Well, it’s over: The 2024 election — for better or for worse — means Donald Trump will be the 47th president of the United States.
These results will have significant impact on business leaders of all sizes. Your communications strategy moving into 2025 should plan for an increased reputational risk, so if you aren’t already, you should use what’s left of Q4 to make sure your leadership team is prepped and ready.
As 2025 rapidly approaches, here are the top 5 things ELM Communications is advising our clients and other business leaders do to prepare for the upcoming year:
Read Project 2025.
The 965-page document (that you can download here) is the working plan of execution for the incoming administration, and has major impacts to every single institution and regulatory agency across government. No matter what industry you’re in, there’s something in there that will impact your industry. From FDA and pharmaceutical regulations, to employee labor & overtime standards, to how the government plans to manage independent contractors, make sure you know in advance what changes are coming so you can plan on how to communicate those changes with employees and clients.
Evaluate your TikTok strategy.
The current law says TikTok must be removed from app stores on January 19, 2025, unless owner ByteDance divests from the company. Multiple lawsuits are in play to push this date back, but it seems clear that the fight over the future of TikTok will be one of the first major disruptions of 2025. If your strategy relies on TikTok — or the influencer economy — in any way, you’ll want to pay close attention to this developing story.
Invest in a media monitoring strategy.
The first Trump administration lurched from crisis to crisis, and Trump’s chaotic style of communication often brings brands unexpectedly in the limelight, often in surprising ways. A media monitoring strategy will make sure you always know how people are talking (or not talking) about your brand and ensure you won’t be caught by surprise.
Retool your crisis communications plan.
Make sure your team knows who should take the lead if a communications crisis develops, and do the legwork now to plan for any possible crisis. While you won’t be able to plan for every possible outcome, you should be able to identify the biggest risks to your business up front.
Prepare for a government pushback on ‘woke.’
Since ‘woke’ is an omnibus word with no objective definition, expect your CSR and ESG programs to be under attack. You should probably do them anyway, and not just because consumers want to invest in companies with ESG initiatives. Remember, for example, that even if your greenhouse gas reporting standards go away, it's still in the best interest of business leadership to invest in resilient supply chains.
While some of these changes may take time for any incoming administration to execute, it’s important to be aware of any potential shifts in the communications landscape and how it may impact your business and comms strategies. Our experienced team at ELM Communications stands ready to help you prepare and execute, whether it be implementing a media monitoring program, or advising on a strategy refresh.
Comments