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The 2021 JOTW Strategic Comms Survey has just been published, which Ned Lundquist and Frank Strong have worked on for the past four years to analyze what’s going on in the communications industry. And, like the MuckRack survey we talked about a couple of weeks ago, there are some challenges communicators face, both because of that little pandemic we went through and because of how fast things have changed. 

They found that many communicators have far too many priorities (I can attest to that!), that cutting through the noise continues to be a challenge—and so does working with leaders who don’t understand communications. 

This year 300 communications professionals took the survey, and they had six contributors who helped shape the question and analyze the results. Those contributors included Karen Swim,  Michael Smart, Michelle Garrett, Stacey Miller, Shel Holtz, and Shonali Burke. 

A few minutes ago, we discussed some of the top challenges for communicators, but the interesting thing about those is that it’s a massive switch from challenges in the past, which were budget and measuring results. Because of the shift, more than half (54%) think more work will be shipped to outside agencies to relieve the pressure. We’re certainly seeing that happening with our clients—more work, more meetings, and more priorities. 

Some of the other key findings were:

• Organizations value communications more than ever
• The media relations struggle
• Credibility of sponsored content
• Brands taking stands on political or social issues
• DE&I programs
• Making an effort to measure is half the battle
• Communications technology
• Reporting structure for communicators

Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. Yes to all of these things.

On today’s episode of the Spin Sucks podcast, we are going to go through each of them—and what you might be able to do about them if you find yourself in the same position.

Resources Included

• 2021 JOTW Strategic Comms Survey
• MuckRack Survey
• Ragan Survey
• PESO Model Certification
• Ned Lundquist 
• Frank Strong
• Spin Sucks Community

About Gini Dietrich

Gini Dietrich is the founder and CEO of Arment Dietrich, a Chicago-based integrated marketing communications firm. She is the lead blogger at Spin Sucks and is the founder of Spin Sucks Pro. She is the co-author of Marketing in the Round and co-host of Inside PR. Full bio