Use of Twitter in PR

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Use of Twitter in PR

Public Relations is undergoing a radical change. The Internet has changed the publishing landscape. Previously magazines and newspapers were the vehicle to influence the opinions of the public so PR worked through them. The Internet has given people power - many magazines have been consigned to the scrap-heap as information previously only available from magazines is available through the internet at zero cost. Publishers have resisted change and gone out of business as a result.

Social networking sites have become one of the tools of PR firms to communicate directly with the public and opinion formers.

This trend has lots of different names: PR 2.0, digital PR, Internet PR, Social Media and probably more terms.

ActiMedia has a wealth of data about the PR industry. Here we provide statistics on PR agency adoption of twitter and who is using it. It means nothing to have a voice if no-one is listening!

Who's using Twitter in PR?

We have found 756 PR agencies using Twitter. Our robot crawls PR agency websites to find twitter and Facebook information. Here's the geographical breakdown:

Country Number of PR Agencies using Twitter Agencies Listed on ActiMedia % Using Twitter

United Kingdom (UK) 388 4191 9%
United States of America (USA) 213 2387 9%
Netherlands 25 2015 1%
Australia 18 1142 2%
Ireland 18 202 9%
New Zealand 9 174 5%
France 9 523 2%
Germany 9 128 7%
China 8 10 80%
Italy 7 17 41%
Canada 7 22 32%
United Arab Emirates 7 7 100%
Spain 5 27 19%
India 4 40 10%
Belgium 4 34 12%

Country	Number of PR Agencies using Twitter	Agencies Listed on ActiMedia	% Using Twitter
United Kingdom (UK)	388	4191	9%
United States of America (USA)	213	2387	9%
Netherlands	25	2015	1%
Australia	18	1142	2%
Ireland	18	202	9%
New Zealand	9	174	5%
France	9	523	2%
Germany	9	128	7%
China	8	10	80%
Italy	7	17	41%
Canada	7	22	32%
United Arab Emirates	7	7	100%
Spain	5	27	19%
India	4	40	10%
Belgium	4	34	12%

When did PR companies start using Twitter?

We've looked at the date Twitter accounts were created and compiled this summary

Year Number of PR agencies creating Twitter accounts in this year

2007 8
2008 64
2009 259
2010 126
2011 272
2012 18
2013 9

Year	Number of PR agencies creating Twitter accounts in this year
2007	8
2008	64
2009	259
2010	126
2011	272
2012	18
2013	9

Has Twitter take-up in the PR industry peaked?

Top 20 PR Tweeters

PR Agency	Twitter Page	Followers	Following	Tweets	On Twitter Since
Edelman Public Relations Gemany	pfanderson	7559	8321	56581	2007
10 Yetis Ltd	10Yetis	3501	2810	20874	2007
Speed Communications	wadds	6950	971	16339	2008
Professional Images (PR & Editorial Photographers)	simonapps	2536	2467	15831	2009
Illuminant Partners	illuminantceo	3709	3687	11686	2009
Borkowski PR	MarkBorkowski	9394	747	10906	2007
Tilson Communications	TilsonPR	2376	2410	10580	2008
Avid PR	PRMira	1768	824	9463	2009
Boomerang PR Agency	BoomerangPR	2260	1134	7806	2009
aLine media	aLineMedia	9783	514	6710	2009
LB Icon	LBiLondon	10053	3516	6444	2009
Wheel Group	LBiLondon	10053	3516	6444	2009
CHEN PR Inc	kidko92	939	1162	6166	2008
Nancy Behrman Communications	BehrmanPR	3689	1585	5991	2009
Pickle Jar Communications Ltd	picklejar	1898	1549	5968	2008
Automotive PR	AutomotivePR	5970	1039	5456	2009
Persuasion PR	PersuasionPR	1422	1226	5235	2009
QMPR	QmPR	909	1441	5097	2009
Spada	spadapr	1020	1082	4949	2009
Robert Follis Associates	robfol	709	462	4925	2009

