Instagram is one of many tools used by PR and Social Agencies, not just for their clients campaigns, but also as a channel of their own. We analysed the activity of the UK’s biggest PR agencies to look at how effectively they use Instagram, and the results were surprising!
We compared PR agencies using a number of different factors, including engagement rates and follower growth to determine which agency was performing the best on Instagram, and the results were quite astonishing. Most people within the PR and marketing sphere will know that Edelman is one of, if not the, biggest PR agency in the UK – however, surprisingly, our research put Purple PR and Exposure London at the top of the list, ahead of PR agency giants Edelman and Ketchum.
Purple PR had the highest number of followers by some margin, as well as gaining more than 7,277 likes over the last 30 days. Exposure London gained 2,572 likes during this period, whilst Edelman received just 437 likes. Ketchum, who sit at fourth on the list, received 1,143 likes in the last month.
Of the top five, W Communications came out on top in terms of engagement rate, with 2.45%, followed by Exposure London with 1.18% and Ketchum 0.64%. Purple PR was ranked fourth with a rate of 0.42%, and Edelman was surprisingly the lowest from the top five with an engagement rate of just 0.04%.
Getting hight engagement rates is increasingly important on social media, especially with Instagram’s frequent algorithm changes. Engagement rates give you a true measure of how your followers are reacting to your content. You could have thousands of followers, but if the content your posting isn’t right for them, you’ll lose favour. Engagement gives you an idea of the percentage of your followers who are actually switched on to the content you’re posting. Purple PR, for instance, has a very defined audience, posting regularly about fashion and celebrities, whereas Edelman tend to post solely about work related topics.
An important insight we can draw from our research, (and one that is off-repeated) is having a defined and pre-determined target audience, and created your content based around them is key to running a successful social media account – something which Purple PR have clearly been doing very well.
The research was conducted between the 24th December to the 23rd January using the Hopper HQ Instagram Analytics Tool, on 50 of the UK’s highest revenue PR agencies, using our new Instagram analytics tool, which is currently being rolled out across Hopper HQ!
Visually plan your social content. Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn + Pinterest
Here are the top 50 UK PR agencies on Instagram:
1) Purple PR
2) Exposure London
3) Edelman
4) Ketchum
5) W Communications
6) Weber Shandwick
7) Iris Worldwide
8) Burson-Marsteller
9) M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment
10) Hope & Glory
11) M&C Satchi PR
12) Pretty Green
13) 3 Monkeys Zeno
14) Instinctif Partners
15) TVC Group
16) MSL Group
17) Ogilvy UK
18) Golin
19) Hill+Knowlton Strategies
20) Frank
21) Good Relations
22) Porter Novelli
23) FleishmanHillard Fishburn
24) HSE Cake
25) Freuds
26) Hotwire
27) Pegasus
28) Team Spirit Group
29) PHA Media – Update: No Longer Active
30) APCO Worldwide
31) Brands2Life
32) Hanover
33) Finsbury Global
34) Text 100
35) Axon Communications
36) MHP Communications
37) Grayling RP
38) Smarts Communicate
39) City Press
40) Premier
41) Four Communications Group
42) Media Zoo
43) W20 Group
44) Teneo Blue Rubicon
45) Brunswick
46) Octopus Group
47) Cohn & Wolfe
48) Headland
49) Newgate Communications
50) Cicero
Hopper HQ co-founder, Mike Bandar, said,
“PR agencies pride themselves on their ability to get in front of an audience and their creative flair– so it’s interesting to see how they perform on Instagram, which shares many of the elements that make a PR agency great; creativity, reach, impressions etc.”
“Edelman is widely considered the biggest PR and social media agency in the UK and it was surprising to see that both Purple PR and Exposure London trumped them. I think the rise of Instagram over the last few years has forced PR pros to evolve with the social media terrain – however, it’s clear that in some cases, more time is spent on their client’s social feeds than their own.”
