Communications Trends Defining 2025

Members of PRSA’s Counselors Academy outlined several key trends for communications pros to monitor in 2025.

Here are some of their insights for the new year:

Lagging legacy

PR practitioners must continue to look beyond legacy media when pitching. Social media influencers and podcasters will continue to gain influence at their expense, becoming the new gatekeepers to key audiences. (The 2024 presidential election cycle is an important marker in this shift.) 

If all you are pitching is network TV, newspapers, and their local counterparts, you’re increasingly behind. At the same time, you may have few options regarding local TV; the Trump administration is expected to loosen station ownership rules, meaning big owners like Nexstar, Sinclair, Gray, E.W. Scripps and Tegna will likely get bigger.

— Natalie Ghidotti is the CEO of Ghidotti and the 2025 Counselors Academy Chair

Fragmenting media

Substack....Substack...Substack...

Media will continue to fragment, and great journalists will look for new ways to showcase their work in an ethically and financially viable way. To connect with these journalists, PR practitioners must blend social listening, email marketing numbers and media relations skills. Some will be 100% earned. Some will be 100% paid. Some will blend. It will be an adventure, and I’m not sure if most practitioners have a viable plan in place.

— Dan Farkas is the chief advocate officer of Pass PR and a professor of strategic communication at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University

Accuracy matters even more

In 2025, accuracy will emerge as a key PR trend amid the rising challenge of disinformation. With misinformation spreading rapidly, public relations professionals play a vital role in promoting truthful narratives, including combating false information and urging reporters to maintain rigorous accuracy standards, fostering trust in the media. 

Tactics include encouraging journalists to meticulously verify facts, cite credible sources, and engage in thorough research to bolster the credibility of their reports and combat misinformation effectively. Our agencies risk being “canceled” if we don’t prioritize accuracy.

— Kristelle Siarza Moon, APR is the owner and CEO of Siarza, a PR and digital agency headquartered in Albuquerque, N.M. She serves as a Counselors Academy executive committee member and volunteers on the DEI committee for PRSA as co-vice chair

Inflationary ease

In speaking with clients, we envision 2025 will be the year that we expect a lot of companies to accelerate their marketing and communications to emerge stronger following the recent inflationary times that resulted in scaling back and doing more with less. 

We also expect our clients to further engage more industry influencers (both B2C and B2B) as an increasingly viable channel to get their messages out to stakeholders.

— John Walker is the managing partner of Chirp and the 2024 Counselors Academy Chair

Engaging employees

With the jobs market stabilizing, it will be more important than ever for companies of all sizes to focus on employee engagement, workforce development and retention. Internal communications will increase in relevance, with a particular focus on employee experience. Prioritizing communications that reinforce purpose and reward, as well as ensuring immediate managers and supervisors have the right tools to communicate and are trained to do so, will become fundamental, with PR and comms experts leading the way. 

— Hinda Mitchell is president and founder of Inspire PR Group, a midsize integrated communications and marketing firm headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, and serving clients nationwide. She also serves as the Counselor Academy’s Membership Chair