Digital PR continues to grow, with in-house comms teams increasingly taking ownership of it, according to the latest Digital PR and Communications report from the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA).

The report, carried out in conjunction with Ginger Research, surveyed 408 agency and in-house PR professionals across sectors including business services, technology, charities, government, and finance and banking. It found that 61% of PR teams are claiming responsibility for their organisation’s digital PR.

Meanwhile, 53% of digital and social media budgets have increased over the past 12 months, with 49% of respondents expecting budgets to increase further in the next 12 months. Only 2% say their budgets will decrease.

The most popular social media platforms among in-house brands are Twitter (90%) and Facebook (81%), followed by LinkedIn (76%), YouTube (69%) and Instagram (63%). When in-house teams were asked why their organisations did not have a larger social media presence, they cited lack of staff (35%), lack of time (39%), lack of education (29%), and lack of budget (27%) as the main reasons.

The research shows that companies are using the majority of their budgets for video-based content (58%) and are seeking agency support for this service. Paid social media activity budgets also come in at 58%. 

At agencies, the most highly rated sources of social media education are expert blogs (47%), external training courses (45%), and conferences and events (45%). Respondents said the areas in which brands need more education are social influencer outreach, video-based content and digital crisis management. The data shows that agencies are looking for more education in augmented reality/virtual reality (32%), voice/search apps (25%), and chatbots (24%).