produced by PRWeek in partnership with Cision shows PR pros are struggling to connect the dots between content and business results and how lack of metrics plays a role. 2017 Global Comms Report: Challenges and Trends 2 TIME FOR BETTER MEASUREMENThard for measurement thats more sophisticated.” Because more precise analytics would mean more budget and more content, pros including Noland could test and optimize. He is confident the industry will get there. “I see a bright future ahead,” he concludes. “There are a lot of smart people working on measurement and refining it.” Areas to improve An overwhelming three out of four survey re- spondents feel the comms industry can do a better job of measuring and proving its impact on business objectives. It is worth noting that 22 percent feel comms doesnt do a good job at all. Clear analytics that measure impact could help communicators figure out what content is de- livering the biggest bang for their buck. When it comes to content, over half of respon- dents (52 percent) said their biggest challenge is determining what content is most effective. United Technologies invests in a lot of content creation to help position itself as a leader in providing industries such as aviation and con- struction with sustainable solutions and problem solving. This is a leadership stance it has been cultivating not only with clients and potential clients, but also employees and partners. Earlier this year, United Technologies launched a podcast series, Race to 9 Billion, with the help of the crew behind NPRs Living on Earth. United Technologies Chief Sustainability Officer John Mandyck hosts the series, and he sees the pod- cast as an effective way to share content in a deeper way. But Mandyck is frustrated by the lack of met- rics. For starters, the podcast is available on iTunes, Creating Content Impact on Business 75% 55% 58% 22% feel the comms industry can do better at measuring and proving its impact on business objectives do not have a good sense of whether or not there was any digital or real-world behavior driven from the brands content of respondents do not have a good sense of what people do after they consume the brands content of respondents feel comms does not do a good job of this at all 32% 66% placed content creation among the three most important activities picked content creation as the most important activity The next generation of measurement needs to relate coverage to bottom-line growth 3 2017 Global Comms Report: Challenges and Trends TIME FOR BETTER MEASUREMENT“but Apple doesnt provide data on podcasts,” he laments. United Technologies also hosts the podcast on an owned site dedicated to sustainability. Even here, he says there is a lack of measurement technology that could find out how many people are listening to the entire podcast, when theyre jumping out, as well as what action they took after listening. “We have seen a greater than 200 percent in- crease in traffic since we launched the podcast on our website. That is one way we can measure the success,” he explains. “But we hope theyre listening to the podcast and then also taking a look at the full breadth of the sustainability work we do.” United Technologies is not alone in facing limitations to metrics. Survey respondents said they have a strong sense of how many people read brand content (62 percent replied in the affirmative), and how many people clicked on a link within the content (79 percent). However, after that the data gets considerably thinner in linking specific consumer activity to content. Most (58 percent) dont have a good sense of what people do after they consume the brands content. Nor do most (55 percent) know whether there was any digital or real-world behavior driven from it. Michael Marinello joined Turner Broadcasting as SVP, strategic comms a year ago. He has been tasked with developing a corporate narrative and helping connect all of Turners media properties. He says the company has just started beefing up its corporate website and launched social media channels including Twitter and Instagram. He says his department is working closely with other divisions. “Comms main goal is to create great content for sales and recruitment, so it needs to learn to be a great partner with other departments in the organization,” Marinello explains. He says this collaboration should help the company as it starts to more intensely measure direct outcomes from the content theyve been building. devote between 10% and 20% of their overall budget to collecting data to understand the impact of comms programs. spend between 1% and 10% of their budget on this. Allocating Budget 36% 47% Biggest Challenges Finding what works 65% 63% placed tightening budgets among their top three most difficult challenges placed inability to measure impact effectively in their top three most difficult challengessaid their biggest challenge was creating the content 35% feel their biggest content challenge is determining what content is most effective 52% 4 2017 Global Comms Report: Challenges and Trends TIME FOR BETTER MEASUREMENT5 RECOGNIZING THE OBSTACLES The preceding feature highlighted various global sentiments of the 425 respondents to the Cision/PRWeek survey. On the next two pages, we dig deeper into the numbers. Globally, 65% placed tightening budgets among their top three most difficult challenges By country, this is how the above sentiment was expressed: Respondents had six options from which to choose their most difficult comms challenges. Below indicates the ones chosen among the top three most difficult: Conclusions By organization type and discipline Talent recruitment and retention Sweden: Canada: U.S.: U.K.: France: Germany: China (including Hong Kong): 67% 67% 63% 60% 82% 45% 63% 73% PR Agency 70% 66% 67% 82% 64% 63% 64% U.S. inability to measure impact effectively Notably more respondents in China (58%) and Sweden (55%) placed this among their top three challenges than any other region. 