Comms. Teams Take on More Responsibilities

Is communications overtaking marketing? According to a survey published by PR analytics and insights platform Memo, an increasing number of communications teams, stationed both in-house and at agencies, are seeing their responsibilities extend far beyond handling external communications duties. And the reporting structure has changed as well, with many teams now reporting directly to the CEO as opposed to the chief marketing officer.

Memo’s annual report, which surveyed 1,000 communications professionals working either in-house or at an agency, found that the job responsibilities of communications teams have evolved significantly in the last few years. More than half of communications teams said that internal communications (59 percent), marketing campaigns (56 percent) and executive communications (54 percent) now count among their responsibilities.

But that appears to be just the tip of the iceberg. Nearly 50 percent of communications teams additionally said the scope of their work is also increasingly beginning to encompass proactive media (49 percent), social and corporate responsibility (46 percent), social media (45 percent) and reactive media (42 percent).

According to the survey, these responsibilities have especially grown among communications teams counting a staff of more than 50.

Who does the comms. team report to (2023 vs. 2024).

Not only are PR teams doing more, there’s also been a notable change in who they’re reporting to. While it used to be standard for communications teams to report to marketing leaders, that tradition has witnessed a major shift. The survey discovered that while 63 percent of communications teams reported to a CMO in 2023, that number dropped to only 37 percent in 2024. Instead, most communications teams are now reporting directly to the CEO (56 percent in 2024, compared to only 22 percent last year—a difference of 34 percent).

Only five percent of communications teams said they report to sales and one percent said they report to legal.

When it comes to communications teams’ top priorities, Memo’s report found that amplifying key messages (43 percent), increasing share of voice against the competition (40 percent) and building awareness (38 percent) most frequently appear as communicators’ top three responsibilities. This was followed by increasing coverage (37 percent), combating misinformation (37 percent), fostering community engagement (36 percent), driving the sales pipeline (35 percent) and changing perceptions (34 percent).

Some differentiation does exist in the perceived priorities among in-house and agency communicators, but overall, their goals remain mostly aligned. 44 percent of agency PR pros cited increasing share of voice as the top priority, compared to only 40 percent of those working in-house. Amplifying key messages is a top priority among 43 percent of in-house pros, compared to 38 percent of agency staffers. Building awareness was billed as a top priority for 39 percent of agency pros, compared to 38 percent of in-house staff. This was followed by increasing coverage (38 percent agencies vs. 37 percent in-house), combating misinformation (37 percent agencies vs. 37 percent in-house), community engagement (37 agencies vs. 36 in-house), driving the sales pipeline (35 percent in-house vs. 34 percent agencies) and changing perceptions (34 in-house vs. 31 agencies).

Memo’s “Evolving Role of Communications in 2024” report surveyed communications professionals working full-time at a company (either in-house or at an agency) with more than 100 employees. The survey was conducted online by research panel company Sago between February and March.