Those of us who work in public relations have said for years that PR should be taken more seriously, that it is a must-have component of any CEO’s senior management team. And perhaps most important, that public relations should be on par with advertising and marketing as a go-to service for companies’ ongoing brand-building campaigns. To realise our industry’s full business value, we need independent data and research to back up our claims.

After much talk public relations has reached an important milestone. According to the 2011 to 2015 Communications Industry Forecast, from the private investment firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson (VSS), public relations and word-of-mouth marketing will be the fastest-growing marketing-related segments in the US in the four-year period ending in 2015.

VSS reports that in 2010, PR and word-of-mouth marketing (WoMM) spending in the US grew by 12.8 per cent, to $5.7 billion, with spending predicted to reach $10.96 billion by 2015. Those strong numbers – the result of years of innovative work on the part of agencies, practitioners and the profession at-large – are confirmation of public relations’ value and relevance to the business community. While the report is based on current spending figures and VSS experts’ predictions of the industry’s growth, it portends positive industry movement in the years ahead.

VSS isn’t the only group singing PR’s praises.

Miles Nadal, chairman and CEO of advertising holding firm MDC Partners, wrote recently that PR has firmly taken its place among advertising and marketing as a vital component for achieving today’s business objectives. In an op-ed titled, Move Over Advertising – Let’s Talk PR, Nadal writes that “PR leaders are now just as [essential] as CMOs, and the art of PR is more vital to an organisation's survival than ever before.”

He goes on to say that the shift of client spending from traditional advertising and marketing services to PR and WoMM campaigns is a trend he “support[s] wholeheartedly” and does not see abating any time soon. It is part of public relations’ move to the centre of the marketing mix, as clients and investors increasingly value our services.

It was only last year that WPP Chairman Sir Martin Sorrell told a group of business executives that “editorial publicity has resumed its rightful place as one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, marketing medium today.”

The VSS report is certainly good news for the PR industry. But what is driving the growth? Not surprisingly, it is social media — specifically, Facebook and Twitter. VSS says that while spending on PR and marketing services in the business-to-business sector is slowing, it is growing rapidly in the business-to-consumer sector, as social media continues to command businesses’ keen attention. Further accelerating the growth of PR and WoMM, according to VSS, is increased demand for online consumer promotions, along with an expansion of the role of PR.

This report is further confirmation of a prosperous profession. As I recently told the PRSA Northeast District Conference, the future of the US public relations industry is strong. Its sustained prosperity rests on the tens of thousands of innovative communicators who are leading this latest charge in its relevance and value.

As client objectives and demands continue to shift, and the world becomes a more connected and digitized environment, I am confident the public relations industry will continue to experience expanded growth and appreciation for its services.

Rosanna M. Fiske, APR, is chair and chief executive officer of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).