In today’s world, Public Relations is one of the promising career options with umpteen opportunities of growth. Public Relations or PR has become an essential part of image-building for companies, organizations, brands and even individuals. Thus the need for efficient PR services is on the rise and is only expected to grow over the years. This is great news not only for existing PR professionals but also for fresher’s who wish to set their foothold in the PR industry. However, this also means that there would be a cut-throat competition and only the best shall survive. In order to thrive and grow in this industry one must have excellent communication skills both in terms of spoken and written. Aspirants must also be creative to tell stories of their clients across all platforms.
Factual Figures
A report by PR Consultants Association of India reveal that the PR domain in India is expected to touch INR 2,100 crore by fiscal year 2020. It further states that digital, content-driven and social media campaigns will contribute approximately 25% to the revenue of PR agencies. The tech sector is the biggest client of PR firms and is accounting for over 20% of their revenues followed by financial services accounted for 12% of revenue. The consumer goods industry takes the third spot by accounting a revenue of 8%. As per the report, the top-notch Indian PR agencies undergo consolidation and remain as gainers of higher market share. There is also a rise of boutique PR firms and PR professionals operating as freelancers whose revenue growth remains marginal. Startup PR and tech PR agencies will continue to dominate the market while sports and entertainment PR agencies will also emerge as potential players.
Changing Trends of PR Industry
With wider use of technology and more people turning to online media, there will be a stronger focus on online content than on print media for PR agencies. Also there will be a considerable shift to customer-focused approach to PR. Since PR is all about story-telling, agencies are focusing on creating effective, condensed and meaningful online content that is visually appealing and share worthy. Further, the future of PR will necessitate the use of analytics to realize on growing trends and act accordingly. With reliable analytics tools it will be easier to monitor and measure the Return of Investment (ROI) for anything published online. In order to have an edge over competitors, PR agencies have to create their stories influentially based on data and analytics.
Challenges Encountered by PR in India
- Dearth of right talent: Indian PR suffers from the lack of home-grown talent and their retention.
- Policy and Public Affairs: Complex regulations and policies in India and its growing implication on domestic and international companies makes public relations a critical affair. However, there are backroom deals that are still prevalent in the Indian PR.
- Low Fees: There is no standard fee-per-head ratio in Indian PR industry. Hence PR firms are not remunerated at a fair level.