67% of PR agency respondents placed this among their top three chal- lenges, as opposed to only 44% of in-house leaders. 52% of communications respondents placed this among their top three challenges, as opposed to only 42% of marketers. Some of the more notable differences among respondent groups were seen here: Canada inability to measure impact effectively U.K. tightening budgets Germany tightening budgets Sweden better alignment with other functions China (including Hong Kong) inability to measure impact effectively France tightening budgets While tightening budgets are clearly a challenge globally 26 percent of respondents chose it as their top challenge communicators the world over realize the need to more effectively measure their impact. Meanwhile, in certain key markets, an inability to recruit and retain talent is a continuing issue that demands the industrys attention. 63% 62% In-house Comms 68% Marketing 2017 Global Comms Report: Challenges and Trends6 Interesting takeaways C anada: social listening and en- gagement (54%); analytics and reporting (54%) U.K.: analytics and reporting (57%) France: media outreach (58%) China: media database and influencer management (62%) In four countries, a brand activity other than content creation placed in the top three most important: This data further underscores communications ongoing challenge to link its efforts to impactful business results. A key contributor to those struggles is the disciplines general inability to prove that the content it produces actually facilitates consumer activity beyond clicks. U.S. Canada U.K. France Germany Sweden China 51% 55% 56% 66% 64% 90% 66% 70% 78% 80% 55% 55% 73% 49% 51% 37% 54% 48% 38% 51% 83% BUSINESS IMPACT CONTENT CREATION CONSUMER BEHAVIOR Globally, 75% feel the comms industry can do a better job at measuring and proving its impact on business objectives. Globally, 66% placed con- tent creation among the three most important activities for their brands. Globally, 55% are unsure whether or not there was any digital or real-world behavior driven from the brands content. By country, this is how the above sentiments were expressed: By organization type and discipline PR Agency PR Agency PR Agency In-house In-house In-house Comms Comms Comms Marketing Marketing Marketing 71% 62% 54% 78% 69% 64% 69% 62% 40% 85% 75% 58% Conclusions RECOGNIZING THE OBSTACLES 2017 Global Comms Report: Challenges and Trends7 CHANNELING YOUR SOCIAL EFFORTS The following data indicates the social media channels that were placed among the top three most relevant and important to respondents broader brand content strategy. Conclusions Facebook, which was the top choice for 44 percent of global respondents, remains the overwhelming preferred channel for broader brand content strategy. As such, it demands brands attention most. Twitter and Instagram also scored very well globally. Facebook Instagram WeChat Twitter YouTube LinkedIn Weibo Global U.S. Canada U.K. France Germany Sweden China One country, one takeaway 77% 88% 77% 87% 73% 63% 73% 13% 11% 53% 55% 72% 60% 72% 42% 40% 52% 18% 52% 49% 34% 24% 26% 48% 42% 25% 33% 43% 21% 20% 14% 6% 13% 11% 16% 20% 26% 15% 38% 24% 16% Canada LinkedIn scored notably higher (43% placing it among their top three) than it did in any other country U.S. Instagram is influential here, with 52% of respondents choosing it among their top three U.K. Twitters popularity here (72% placing it among their top three) far outpaced the channels global numbers France Twitter not nearly as popular here (only 42% placing it among their top three) as it is globally Germany YouTube scored notably higher here (26% placing it in the top three) than it did globally Sweden LinkedIn scored much lower here (only 6% placing it in their top three) than it did globally China The only country where “regional” channels cracked the top five, with WeChat and Weibo outpacing all channels other than Facebook 7% 2017 Global Comms Report: Challenges and Trends8 U.S. communicators clearly struggle more than their global counterparts to identify the right influencers, which can be partly attributed to the small role end-consumer data plays when such strategies are pondered. Similarly, the tactic of paying influencers is far less popular in the U.S. than any other market. It should also be noted that paying influencers is an incredibly popular tactic in China. I am always able to effectively identify the right influencers to target with all my initiatives and, in turn, impact customer behavior End-consumer data either plays a small role or no role at all in helping me determine what influencers to choose for my programs Paying influencers is an important part of our influencer strategy By country, this is how the above sentiments were expressed: By organization type and discipline PR Agency PR Agency PR Agency In-house In-house In-house Comms Comms Comms Marketing Marketing Marketing 55% 56% 47% 53% 54% 43% 62% 52% 53% 65% 39% 61% Conclusions GLOBAL: 57% GLOBAL: 53% GLOBAL: 48% U.S. Canada U.K. France Germany Sweden China 60% 63% 74% 36% 33% 32% 40% 51% 82% 54% 67% 60% 42% 61% 55%