Written by Jennifer von Stauffenberg
As we tie up all the loose ends on this beautiful year, our hearts are filled with gratitude for all the magic we stirred up together in 2025. What a beautiful year it has been! Thank you to all of our clients for trusting us with your amazing organizations, businesses, and causes. We do not take it lightly that you trust us with this important part of your success.
We continue to be inspired by our mission to illuminate the most positively powerful people and brands to amplify their reach and impact and we are so proud of the work we have done together and the clients we are aligned with.
We are wrapping up what has felt like one of the most meaningful years of our existence. I often stop to ask my team members how they are able to do so much and still be the kindest most professional people I know. I count my lucky stars all the time.
Staying on the cutting edge of our industry is one of our obsessions at Olive. We are constantly adapting to the changes in technology and culture shifts happening. We wanted to share some of the things consuming our strategies and tactics.
As we move into 2026, here are some of the changes we expect to see:
- This isn’t new, but it’s becoming more critical for people to understand. Social media is no longer a networking platform and is now a full-fledged entertainment platform. The changes in algorithms reduce your visibility and engagement making it more important than ever for brands to realize they have one job: entertain. If you are a movement and you want to educate too, you can, but you have to do it while being entertaining.
- AI is not your enemy, but you should understand how it works and work it in. Don’t fall for crazy fancy AI customization packages. The truth is that what you are doing for SEO with some tweaks by the experts will likely support you in achieving visibility on ChatGPT and other tools. Don’t fall for crazy expensive packages. Ensuring that you have a high-powered media relations strategy for securing powerful links with fantastically optimized sites and dialed in business profiles will support you in winning this new battle.
- Hyperlocal is still gaining more momentum. I say this almost daily: casting a wide net is no longer gonna cut it. If you hear your marketing team say this, get a new marketing team. Technology doesn’t help you reach more people, it helps you reach specific people. All conversations need to start with who you are trying to reach. Consumer tools make it so easy for us to tailor exactly what we want to see and in doing so, that means you need to come up with creative strategies for reaching your specific target audiences.
- Hyperlocal might be your strategy for target audience, but that might not apply to media relations. If you are a regional brand and you want authority, you might consider a national campaign going into 2026. Sometimes people forget that national media also have a regional presence, but it comes with national credibility. If you want to take your influence to the next level, maybe you maintain your local presence and reach for the stars this year. Everyone gets excited about national recognition and especially your target audiences.
- Just because social media isn’t as impactful as it has been in the past or as easy to grow an audience, it doesn’t mean it still isn’t important. I keep hearing from people that they don’t see a return from social media. Here’s what you need to know… for some brands that might be true, but consumers are still validating brands through social media and even if your target audience isn’t clicking through to purchase on social media, you can bet your bottom dollar that they are often discovering your brand or validating you through your social channels. They still need to be great.
- Storytelling is still critically important and that will not change. In fact, AI is making this even more important as questions searching becomes the norm. If you haven’t done an audit of your brand reputation online, now is the time to do it.
- Experiential activations are key to a powerful campaign. Sometimes people think public relations and media relations are the same thing. Public relations by definition is establishing mutually beneficial relationships between the organization and the publics for which their success or failure depends. The confusion started in the 80’s when media became an effective tool for reaching people and it still is to this day, but what people often forget is that sometimes an activation that inspires or stirs the heart can be even more impactful than the story by itself. At Olive, we are always trying to dream up ways to make people feel special through our clients’ work and then we illuminate the activations. It is a tiny bit more work, but in the end, it’s way more fun, people feel emotionally connected and businesses have the success they are looking for. It’s one of our signature “everyone wins” approaches.
- To that point, everyone should win. In a world where transparency is required, you can’t “leverage” people for your win without ensuring it’s a win for them too. Taking advantage of people is out of style and will only get you cancelled. When you are planning promotions and partnerships, you need to always find out what everyone wants to gain from the collaboration and/or partnership and it’s important you make sure it happens. It’s the only way to create sustainable partnerships.
What are some of your insights you expect to see in 2026? We can’t wait to hear from you. At Olive, we are committed to cracking the code on all these crazy changes. It isn’t always easy to figure out what works, but it’s so worth it when you do. If you are curious about how we build our campaigns, we would love to hear from you. May 2026 bring you and your business all the success you have been dreaming of.
Happy Holidays!
