Inside PR 2026: Trends, Challenges, and What’s Next

Inside PR 2026: Trends, Challenges, and What’s Next

Inside PR 2026 was published by Cision and is based on a survey of 561 PR professionals from agencies and in-house teams. It bundles assessments of current working practices in PR and describes a professional field that is under constant pressure from media change due to technological progress and a simultaneous shortage of resources.

The recurring tension between strategic aspirations and operational conditions is striking. The changing media landscape and scarce resources are consistently cited as the biggest challenges, but their impact varies depending on the role. Management levels rate their own organization as significantly more agile than employees in day-to-day operations. The latter more frequently point to formal decision-making processes, team structures or a lack of access to up-to-date data as factors holding them back. Agility therefore appears to be the result of organizational prerequisites and not a question of individual attitude. At the same time, the expectations of PR work are shifting. Brand awareness remains a central point of reference, while at the same time there is growing pressure to make communicative performance measurable and link it more closely to business objectives.

Another focus is on the interplay between technology and skills. According to the study, AI-supported applications are already widely anchored in everyday working life, particularly in research, idea generation and text work. They are primarily seen as a means of reducing workload and increasing efficiency. At the same time, traditional skills retain their importance. Storytelling and strategic planning continue to be cited as key success factors. The report therefore does not describe a fundamental redefinition of PR, but rather a readjustment of existing roles under changed conditions, in which automation and relationship management, operational efficiency and strategic connectivity must be negotiated simultaneously.