Research reveals gaps in online strategy

Latest research from Bigmouthmedia has revealed that Britain's biggest PR consultancies are failing to come to terms with the opportunities and challenges posed by 'new media'.

According to its survey of Britain's 100 leading press and public relations agencies, 79 per cent of the industry's major players have yet to develop a set of online and social media services.

Meanwhile - despite the steadily increasing importance of blogging as a media tool - a surprising 89 per cent are still failing to publish their own blogs.

Lyndsay Menzies, managing director of Bigmouthmedia UK, said: 'In today's media environment it is vital that businesses communicate online and companies that choose to ignore this are running a major risk.

'Traditional PR tactics are not going to go away anytime soon, but it is essential for companies to integrate online PR and social media into their existing offline communications strategies.' Commenting on the research, Adam Parker, chief executive of online news distribution company webitpr, said: 'Despite finding that an increasing number of UK PR professionals are on the ball when it comes to online PR this survey confirms our experience that a high proportion are still more focused on traditional media.

'However, given that this is most probably a reflection of client budget and resource allocations, perhaps what we should be asking ourselves is what this says about UK business' attitude towards online communications.'.

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