Truth about marketing and PR in Poland

Truth about marketing and PR in Poland – Research Report  “Marketing and PR in Poland ‘17” report was prepared by Attention Marketing and PMR Consulting & Research.

“In most companies, marketing and PR divisions declare they co-create
the sales strategy and are directly involved in the sales processes in place.
No wonder that the sales growth is the most frequently applied measure of
effectiveness of their activity. What comes as a surprise is that nearly 1/3 of
companies do not measure the results of their actions at all. It is interesting
that PR divisions declare they focus mainly on internal communication,
promotions at fairs or seminars and on organising events. Media relations and
press offices were unexpectedly rarely mentioned. Facebook is the king of
social media, with other competitors far, far behind it. Our respondents
believe that socially responsible actions include, first of all, building
friendly working environment. Greater dynamics may be seen in budgets – half of
companies have funds for external expenditure in this area and nearly 1/3
increased amounts allocated to cooperation with external companies. This is a
summary of major conclusions from “Marketing and PR in Poland ‘17” Report” says Adam Sanocki, manager partner in Attention
Marketing consulting company which prepared the report.

“Each from among nearly 260 companies we surveyed employs over 50
people. We wanted to reach marketing and PR specialists and in smaller
organisations these roles are often blurred”, comments Błażej Dawid, research executive of PMR C&R, which carried out research for the report.

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Strategy, Sale, Promotion

According to the report, strategy is now the most
important task of marketing divisions – selected as the most engaging by 69% of
respondents. The second place goes to sale (66%), while the third – promotion
(64%).

At the sales level, marketing is responsible primarily
for maintaining relations with the current clients (82%) and relations with
potential customers (79%). The next task, sales lead generation, engages 58% of
the surveyed divisions.

Therefore, it is not surprising that marketing
divisions very closely cooperate with sales teams. This is reflected in the
results of the survey, which reveal that nearly three quarters (73%) of the companies
combine sales and marketing & PR divisions.

In promotional activities, the advantage of printed
materials over electronic ones is shrinking and the tendency of avoiding
traditional media or outdoor advertising is prevailing.

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Tradition
and Modernity

The research shows that the dominant forms of sales
communication in the Polish companies are traditional ones, such as leaflets
and paper materials (71% of picks) and participation in sectoral fairs and
maintaining stands at various events (63%). Online ads come third with the
result of 60 per cent. Fourth and fifth most popular positions are occupied by
press releases (51%) and participation in specialist seminars (48%).

Next come modern tools like social media activity (41%),
SEO (38%), content marketing (28%) and blogs (24%).

“The aversion to modern solutions may stem from the
lack of proper technology. Nearly a half (47%) of the surveyed companies do not
use any modern marketing support systems. Only 31% of companies reach out to
use CRM systems, and 26% – tools for controlling the results of marketing and
PR operations”, points out Adam Sanocki.
“Our study revealed that the most widely used measurement of success of
marketing and PR division’s work is the growth of sales figures (58% of picks)
and the number of generated leads (40%). Shockingly, nearly one in three
companies (32%) admits that it does not measure the effectiveness of work of
these divisions at all, and assessments are discretionary”, stresses Adam Sanocki of Attention
Marketing.

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Blind Marketing

The survey also showed that only 35% of companies engage in market
research.

“One can hardly imagine running a modern business without market
research. The foundation of contemporary marketing is to ask your customers
questions. Why did they come? Why are they leaving? Why are they staying? From
answers to these questions you may draw conclusions which are crucial to the
functioning of your company”, comments Błażej
Dawid of PMR C&R.

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Aware
and sceptical of trends

The survey also showed that 63% of marketing and PR
specialists are following trends in their sectors. Among the key ones in the
nearest future they mention behavioural advertising (52%), content marketing
(46%), native advertising (39%) and brand journalism (35%).

However, awareness not necessarily comes with
willingness or ability to use new tools. Only 15% of the respondents believe
that behavioural advertising will affect the functioning of their companies. On
the other hand, 19% believe that content marketing will matter, while 7% point
to native advertising and brand journalism. According to 65% of the surveyed
specialists, none of the latest trends will affect day-to-day operations of
their companies.

“Marketing divisions frequently use terms which sound
well, such as content marketing, e-marketing, etc., but in practice, as
illustrated in our survey, it is usually just skimming the surface of these
concepts. Finally, the key activity turns out to be delivering traditional
materials, in the old, “proven” way such as leaflets, business cards or
promotional gadgets”, concludes Adam Sanocki of Attention Marketing.

Full report in polish: www.marketingipr.pl