CommPro.biz Editorial StaffSeeking new capabilities, four in 10 respondents said they were looking to engage new communications agencies in a survey of communications and marketing leaders conducted by CommunicationsMatch™ in partnership with CommPRO. While companies rarely expressed dissatisfaction with their existing agencies, the survey shows a focus on engaging firms with digital communications skillsets. Creativity, multi-disciplinary capabilities, reputation and specialized expertise were cited as key attributes of a successful agency partner.

Download the PR & Communications Agency Search Report 2017.

The report highlights the critical importance of word of mouth when it comes to finding agencies. Three-quarters (76%) of the respondents cited asking peers to find agencies. Google and LinkedIn were used by 20% of respondents, alone or in combination with other resources.Trade media and associations and RFP tools were cited by around 10%. Two-thirds of respondents didn’t believe it was easy to find agencies.Respondents ranked the communications skillsets they consider most important to business success. More than nine out of 10 pointed to public relations being the most important, closely followed by digital marketing and social media. After traditional marketing (eight out of 10), digital (six out of 10) and traditional advertising (four out of 10) were lowest ranked.The survey shows that budgets for close to two-thirds of respondents were expected to be flat in 2017 compared to 2016. Where budgets were changing, the majority of firms were growing rather than shrinking them, but overall growth was expected to be modest and less than 10%.Ninety-one corporate communications, marketing and industry influencers responded to the survey of CommPRO.biz readers, which was conducted in December 2016 and January 2017. With the sample size, the survey statistics should be considered directional.For more information, contact CommunicationsMatch™ CEO Simon Locke: slocke@communicationsmatch.com