2025 Communications Forecast: Aberfield’s Ins and Outs
Eleanor Burgin, Consultant
As the new year is now well underway, the Aberfield team looks at the key comms trends which are likely to influence marketers, inhouse communications teams and agencies over the next 12 months. So, what’s in and what’s out for 2025?
In: Employee generated content
Employee-generated content (EGC) has become a key driver of consumer brand content on TikTok, captivating audiences with behind-the-scenes glimpses of workinglife. Since the shift to remote work during COVID, there’s been a growing fascination with ‘day-in-the-life’ content –whether that’s in trendy city centre offices, or interesting trades and industries. Brands quickly caught on, and in 2024, the rise of EGC has become a major trend. But is it about authenticity and helping consumers build a genuine connection with the brand, or simply another route to market? Either way, it’s proving to be incredibly effective, one great example of this is online lifestyle magazine, SheerLuxe.
SheerLuxe gained immense traction on TikTok in 2023/24 with employee-led office tours featuring team chats on payday wish lists, favourite restaurants, and must-have products. As their content became more popular, and viewers could identify the employees, they became rostered influencers, whose insights were as valuable as SheerLuxe’s main content.
Out: Content without purpose
In PR and communications, this rings true across the board. Brands hopping on viral trends that don’t align with their core values, or partnering with influencers whose ethos clash with theirs, often end up diluting their message.
Social media has transformed everyone into a potential critic, fundamentally reshaping the media landscapeand presenting major challenges for brands. It’s more important than ever for brands to carefully choose the outlets and individuals they engage with, ensuring they align with their core values. At the same time, the focus should be on creating content that resonates with audiences and earns its place on their timelines for being genuinely interesting, inspiring and worthwhile.
In: Video comms
Already massive in 2024, using video for your business remainsa big ‘in’ for 2025, with many brands already choosing to convey messaging through reels and TikTok to build trust and showcasetheir brand values.
In an age of AI generated copy, incorporating video provides a human face to your content. According to a study by KPMG, 61% of people are wary about trusting AI systems. By putting your people front and centre, you can help build trust and shape a brand identity.
Out: Exclusive use of traditional search engines
2024 laid the groundwork for this ‘Out’, with AI powered searching becoming more commonplace, and the use of in app search such as the TikTok search function meaning we no longer just ‘Google it’.
Whilst Google continues to be the market leader, a study from Adobe found that 64% of Gen Z have used TikTok as a search engine. By either searching in app, or using AI generated search tools, users are cutting down their clicks when retrieving information.
What does this mean for SEO? Whilst traditional SEO isn’t going anywhere just yet, professionals may need to adapt to keep up. With the introduction of Google Gemini, organic links and returns are pushed further down the returns list – with AI summaries and sponsored links taking precedence.
Brands should therefore aim to put helpful often searched for content in the apps such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube to increase reach. For written copy, SEO professionals are going to need to create content that is accessible and appeals to AI programmes to be aggregated into their search summaries.
If you’re considering what PR and social support you need for your business, get in touch with team Aberfield on hello@aberfield.com.
