Written by Sophie Babic

With the new financial year well underway, now is the perfect time to reassess your campaign plans.  

Just like a spring clean at home, refreshing your communications strategies to better align with market conditions will help set your brand up for success. That might mean tweaking your narrative, exploring new channels, or pivoting your tactics to take advantage of emerging trends. 

Here are IMPACT’s top five recommendations to boost visibility, cut through the noise, and keep your brand relevant. 

Are you truly visible? 

You might be optimised for SEO, but what about AI? We recently discussed the shift from links to direct answers as one of the most significant changes to online search. AI-driven platforms, like ChatGPT, Gemini, CoPilot and Perplexity, are reshaping how people discover brands. These tools rely on summarised content and trusted sources, making it essential to be ‘AI-ready.’ 

That means: 

• Clear, consistent messaging across platforms. 
• Earned media coverage in reputable outlets that AI systems prioritise. 
• A strong digital footprint that’s easily surfaced by both humans and machines. 

IMPACT’s new AI services help organisations pinpoint visibility gaps and uncover opportunities to boost discoverability in this new digital landscape. 

Tone of voice check 

Is your brand’s messaging hitting the mark? With shifting audience behaviours, world events, and cultural attitudes, tonality in your key messages and strategic narrative need to align to avoid being caught out or appearing tone-deaf. 

A strong, authentic brand voice builds trust and connection, while strengthening engagement and customer loyalty. 

Unfortunately, we’ve seen many organisations get this wrong in recent months. Take American Eagle’s Sydney Sweeney ‘Great Jeans’ campaign. Its subtle allusion to “genes” sparked outrage instead of engagement, proving that in today’s climate, even playful wording can become a PR grenade. 

To stay on point and out of the headlines for the wrong reasons: 

• Regularly audit your messaging across all channels to ensure consistency.  
• Adjust tone to reflect current events, audience sentiment, and market context. 
• Keep key messages clear, relevant, and resonant with evolving consumer values. 

Data-driven campaigns 

Gone are the days of relying on gut feeling; research and analytics are key to ensuring your communications resonate. The most successful PR strategies are built on a deep understanding of the people you’re trying to reach. The value of data lies in applying the rich insights it reveals.  

By understanding what your audience cares about, where they spend their time, and how they prefer to be spoken to, you can refine both your messaging and your channel mix.  

Use tools like: 

• Social listening to track real-time conversations and sentiment 
• Media analysis to assess coverage and benchmark against competitors 
• Surveys and direct feedback to gather unfiltered insights. 

Social media health check 

We recently discussed how audiences are consuming content differently than they did even a year ago. TikTok continues to dominate younger users, Facebook and YouTube remain highly popular. Even Australia’s Reddit usage is among the highest in the world, with 17 million monthly users. 

With Instagram content now appearing in Google search results, social visibility directly feeds into both reputation and discoverability, reinforcing your brand across digital and traditional media alike. 

To stay relevant: 

• Tailor content to each platform’s unique culture and format. 
• Monitor emerging channels and trends. 
• Ensure your brand voice is consistent but adaptable. 

Are your spokespeople ready? 

Media training is a buzzword that often gets thrown around when it comes to earned activity, but it’s more than just a checkbox. Strong spokespeople don’t just answer questions, they steer the conversation, humanise your organisation and build trust. 

In today’s media landscape, your spokespeople must be equipped to communicate effectively across formats, from live interviews and podcasts to short-form video and social commentary. 

Ensure your team: 

• Understands the nuances of different media formats. 
• Can deliver key messages with clarity and confidence. 
• Is prepared to handle tough questions or unexpected pivots. 

To find out what AI says about your brand or to give your PR strategy the competitive edge, contact Nicole at nicole@impactagency.com.au.