Authority-building priorities are already shifting, and a survey of 812 marketers shows exactly where effort is expected to move over the next year. Digital PR and media contributions remain the top tactic today, but its share is expected to shrink, while original research promoted externally is set to grow by the largest margin of any tactic measured. The share of marketers reporting no dedicated authority-building activity at all is also expected to shrink significantly.

Essential Statistics

• Digital PR and media contributions is the top tactic today at 27%, expected to fall to 23% next year, a 4-point decline.
• Original research promoted externally is expected to grow from 13% to 19%, a 6-point increase, the largest gain of any tactic measured.
• Industry partnerships are expected to hold steady at 14%, showing no projected change.
• Customer advocacy and expert appearances are each expected to grow modestly, by 1 point.
• The share of marketers with no dedicated authority-building activity is expected to fall from 7% to 3%, a 4-point decline.

Key Takeaways

• Digital PR’s projected decline alongside original research’s projected growth suggests marketers are shifting away from earned media toward self-generated proof points.
• Original research seeing the largest projected increase suggests marketers increasingly see unique data as a differentiator worth the upfront investment to produce.
• Industry partnerships holding steady suggests this tactic has found a stable role in the authority-building mix rather than growing or shrinking in priority.
• The declining share of marketers with no dedicated authority activity suggests awareness of the need for authority building is spreading even among previously inactive organizations.
• This directional shift suggests marketers are moving from borrowing credibility through media placements toward building it directly through original work.

Actionable Insights

• If digital PR has been your primary authority tactic, start building capacity for original research now, since this data shows marketers planning the largest shift of any tactic toward this approach.
• Treat industry partnerships as a stable, ongoing tactic rather than a growth area, since this data shows flat projected demand here.
• If your organization currently has no dedicated authority-building activity, use this data as a signal to start now, since the share of inactive organizations is expected to shrink considerably.
• Build modest, ongoing investment in customer advocacy and expert appearances, since both show small but real projected growth.
• Revisit your authority-building budget allocation annually against this kind of shift data, since priorities in this space appear to be moving meaningfully even over a single year.

‘Everyone leaned on PR for authority. The shift underway is toward original research, stuff nobody else can publish because nobody else did the work. That’s the harder but more durable path.’ – Neil Patel