Top 20 Most Followed PRs

PR Agency	Twitter Page	Followers	Following	Tweets	On Twitter Since
Ink Foundry Public Relations	inkfoundry	21766	18641	3490	2008
ICPAR DELHI	Arindam_IIPM	20242	13492	1857	2009
LB Icon	LBiLondon	10053	3516	6444	2009
Wheel Group	LBiLondon	10053	3516	6444	2009
aLine media	aLineMedia	9783	514	6710	2009
Borkowski PR	MarkBorkowski	9394	747	10906	2007
Taylor Herring Public Relations	TaylorHerringPR	9040	984	2777	2009
Fleishman-Hillard International Communications	Fleishman	8927	144	1306	2008
Edelman Public Relations Gemany	pfanderson	7559	8321	56581	2007
Beattie Communications Edinburgh	gordonbeattie	7214	7078	1084	2008
Beattie Media	gordonbeattie	7214	7078	1084	2008
Beattie Communications	gordonbeattie	7214	7078	1084	2008
Beattie Media	gordonbeattie	7214	7078	1084	2008
Speed Communications	wadds	6950	971	16339	2008
Automotive PR	AutomotivePR	5970	1039	5456	2009
Text 100 New York	text100	5174	4213	1319	2008
Text 100 Australia	text100	5174	4213	1319	2008
Text 100 France	text100	5174	4213	1319	2008
Text 100 Germany	text100	5174	4213	1319	2008
Text 100 Italy	text100	5174	4213	1319	2008

Followers vs Being Followed

Twitter has a pattern that if someone follows someone, they reciprocate by following you. By looking at Tweeters that have a large following but dont follow many people we can see a different pattern. Here we show PR agencies ranked by how many more followers they have than they follow.

