Press release strategy is changing faster than most teams’ workflows. With 72% of comms groups already using media monitoring for results and 84% of PR professionals relying on social media for PR activities, the gap between “issuing a release” and “proving impact” is getting hard to ignore. Add benchmarks like a 0.2% average email unsubscribe rate in 2024 and a 12.5 hour journalist first response time, and you start to see why measurement and timing matter as much as messaging.
Key Takeaways
- The global PR and communications industry grew by 8.5% CAGR from 2019 to 2023 in a market outlook estimate (industry growth rate)
- 62% of PR professionals expect more influencer/journalist hybrid coverage in 2024 (earned media trend expectation survey)
- “Online news” accounts for 66% of average weekly news consumption in 2023 (attention channel context for PR)
- $109.2 billion value of the global public relations market in 2024 (market sizing estimate)
- $16.3 billion global media monitoring market size in 2023 (market sizing estimate)
- $3.9 billion global PR software market size in 2023 (market sizing estimate)
- 84% of public relations professionals reported using social media for PR activities (survey-based usage)
- 67% of comms teams said they have an owned newsroom/press page (survey-based property adoption)
- 4.3 billion people globally use social media (number of social media users worldwide in 2024)
- Average email unsubscribe rate was 0.2% in 2024 benchmarks (engagement quality)
- In 2023, 78% of PR measurement uses “engagement” metrics (performance measurement behavior)
- Journalists’ average time-to-first-response after receiving a pitch is 12.5 hours based on internal response-time analyses shared by vendor surveys (response-time metric)
- Average PR retainer costs for small firms were about $2,500 per month in 2024 rate surveys (monthly cost benchmark)
- Average PR agency project pricing ranged from $5,000 to $20,000 for campaigns in 2024 pricing guides (campaign cost range)
- Business Wire pricing tiers start at $899 per release for select distribution options in 2024 pricing information (per-release cost benchmark)
The PR and communications sector is rapidly expanding, with data, social media, and monitoring tools reshaping measurement and outreach.
Related reading
01 · Category
Industry Trends4 stats
01
The global PR and communications industry grew by 8.5% CAGR from 2019 to 2023 in a market outlook estimate (industry growth rate)
02
62% of PR professionals expect more influencer/journalist hybrid coverage in 2024 (earned media trend expectation survey)
03
“Online news” accounts for 66% of average weekly news consumption in 2023 (attention channel context for PR)
04
In 2022, 93% of countries had at least one internet shutdown event removed as documented by Access Now (PR crisis/communications relevance)
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
For Industry Trends, the PR sector is clearly shifting toward modern digital influence with global PR and communications growing at an 8.5% CAGR from 2019 to 2023, online news driving 66% of weekly news consumption in 2023, and 62% of professionals expecting more influencer journalist hybrid coverage in 2024.
02 · Category
Market Size8 stats
01
$109.2 billion value of the global public relations market in 2024 (market sizing estimate)
02
$16.3 billion global media monitoring market size in 2023 (market sizing estimate)
03
$3.9 billion global PR software market size in 2023 (market sizing estimate)
04
$4.8 billion global media database market size in 2023 (press targeting and distribution tooling ecosystem estimate)
05
$3.07 billion global brand safety software market size in 2023 (media/publication risk constraints for PR placement)
06
$18.3 billion global social media management market size in 2023 (overlaps with press/earned media workflows)
07
$15.9 billion global marketing automation market size in 2023 (supports PR distribution and nurture)
08
$6.3 billion global media relations software market size in 2023 (PR/media outreach tooling estimate)
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
For the Market Size view, the combined ecosystem behind press releases is large and expanding, with $109.2 billion in the 2024 global public relations market and multiple adjacent software and tooling segments in 2023 like $18.3 billion social media management and $6.3 billion media relations software all underscoring strong budget allocation beyond just PR itself.
