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UK respondents report slightly less enthusiasm for social media with 74 percent saying social media would be a key focus in 2010 as opposed to 80 percent of US-based respondents. US and UK respondents are nearly uniform in their belief that the role of PR will become increasingly important in 2010 netting 67 percent in the UK and 64 percent in the US.

Key findings from the UK-based survey include:

Planning challenges. 61 percent of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that PR planning will more difficult in 2010. Budgets. 35 percent indicated PR budgets will remain flat in 2010, though more than one-third also said they anticipated their budget increasing slightly (29 percent) or significantly (7 percent); 30 percent see budgets decreasing slightly. Innovation and technology. 67 percent are planning to refine process in 2010 while 54 percent will invest in new technology in order to do more with less. Social media a key focus. 74 percent of respondents say they will focus on social media (http://www.vocus.com/uk/social-media/index.asp) in 2010; leveraging video, SEO and viral/word-of-mouth campaigns follow closely behind with 55, 51 and 48 percent respectively. PR increasingly important to marketing. 67 percent believe that PR will become increasingly important in the overall marketing mix in 2010. "Like their counterparts an ocean away, the largest take-away from this survey is that PR professionals are going to be asked to do more with less in 2010," said Tamara Santiago, Marketing Manager at Vocus (UK). "In the same way, the UK market is looking to process innovation and technology investments as key approaches to achieve this end."

The survey queried UK-based PR professionals about their perceptions of PR planning for 2010. The survey was conducted from 23 October 2009 to 9 November 2009. The survey questions were identical to those sent to a US-based audience previously, though that survey received ~1,800 responses. The news release that announced the US-based results can be found here (http://www.prweb.com/releases/PR-planning-survey/-public-relations-survey/prweb3194454.htm).

The results of this survey will be presented to an audience during a live Webinar on 17 November 2009 titled, "PR Planning Considerations for 2010 (http://tinyurl.com/yhsspfz)." All respondents who completed the survey, and registrants to the Webinar, will receive the complete survey results by e-mail.

Members of the media and blogging community can request a copy of the complete survey results by sending an e-mail to fstrong-at-vocus-dot-com. The Webinar will also be recorded and posted for viewing shortly after the live Webinar; register here: http://tinyurl.com/yhsspfz

About Vocus VOCUS, Vocus, Inc. (NASDAQ: VOCS) is a leading provider of on-demand software for public relations management, helping organisations of all sizes fundamentally change the way they communicate with the media and the public, optimise their public relations efforts and measure their impact. The web-based software addresses the critical functions of public relations including media relations, news distribution and news monitoring, and provides the critical capability to monitor and analyse social media conversations from virtually any source and track results compared to key competitors. Vocus is used by more than 4,000 organisations worldwide and is available in seven languages. Vocus is based in London, UK with offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information, visit www.vocus.co.uk

This release contains "forward-looking" statements that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These are statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as "may," "will," "expects," "projects," "anticipates," "estimates," "believes," "intends," "plans," "should," "seeks," and similar expressions. This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to, among other things, Vocus' expectations and assumptions concerning future financial performance. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual future results to differ materially from those projected or contemplated in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may be significantly impacted by certain risks and uncertainties described in Vocus' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/11/prweb3215194.htm.

PRWeb.com

"It was the demonstration that really helped me see the value and to truly understand the possibilities that Vocus' software provides," said Jennifer Arrigo, a public relations manager that has worked for Herr Foods for 25 years. "You can spend hours on the Internet and never find the same quality of information in Vocus. It helped me see new types of media opportunities and to consider potential new ways we might attract interest in Herr Foods."

Herr Foods makes and distributes snack foods in 10 different states, mostly in the eastern United States, and it often engages in grassroots marketing. For example, Herr Foods seeks opportunities to sponsor local media events by providing snack foods for those events.

"Localized media outreach is where I see a lot of untapped opportunity," said Arrigo. "In the end Vocus is going to save us time and money."

Herr Foods will use Vocus to research and target specific media contacts (http://www.vocus.com/content/prmediadb.asp) in the different geographical segments of the company's market. The Vocus platform will also enable Herr Foods to document and track their media outreach efforts and provide analytics as to which outreach efforts are most effective.

"Resources including the allocation of time, budget and human resources are in short supply especially in a challenging economic climate," said Kye Strance, director of product management with Vocus. "Even so, forward-thinking businesses like Herr Foods continue to press forward with their communication efforts -- and it's clear that the time-savings our customers obtain is a key benefit of investing in Vocus."

