Telecoms and ICT Dominated Nigeria’s PR Activity in 2019 as 71% of Agencies Record Revenue Growth

Public Relations (PR) activity servicing the Telecoms and ICT Sector showed the most significant activity in the Industry in 2019. This is according to the Nigerian PR Report 2020 released by the BHM Research and Intelligence Unit.

According to the agency, the report was based on the analysis of PR activity in Nigeria in 2019, together with 196 surveys and 3 focus group discussions with PR companies, media professionals and clients of Nigerian PR companies.

Nigeria PR Report is the country’s first-ever annual report on Public Relations.

Opportunities for PR Companies

Apart from ICT and Telecoms, the NGO sector also showed significant PR activity. Other sectors like Agriculture, Insurance and Power recorded single digits in terms of PR activity.

According to the report, the reduced activity possibly signals market dominance by the few agencies servicing these sectors. It added that this can create opportunities for other agencies in the sector.

Growing Number of PR agencies

In 2019, there was a rise in the number of public relations agencies. According to the survey, 68% of PR agencies have been in operation for less than 5 years, 12% for 5-10 years and only 9% with over 20 years of experience.

In terms of balance, the industry remains male-dominated at 74% with women comprising only 26% of the industry. The report shows that older companies have more gender balance than younger companies.

Agencies under 5 years of operation appear to have a higher proportion of men with women comprising only 21% of those agencies. At the older agencies of 11-20 years, women comprise 44% of staff.

71% of agencies report revenue growth

About 71% of the PR agencies surveyed reported revenue growth in 2019. This is up from about 50% recorded in 2018.

In 2019, 10% of public relations agencies reported a decrease in revenue while 19% still maintained the same level of revenue as their 2018 figures.

Consequently, the report shows that 68% of respondents saw their revenue plateauing in 2015, and 15% of respondents witnessed a revenue decline in 2016 which was in line with the Nigerian recession.

In terms of revenue numbers, 56% of participants reported revenues of less than N5 million.

Digital and Social Media Dominate the Industry

Nigerian PR agencies provide a wide-ranging suite of services to their clients. However, due to the changing landscape, the popularity and use of the PR service varies.

According to the report, Digital/social media was the most popular service provided by PR firms in 2019. This is followed by other services like marketing and business development, and corporate reputation.

In 2017 and 2018, the 3 top services offered were digital/social media, media relationships and communications strategy.

In conclusion

COVID-19 has further shown the importance of digital technology in day to day activities. The scale of digital disruption that has taken place shows that communications experts need to be focused on continuous improvement across the various elements of the PR function.

The future of PR is very dynamic but if we do not adapt, we stand the risk of being redundant.

The report cited

The report added that there is huge potential for the industry. It explained that effective communication is more paramount for brands especially for those who shut down during the pandemic. It added that some brands will have a hard time regaining attention due to the nature of the crisis and will look up to PR experts for help.