MIPAA undertakes an annual member survey – in 2011 and 2010, we considered two key questions:
Are you working harder than ever?
Has social media had a big impact on your role in the past year?
The answer was a resounding YES.
Results from the MIPAA survey are compared to those from the nationwide PR Census undertaken by PRCA and PR Week in the Autumn edition of Revolve.
Other findings from the 2011 MIPAA member survey are detailed below:
Key Highlights from 2011 survey:
- 87% of those responding have attended a MIPAA event – with social events being the most popular
- Nearly two-thirds (64%) have used the free JobSearch service
- Membership is seen of primary value during the first five years of working in PR or when moving across from another PR/communications role or from another profession
- 20% of respondents had been in their current role for over 10 years with 17.5% in the job for under a year
- As in 2010, over half expect to remain in their current post for at least 2 more years with 20.5% expecting to change within 1-2 years (compared to 28.7% in 2010′s survey results)
Social media
- 24% said they were very familiar with all social media tools (compared to 20% in 2010)
- 68% use social media every day (compared to 45% in 2010)
- 79% are using social networking (compared to 89% in 2010) and 63% (cf 81.8%) are using smartphone apps
- Social media was being used professionally and personally, with most time spent monitoring online coverage and reading Tweets/commentary
- Professionally74% spent 1-1- hours a week using social media (compared to 48% in 2010), with 6% reporting over 20 hours a week use
- Facebook has replaced Twitter as the favourite social media tool
- 81% (compared to 66% last year) believed social media had enhanced the practice of PR
- 82% (up from 77.4%) believed PR/corporate communications should be responsible for monitoring and managing social media
- 81% (down from 90%) believed social media will influence future careers in PR/corporate communications
- 86% (cf 89% last year) recognised a need to improve their skills and knowledge in social media
Work
- A quarter of respondents work more than 50 hours a week (fewer than last year’s reported one-third)
- Big change is in regular weekend working with 71% (against 58% last year); 79% regularly work lunch breaks; 72% likewise work evenings, and 42/% during holidays
- Biggest challenges remain time and resource contraints affecting ability to achieve goals
- Salary/income ranged significantly with mid-point of respondents being £50,000
- Far fewer than last year had seen salary/income decrease (6% vs 16%), with 32% reporting it had stayed the same (compared to 45% in 2010)
- 45% have 21-25 days holiday, with 48% having 26-30 days
- 74% (compared to 53.5% in 2010) feel they are well rewarded by their full remuneration package
- Most common motivating factors remain working with a good team (95%), company reputation (79%), and challenging work (76%)
