Will buoyant ad market change focus Of PR pros as print continues to decline?

Advertising spend in the UK is set to increase over the next 12 months despite continued uncertainty over Brexit. However, any hope that the struggling newspaper and magazine sector will benefit from this positive financial news is hard to find with print media’s fortunes continuing to decline.

According to media reports, any growth in online revenues generated by “traditional” national media houses is being cancelled out by a continued sharp fall in print revenues.

In 2016, the national press saw print revenues falling by nearly 10% to £1.1 billion while digital revenues climbed little more than 2% to £224 million in the same period.

The news for regional newspapers is even less positive with a reported decline in both print and digital revenue. The regional press saw a fall in print revenue by 12% and online revenue by nearly 2%

Meanwhile online advertising saw double-digit growth up nearly 15% on the previous year touching almost £10 billion. However, the real winner in the advertising stakes was mobile with a staggering 46% growth.

Even TV (another old media) saw some growth (albeit in a heavily diluted market) with nearly 2% year-on-year growth.

Stephen Woodford, chief executive of the Advertising Association, told journalists: “That ad-spend held up after the referendum is another marker of the strength of the UK’s advertising and media industries. As Government gears up for Brexit negotiations and a new industrial strategy, it must prioritise protecting this global advantage.”

The strength of the advertising industry will be of particular interest to those in the PR sector who are keen to diversify in this digitally disrupted age.

When algorithms have a greater influence over the distribution of content than the human relationships that traditionally fuelled the print media, will more PR professionals be more keen to adapt advertising strategies (paying for eyeballs) to guarantee engagement?

The Lines between PR, marketing and advertising continue to blur.