• 45% of Irish organisations value traditional – print and broadcast – coverage the most
• 30% favour social media mentions, with blogger/influencer mentions the least (5%)
• 72% are regularly creating social media posts
• 38% say lack of time is their biggest digital marketing challenge
• 30% don’t have a clear digital marketing strategy

Irish organisations still value traditional media coverage — broadcast and print — over social media mentions, according to new findings released today (18 July) by leading Irish communications agency, Springboard PR & Marketing.

The national survey of business professionals, which included business owners, senior management and marketing personnel, found that 45% of respondents favour print and broadcast, compared to social media mentions (30%). One in five said they placed the most weight in online news coverage, with just 5% saying blogger/influencer mentions.

Speaking on the survey, Springboard PR & Marketing Managing Director and Strategic Lead, Susie Horgan, stated: “Our findings show that despite changing media consumption habits, businesses still  highly value positive coverage of their brand in the traditional media streams of print and broadcast. While these remain a trusted source for information, brands shouldn’t underestimate the targeted reach of digital news sources, especially news sites in their respective industries.”

Ms. Horgan added: “Interestingly, our survey found almost three quarters of organisations (72%) are regularly creating social media posts. Compared to the 30% that value social media mentions the most, this shows a disconnect between organisations’ objectives and their day-to-day activities.

“Instead of creating and pushing out content blindly, businesses need to reflect and ensure their marketing activities are directly linked to their overall objectives. Find out where your audiences are consuming information and create strategic content that will cut though the noise to reach them.”

With similar results to Springboard’s 2018 survey, the majority of those surveyed (38%) said a lack of time was the main barrier to creating content, with a quarter citing a lack of budget.

Last year, the survey found that one-third of Irish businesses don’t havea clear digital marketing strategy; the 2019 survey found that this year the figure has dropped slightly to 30%. Only 18% of those surveyed said they had used influencers for paid partnerships. The vast majority – 92% –  of that number said they would use paid partnerships with influencers again.