About Vocus Vocus, Inc. (NASDAQ: VOCS) is a leading provider of on-demand software for public relations management (http://www.vocus.com). Our web-based software suite helps organizations of all sizes to fundamentally change the way they communicate with both the media and the public, optimizing their public relations and increasing their ability to measure its impact. Our on-demand software addresses the critical functions of public relations including media relations, news distribution and news monitoring. We deliver our solutions over the Internet using a secure, scalable application and system architecture, which allows our customers to eliminate expensive up-front hardware and software costs and to quickly deploy and adopt our on-demand software. Vocus is used by more than 4,000 organizations worldwide and is available in seven languages. Vocus is based in Lanham, MD with offices in North America, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit www.vocus.com or call (800) 345-5572.

This release contains "forward-looking" statements that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These are statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as "may," "will," "expects," "projects," "anticipates," "estimates," "believes," "intends," "plans," "should," "seeks," and similar expressions. This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to, among other things, Vocus' expectations and assumptions concerning future financial performance. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual future results to differ materially from those projected or contemplated in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may be significantly impacted by certain risks and uncertainties described in Vocus' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/11/prweb3205344.htm.

PRWeb.com

The survey also explored budgets and found reason for cautious optimism. Forty-two percent of PR professionals report that they expect budgets to be flat in 2010, however nearly one-third also report budgets will increase. Of those, 24 percent reported expectations for slight increases, while another five percent said budgets will increase significantly. Other key findings from the survey include:

Trying times. 64 percent of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that PR planning (http://www.vocus.com/resources/public-relations-planning/index.asp) will be more difficult in 2010. Cautious optimism. 42 percent indicated PR budgets will remain flat in 2010, though one-third also said they anticipated their budget increasing slightly (24 percent) or significantly (5 percent). Innovate and invest in technology. 63 percent are planning to refine processes in 2010 while 51 percent will invest in new technology in order to do more with less. Social media to be a key focus in 2010. 80 percent of respondents say they will focus on social media in 2010; multimedia is not far behind with 63 percent, while measuring results, SEO and viral campaigns trail with 58, 57 and 56 percent respectively. PR increasingly important to marketing. 64 percent believe that PR will become increasingly important in the overall marketing mix in 2010. "One of the most compelling findings from this survey are the indications and perceptions of how the lines are blurring between PR, advertising and interactive marketing functions," said Deirdre Breakenridge, the president of PFS Marketwyse (http://www.pfsmarketwise.com/), who also contributed to the survey design and analysis. "PR people are a new hybrid of professionals who understand the value of incorporating viral marketing, relationship marketing, social marketing and Web analytics into their roles and responsibilities."

The survey queried US-based PR professionals about their perceptions of PR planning for 2010. The survey was conducted from October 21, 2009 to November 12, 2009.

The results of this survey will be presented to an audience during a live Webinar on November 12, 2009 titled, "PR Planning Considerations for 2010 (http://tinyurl.com/yjqgccu)," featuring Breakenridge, co-author of "Putting the Public Back in Public Relations (http://www.amazon.com/Putting-Public-Back-Relations-Reinventing/dp/0137150695)." All respondents who completed the survey, and registrants to the Webinar, will receive the complete survey results by e-mail.

Members of the media and blogging community can request a copy of the complete survey results by sending an e-mail to fstrong-at-vocus-dot-com. The Webinar will also be recorded and posted for viewing shortly after the live Webinar; register here: http://tinyurl.com/yhrbv8p.

About Vocus Vocus, Inc. (NASDAQ: VOCS) is a leading provider of on-demand software for public relations management. Our web-based software suite helps organizations of all sizes to fundamentally change the way they communicate with both the media and the public, optimizing their public relations and increasing their ability to measure its impact. Our on-demand software addresses the critical functions of public relations including media relations, news distribution and news monitoring. We deliver our solutions over the Internet using a secure, scalable application and system architecture, which allows our customers to eliminate expensive up-front hardware and software costs and to quickly deploy and adopt our on-demand software. Vocus is used by more than 4,000 organizations worldwide and is available in seven languages. Vocus is based in Lanham, MD with offices in North America, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit www.vocus.com or call (800) 345-5572.

This release contains "forward-looking" statements that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These are statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as "may," "will," "expects," "projects," "anticipates," "estimates," "believes," "intends," "plans," "should," "seeks," and similar expressions. This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to, among other things, Vocus' expectations and assumptions concerning future financial performance. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual future results to differ materially from those projected or contemplated in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may be significantly impacted by certain risks and uncertainties described in Vocus' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

###

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/PR-planning-survey/-public-relations-survey/prweb3194454.htm.

PRWeb.com