PR Agency Twitter Page Followers Following Difference On Twitter Since

aLine media aLineMedia 9783 514 9269 2009

Fleishman-Hillard International Communications Fleishman 8927 144 8783 2008

Borkowski PR MarkBorkowski 9394 747 8647 2007

Taylor Herring Public Relations TaylorHerringPR 9040 984 8056 2009

ICPAR DELHI Arindam_IIPM 20242 13492 6750 2009

LB Icon LBiLondon 10053 3516 6537 2009

Wheel Group LBiLondon 10053 3516 6537 2009

Speed Communications wadds 6950 971 5979 2008

Automotive PR AutomotivePR 5970 1039 4931 2009

Burson Marsteller Belgium BMGlobalNews 5173 316 4857 2009

Burson Marsteller UK BMGlobalNews 5173 316 4857 2009

Burson Marsteller San Francisco BMGlobalNews 5173 316 4857 2009

Burson Marsteller BMGlobalNews 5173 316 4857 2009

Burson-Marsteller BMGlobalNews 5173 316 4857 2009

The Travel PR company Limited Travel__PR 3623 491 3132 2009

Ink Foundry Public Relations inkfoundry 21766 18641 3125 2008

Public Relations Consultants Association PRCA_UK 3402 909 2493 2009

Style House PR StyleHousePR 3131 923 2208 2008

Nancy Behrman Communications BehrmanPR 3689 1585 2104 2009

Boudoir PR BoudoirPR 3668 1704 1964 2009

PR Agency	Twitter Page	Followers	Following	Difference	On Twitter Since
aLine media	aLineMedia	9783	514	9269	2009
Fleishman-Hillard International Communications	Fleishman	8927	144	8783	2008
Borkowski PR	MarkBorkowski	9394	747	8647	2007
Taylor Herring Public Relations	TaylorHerringPR	9040	984	8056	2009
ICPAR DELHI	Arindam_IIPM	20242	13492	6750	2009
LB Icon	LBiLondon	10053	3516	6537	2009
Wheel Group	LBiLondon	10053	3516	6537	2009
Speed Communications	wadds	6950	971	5979	2008
Automotive PR	AutomotivePR	5970	1039	4931	2009
Burson Marsteller Belgium	BMGlobalNews	5173	316	4857	2009
Burson Marsteller UK	BMGlobalNews	5173	316	4857	2009
Burson Marsteller San Francisco	BMGlobalNews	5173	316	4857	2009
Burson Marsteller	BMGlobalNews	5173	316	4857	2009
Burson-Marsteller	BMGlobalNews	5173	316	4857	2009
The Travel PR company Limited	Travel__PR	3623	491	3132	2009
Ink Foundry Public Relations	inkfoundry	21766	18641	3125	2008
Public Relations Consultants Association	PRCA_UK	3402	909	2493	2009
Style House PR	StyleHousePR	3131	923	2208	2008
Nancy Behrman Communications	BehrmanPR	3689	1585	2104	2009
Boudoir PR	BoudoirPR	3668	1704	1964	2009

PR Trend Setters

Here we take a different perspective. If someone is being followed, someone must want to hear what they have to say. We rank who is being followed by other PR agencies. If other PR agencies want to see what they are upto, they must be influential and PR trend setters.

PR Agenc/Org Twitter Page PR Followers

Public Relations Consultants Association PRCA_UK 49

Borkowski PR MarkBorkowski 33

Speed Communications wadds 29

Professional Images (PR & Editorial Photographers) simonapps 28

Taylor Herring Public Relations TaylorHerringPR 20

E M L EMLWildfire 19

10 Yetis Ltd 10Yetis 16

72 Point PR Ltd 72Point 16

Lewis PR lewispruk 13

Beattie Communications Edinburgh gordonbeattie 13

Boomerang PR Agency BoomerangPR 12

Text 100 New York text100 12

Siren PR Sirenpr 11

Press Loft pressloft 11

Paratus Communications ParatusComms 11

Fresh Public Relations amandajaneprice 9

Tribe TribePR 9

threepipe Threepipe 8

Burson Marsteller Belgium BMGlobalNews 8

aLine media aLineMedia 8

PR Agenc/Org	Twitter Page	PR Followers
Public Relations Consultants Association	PRCA_UK	49
Borkowski PR	MarkBorkowski	33
Speed Communications	wadds	29
Professional Images (PR & Editorial Photographers)	simonapps	28
Taylor Herring Public Relations	TaylorHerringPR	20
E M L	EMLWildfire	19
10 Yetis Ltd	10Yetis	16
72 Point PR Ltd	72Point	16
Lewis PR	lewispruk	13
Beattie Communications Edinburgh	gordonbeattie	13
Boomerang PR Agency	BoomerangPR	12
Text 100 New York	text100	12
Siren PR	Sirenpr	11
Press Loft	pressloft	11
Paratus Communications	ParatusComms	11
Fresh Public Relations	amandajaneprice	9
Tribe	TribePR	9
threepipe	Threepipe	8
Burson Marsteller Belgium	BMGlobalNews	8
aLine media	aLineMedia	8

Twitter Averages

Does being first on twitter make a difference? Do the number of followers you have depend upon being an early adopter? Here's the data which suggests being there first does make a difference.

Average Number of Followers Average Number of Tweets Number of Agencies On Twitter Since

2934 12307 8 2007

2677 1924 63 2008

1102 1157 259 2009

708 493 131 2010

182 189 179 2011

0 2012

0 2013

Average Number of Followers	Average Number of Tweets	Number of Agencies	On Twitter Since
2934	12307	8	2007
2677	1924	63	2008
1102	1157	259	2009
708	493	131	2010
182	189	179	2011
		0	2012
		0	2013

Final Say

We did a quick manual check using PeerIndex. Here's the results on the 3rd Oct 2011

arindam_iipm	70
Borkowski	59
10Yetis	57
LBi London	53
Fleishman	42
Inkfoundry	41
Taylor Herring	34
aLineMedia	23

We'll look into doing a more thorough analysis useing PeerIndex and other ranking services in the near future.

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