2026 Communication Trends to Priortise

Following Drury’s recent event, Building Reputation in the Digital Age, Rowena Crowley, Digital Director outlines nine key communication trends organisations should prioritise in 2026 inspired by a standout presentation from Craig Elder, Founding Partner of Drury’s London-based affiliate agency, Edmonds Elder.

1. More creative corporate content

Corporate reputation is now shaped in public, real-time spaces like LinkedIn, Instagram, X, TikTok and Reddit. In this environment, creativity must have a genuine purpose. Audiences expect businesses to communicate with confidence, to show who they are, and to live their values not just state them. That means listening closely, speaking in human language rather than corporate jargon, and showing up authentically.

2. The continued rise of policy campaigning

Policy conversations now unfold at speed across social media channels. To gain not just visibility but authority, organisations must approach these issues with creativity and clarity, earning credibility rather than simply attention.  Policy campaigning has shifted from a specialist, behind-closed-doors activity to a mainstream reputational expectation. It refers to how companies now publicly shape, influence, and communicate around the policy issues that materially affect their business, stakeholders, or society. Now more than ever, employees, customers, investors, and communities want clarity on where companies stand on topics such as climate, healthcare, housing, public infrastructure, taxation, technology and AI governance, so it’s imperative to have clear, values-aligned policy positions to increase trust. 

3. External-internal campaigning

External–internal campaigning is an integrated approach that seeks to influence public audiences and a business’s employees, and it is reshaping the communications landscape.  As employees increasingly consume corporate content through the same channels as public audiences, internal sentiment now directly impacts external reputation. In this environment, corporate values and behaviours must be visible both inside and outside the organisation. That requires a thoughtful blend of public-facing advocacy and internal engagement, aligned within one coherent strategy rather than treated as separate workstreams.  This means that corporate values and behaviours must be visible, consistent, and lived across both worlds.

4. Investing in content series

Investing in content means building a steady stream of strategic and meaningful content that advances a company’s long-term reputation. Today reputation is shaped by digital touchpoints that are consistently visible. 

Creating a content series around strategically important topics enables an organisation to:

·       Demonstrate thought leadership

·       Stay continuously present

·       Control its narrative

·       Improve search visibility

·       Engage stakeholders meaningfully

·       Build emotional connection

·       Maximise content efficiency and reach

5. Making news and events work harder

News and events can no longer be treated as isolated moments.  They are assets that can and should be maximised, extended, and repurposed to strengthen a company’s reputation across many channels over time. Making them work harder means amplifying their impact beyond the immediate announcement by intentionally linking every announcement to the businesses’ larger narrative, so it becomes a strategic proof point.

This can mean:

·       Turning event insights into thought-leadership articles or LinkedIn posts

·       Creating short video clips for social

·       Repurposing speeches into op-eds or website content

·       Publishing behind-the-scenes material that humanises the brand

6. More ambitious financial communications

Financial storytelling and ambitious financial communications go beyond publishing compliant results and regulatory disclosures.  It involves using financial storytelling as a proactive, strategic lever to build credibility, inspire employees, attract investment, and earn trust with a wide range of stakeholders not just analysts.

It’s about communicating with greater clarity, more transparency, more narrative, stronger digital execution, and more intentional alignment to reputational goals. 

Ambitious financial communications must:

·       Translate performance into plain language

·       Connect financials to strategy, purpose and values

·       Translate performance into plain language

·       Explain the story behind the numbers, not just what they are

7. People People People

Putting people at the centre of storytelling humanises an organisation, making it more trustworthy, accessible and relatable. It shows culture, values and authenticity not just messaging. Increasingly stakeholders trust individuals more than institutions and algorithms favour human-led content which audiences also respond more enthusiastically to than generic corporate messaging. When people are at the heart of content and are involved in proactively amplifying the content on their personal digital profiles, reputation grows faster, travels further and, feels more trustworthy.

8. Using influencers to drive reach

Influencers have become trusted voices, niche experts, employees, customers, community leaders, and creators who shape how people perceive brands, industries, and issues. Using influencers to drive reach means partnering with these credible individuals so a company’s corporate messages extend beyond its owned channels, appearing instead in the feeds and communities where audiences naturally pay attention.

When influencers share a company’s message in their own style, audiences perceive it as more credible, less corporate, and more relevant. Corporate channels have limited organic reach, but influencers can extend the corporate reach to young demographics, specialist communities and industry peers while also explaining complex ideas in accessible language that adds humanity and context to often technical messages. In addition to this, platforms algorithms are geared to prioritise posts from individuals over brands.

9. Across a wider range of channels – digital and beyond

Corporate reputation is now shaped by multiple channels beyond press releases, media interviews or corporate websites. Organisations must now operate across a far broader, more fragmented and more dynamic eco-system of channels both digital and offline. Reputation is built through many touchpoints, with stakeholders consuming information from a variety of social platforms, search engines, podcasts, media apps, news media and internal channels and organisations must show up in multiple locations simultaneously not just where they feel comfortable.

Content reaches more people when:

·       Leaders post directly

·       Employees amplify messages

·       Influencers participate

·       Video and human-first stories are used

·       Messages are adapted for platforms and audiences

Rowena Crowley, Digital Director