The study: 6 out of 10 PR specialists do not believe in social media

Social media role in corporate communications has increased almost four times since 2007 - from 11.5% to 40.5%. However, it is still a minority. 6 out of 10 PR specialists do not believe in social media, although they daily actively use the Internet sites, e-mails and communicate with mass media, concluded in "European Communication Monitor 2011".

A growing number of PR specialists start to appreciate the social media – the third part (30.3%) of the communication specialist is planning to implement the guidelines for communication in social media, but 39.6% are already using it in their  daily work.

The European communication specialists admit that there is a large interest in social media, but still is missing the specific knowledge, related to the social media, such as the absence of the skill to evaluate the social media campaign results.

To improve the situation, 27.9% of respondents confirm that they are planning to attend the appropriate courses this year, but 21.3% admit that they are already involved in this kind of educational activities.

PR specialists mention social networks (49.8%), online video service sites (39.5%), microblog Twitter (32.5%), and Web pages (28.3%) as the main social media channels. Decline in popularity are experiencing audio diaries (14%) and forums (10%).

The survey clearly indicates that social networks have become the main course in social media kitchen. PR experts admit that fact, but they tend to use it inefficiently due to the lack of knowledge. It is now clear that those will be the winners, who will improve the knowledge in the appropriate field.

2209 PR specialists from 43 European countries participated in "European Communication Monitor 2011" study. The full version of the study can be viewed here.