The communication sector: how to use our own tools to achieve impact

We have just launched the first quarterly communication trends report of 2023, in which we analyse the sector’s opinion leaders and recent trends in the debate, ending with a series of recommendations to improve the sector’s positioning and reputation.

Three keys:

• We found a gap between the more generalist conversations and profiles and the sectoral ones;
• The communication sector does not generate its own agenda or provoke its own conversations or narratives, but is subservient to the mainstream agenda;
• Communication opinion leaders are present in industry communities, but their relevance is limited to the niche;

To reverse this situation, the sector needs visibility, dissemination, impact… But also to network, to connect with other professionals and entities, to collaborate to lobby and thus enhance their own narratives; In short: the communication sector is not using its own tools to identify and discuss key narratives;

Analysis of opinion leaders and digital communities

The conversation around the sector in digital ecosystems is made up of four large blocks, called digital communities or tribes, grouped by the association between profiles within the group and opposition with the rest of the profiles in the network.

Two of these communities are very focused on communication, and are made up of industry profiles (media, magazines, entities and communication professionals), have less impact and feature more specialised content; the other two communities are political in nature and are opposite each other online.

Aggregate trend analysis

The trends with the greatest impact are the most generalist, those that mention public figures, political figures or well-known brands. In contrast, sectoral trends are less relevant, albeit with significantly more positive sentiment.

Diagnosis: recommendations for the sector

EXTERNAL FRAMEWORK

Keywords: visibility – dissemination – impact – outreach

1. Relating industry content to current issues can be an opportunity, as long as it is balanced.
2. To position the sector in these current issues, seeking to provide an expert vision but with sectorial narratives in an accessible and informative tone.
3. In the quest for impact, let’s be aware that connecting with public figures is effective, but carries the risk of detracting from the conversation.

INTERNAL FRAMEWORK

Keywords: connection – network – corporatism

1. Social media is not being used as an agora for discussion of sector issues.. It is important to make these a real meeting point for specialised conversations between professionals, organisations, associations and the sector’s media;
2. For the benefit of the industry, the key is not to promote your own content, but to connect narratives of mutual interest.

As a main conclusion, we observe that the communications sector is not using its own tools to identify and discuss key narratives. The presence of industry leaders – such as dircoms, company spokespersons or experts – is relegated to the background, restricted within industry conversations and not connected to the general public;