If 2025 taught PR professionals anything, it’s that “doing more with less” is no longer a cliché – it’s practically part of the job description. A shifting media landscape, shrinking newsrooms, and ever-higher expectations from leadership all converged at once, leaving communicators to move faster, prove impact, and stay agile with limited resources. As the year comes to a close, we’re looking back at 2025 the way PR pros know best: By the numbers.
Based on insights from the thousands of PR, comms, marketing, and media professionals we spoke with this year, here’s a look at the most compelling data points shaping the industry today, and what they tell us about where the industry is headed.
An industry under pressure to move faster
One clear theme across the year: PR teams are stretched thin, with no break in sight. According to the newly released Inside PR 2026 Report:
- The top challenge: 60% of PR pros cite the volatile media landscape as their biggest hurdle.
- Resource scarcity: 58% struggle with limited budgets and personnel.
- The perception gap: 33% of executives believe their teams are "extremely agile," yet only 14% of staff agree.
The takeaway? Real-time data, smarter workflows, and tools that help teams act quickly are essential in today's media landscape. PR teams are increasingly turning to AI-powered solutions to monitor coverage, streamline workflows, and make faster, data-informed decisions. 
Proving value: From brand awareness to hard ROI
In 2025, generating "buzz" wasn't enough. Public relations teams are now expected to sit at the revenue table as the pressure to prove business impact is at an all-time high:
- 73% of PR professionals rank brand awareness among their three priorities, but driving sales and revenue is close behind – particularly for executives.
- At the same time, communications leaders are increasingly tasked with proving the business impact of their work (as illustrated in the 2025 Comms Report): 96% say they are relying on data more than ever, yet 43% still struggle to convert that data into actionable insights.
TL;DR: For PR, driving brand awareness is still the main goal, but success means connecting storytelling to measurable business outcomes, turning creative campaigns into tangible value for stakeholders.
Opportunities in AI and automation
If 2025 was about discovering AI’s potential in PR, 2026 will be about maximizing it. AI-powered tools are getting more sophisticated every day, enabling PR and comms teams to work more effectively. Moreover, they're not only getting more comfortable using AI to create efficiencies, they’re getting savvier about it.
- Biggest opportunity: 48% of professionals identify AI and automation as the biggest opportunity for 2026.
- Relationship-building: 39% believe the key to success lies in strengthening human-to-human relationships with journalists and creators.
- Usage: 92% of PR teams use generative AI in some way, shape or form, with the top use cases being content optimization and personalized pitching at scale.
The takeaway? In 2026, the PR “winners” will be those who can balance speed (using AI to enhance efficiency, gather real-time data and instance insights) with the human touch (authentic storytelling and genuine human connections) to build trust with audiences and journalists alike.
Navigating the new rules of media relations
Findings from the 2025 State of the Media Report make it clear that journalists face their own set of pressures that are having an impact on the way they work with PR. To get covered, PR pros must respect the new rules of the newsroom.
- Top challenges: Adapting to changing audience behaviors (42%), followed by maintaining credibility in a “fake news” era (40%); navigating emerging AI technologies (30%) rounded out the top three.
- The rules of engagement: 85% of journalists say the best way for PR pros to engage them is to “send me an email telling me why you want to connect.” Other effective relationship-building tactics: “Pitch me a new, relevant story idea,” and “Invite me to an industry event.”
- Relevance is everything: 86% of journalists reject pitches that aren’t aligned with their audience or beat. Short, data-driven, and audience-centric pitches (backed by research) remain the gold standard.
Skills and tools to move PR forward
For our upcoming Inside PR 2026 Report, we asked nearly 600 industry pros about the tools and skills that will define success in the year ahead. The PR teams that truly stand out will will possess a blend of creative and technical skills.
- Critical tools: 60% of pros rank media monitoring and analysis as their most vital technology.
- Must-have skills: Strategic storytelling, content creation, strategic planning, and media relations top the list, closely followed by proficiency in AI integration.
These findings underscore a broader truth: Success in modern PR is both creative and analytical. Teams must combine data, strategy, and narrative to drive results, all while navigating an increasingly complex media landscape.
The bottom line
2025 has shown that PR is evolving at record speed. Teams are balancing limited resources with growing expectations, leveraging AI and analytics, and striving to build meaningful relationships with both audiences and journalists. Looking forward, the ability to act with speed, insight, and authenticity will define the most successful communications teams.
As PR professionals prepare for 2026, these numbers aren’t just statistics – they’re a roadmap for how to work smarter, tell better stories, and make an impact that’s measurable, meaningful, and enduring.
Are you ready to turn 2025's biggest lessons into 2026's greatest opportunities? Find out how CisionOne can help you turn this data into action and exceed your own numbers the year ahead. Speak to an expert.