03 · Category
User Adoption5 stats
01
84% of public relations professionals reported using social media for PR activities (survey-based usage)
02
67% of comms teams said they have an owned newsroom/press page (survey-based property adoption)
03
4.3 billion people globally use social media (number of social media users worldwide in 2024)
04
92% of internet users in the U.S. use email (share of U.S. internet users using email, 2024)
05
The share of U.S. adults who use social media is 72% (2024 survey measurement of adoption)
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
For User Adoption, PR is already widely integrated with social platforms as 84% of public relations professionals use social media and 72% of U.S. adults do so, signaling that owned newsroom adoption at 67% should keep rising to match where audiences already spend time.
More related reading
04 · Category
Performance Metrics6 stats
01
Average email unsubscribe rate was 0.2% in 2024 benchmarks (engagement quality)
02
In 2023, 78% of PR measurement uses “engagement” metrics (performance measurement behavior)
03
Journalists’ average time-to-first-response after receiving a pitch is 12.5 hours based on internal response-time analyses shared by vendor surveys (response-time metric)
04
Share of comms teams using media monitoring for results: 72% in 2024 (monitoring performance linkage)
05
The global average bounce rate for marketing emails was 1.0% in 2024 (list hygiene/delivery quality benchmark)
06
In the U.S., 16% of adults say they get at least some news from X (Twitter) (platform-level news consumption share)
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Performance measurement in press release and comms is heavily engagement focused, with 78% of PR metrics using engagement in 2023, while 2024 benchmarks show strong delivery quality and responsiveness, including a 0.2% average email unsubscribe rate and a 12.5 hour time to first journalist response.
05 · Category
Cost Analysis8 stats
01
Average PR retainer costs for small firms were about $2,500per month in 2024 rate surveys (monthly cost benchmark)
02
Average PR agency project pricing ranged from $5,000to $20,000 for campaigns in 2024 pricing guides (campaign cost range)
03
Business Wire pricing tiers start at $899per release for select distribution options in 2024 pricing information (per-release cost benchmark)
04
Global media monitoring subscriptions commonly priced at $1,000–$3,000 per month for small teams in 2024 vendor pricing guidance (monitoring cost benchmark)
05
PR software monthly pricing for entry tiers averaged $29–$99 per user per month in 2024 SaaS pricing benchmarks (tool cost benchmark)
06
Outsourced PR agency retainers for mid-market companies averaged $7,500–$20,000 per month in 2024 industry pricing analyses (recurring cost benchmark)
07
Market reports estimate PR measurement/monitoring tool costs typically represent 5%–15% of a comms budget (allocation share estimate)
08
In a 2023 procurement analysis, agencies reported 12% average discount when annual contracts were used vs month-to-month (contracting savings)
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
For the cost analysis angle, PR expenses often scale sharply from roughly $2,500 per month for small-firm retainer benchmarks to $7,500–$20,000 per month for mid-market outsourced retainers, while monitoring and tools typically add more predictable layers at about $1,000–$3,000 per month and $29–$99 per user per month respectively.
06 · Category
Regulation & Risk2 stats
01
The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has a maximum administrative fine of €20 million or 4% of annual global turnover, whichever is higher (top penalty cap that affects communications data handling)
02
The EU ePrivacy rules set that consent is required for storing or accessing information on a terminal device (e.g., cookies) in most cases (relevant to PR/communications tracking and retargeting)
Interpretation
Regulation & Risk Interpretation
For Regulation & Risk communications, the stakes are clear as GDPR’s top fine of up to €20 million or 4% of annual global turnover whichever is higher directly targets how PR teams handle communications data, while ePrivacy rules requiring consent for most cookie and terminal device access further tighten what is acceptable for tracking and retargeting.
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Rachel Svensson. (2026, February 13). Press Release Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/press-release-statistics
MLA
Rachel Svensson. "Press Release Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/press-release-statistics.
Chicago
Rachel Svensson. 2026. "Press Release Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/press-release-statistics.
Sources & references
33 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+12 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)