Read the Executive Summary from Ragan’s 2025 Communications Benchmark Report

Communicators’ abilities are being tested in ways they’ve never been tested before. But in that challenge is an opportunity to take on the mantle of change and constructively shape how organizations respond in the midst of a critical period.

Insights from the 2025 Ragan Communications Benchmark Report, an exclusive research project for Ragan’s Communications Leadership Council, paints a picture of a particularly challenging but opportune time for communicators.

The results of last year’s elections continue to reverberate throughout the world, with the electorate increasingly polarized and political systems sometimes paralyzed. In the U.S., the Trump Administration is taking an aggressive stance on tariffs, immigration, remote work, and diversity, equity and inclusion programs. These directives are affecting government agencies, contractors and grant recipients, but they also introduce significant risks for private sector businesses, global supply chains and investment markets.

Within the workplace, generative artificial intelligence continues to develop at a rapid pace, threatening to break through the careful guardrails organizations put in place to use this powerful technology safely and responsibly. At the same time, uncertainty and unrest are casting a long shadow over workplace culture, with economic instability, political upheaval and employee well-being rising as top concerns.

The seventh edition of this signature research project provides guidance for communicators as they steer their organizations through this period of rapid transformation.

The full 77-page report, based on a survey of more than 900 communicators worldwide, is available exclusively to members of the Ragan Communications Leadership Council and includes detailed analysis of the best practices emerging among the community of communications professionals.

Key highlights include:

• The skills and competencies needed to future-proof communications.
• The most effective channels for internal and external communications.
• Key opportunities for measuring the effectiveness of communications.
• How the boundaries between internal and external communications continue to blur.
• The challenges and opportunities emerging from the rise of generative AI.
• What leading comms organizations are doing to wield greater enterprise-wide influence.
• Shifting priorities around ESG and DEI and how that’s impacting comms investments.

Download your copy of the free 2025 Benchmark Survey Executive Summary today to see how your communications efforts measure up. To receive a full copy of the report, become a member of the Communications Leadership Council.