The data from our most read blog posts of 2025 confirms the central challenges that have defined the year for industrial B2B marketing and communications leaders. It highlights a clear strategic agenda for 2026, focused on proving commercial value and the power of the human touch.
Just as we evaluate the success of our client work, we also look back at our own communications each year. Analysing the data from our blog ‘The Engine Room’, paints a picture of industrial marketing and communications leaders navigating fundamental shifts in proving value, integrating technology, and connecting with people.
Here’s what the top five most read articles tell us about these challenges and our shared priorities as we head into 2026.
Challenge 1: Making the business case for sustainability
Our most read blog post was ‘Making the business case: How sustainability communication must evolve in 2025’. This report from the Sustainability LIVE Net Zero 2025 conference in London captured the growing pressure to communicate sustainability, not just as a ‘nice-to-have’ but as a driver of profitability, resilience, and competitive advantage.
Challenge 2: Cutting through the noise with authentic human stories
Exhibiting at bauma, the world’s largest construction exhibition, was a huge focus for many of our clients at SE10 this year and we shared lots of tips on how brands can maximise their marketing investment in the show. However, the content that attracted the most attention was our team’s personal recollections of ‘What it’s like to attend bauma for the first time’. This illustrates first-hand the power of authentic human stories in cutting through the noise and connecting with audiences.
Challenge 3: Balancing AI efficiency with human judgement
Generative AI has dominated our conversations in 2025, so it’s no surprise that our third-most read blog post was on this topic. With the technology’s rapid improvement bringing both excitement and anxiety, ‘The value of human-powered PR in the AI age’ provided a reassuring perspective for industrial comms leaders that the human skills of strategic counsel, journalistic integrity, emotional intelligence, and relationship-building are becoming more valuable, not less.
Challenge 4: Building a culture of employee trust in a dispersed world
As remote and flexible working models continue years after the pandemic forced a global experiment, many internal communicators are seeking ways to help build a strong culture that isn’t dependent on a physical office. In ‘The responsibility and reward of remote working’, our colleague Jack Porter made the abstract concepts of ‘trust’ and ‘empowerment’ feel real through his authentic first-person account.
Challenge 5: Proving the tangible impact of communications activities
Our fifth most popular blog post in 2025 confirmed that communications leaders are looking for ways to move beyond vanity metrics to demonstrate the contribution of our work to core business goals. In ‘Barcelona Principles 4.0: Don’t just measure activities. Make the link to impact’, we broke down the latest evolution of the global standard for communications measurement and discussed how proving value doesn’t just require better measurement, but also the ability to build internal alliances and speak the language of the C-suite.
The two big industrial communication themes for 2026
Looking at these topics together, two main themes stand out – not just as a reflection on the past but as a compass for the future.
1. The need to prove business value. Whether it’s a sustainability programme or PR campaign, we cannot assume that stakeholders will automatically see and understand its value in the way we do. We need clear messaging and tangible evidence that links every activity to business performance in order to secure buy-in from the C-suite.
2. The importance of the human touch. It’s telling that in a year full of talk about AI, three of our top five most read blog articles were about individual anecdotes (bauma), irreplaceable human skills (AI), and authentic company culture (remote working). This shows that while AI is a useful tool, it’s storytelling, empathy, and personal experience that truly resonate.
As we plan for 2026, it’s clear that the most successful strategies will encompass both – delivering hard, measurable results while fostering the authentic human connections that build lasting brands.
If you’re ready to tackle these challenges in the year ahead, we’d love to continue the conversation. Get in touch to discuss your 2026 communications strategy.
Hannah Kitchener
Associate Director
About the author
Hannah is an associate director in the UK, leading strategic campaigns for industrial clients across the EMEA region. A professionally qualified journalist (NCTJ), she combines specialist sectoral knowledge in construction, energy, and materials handling with a strong network of trade media contacts to secure valuable coverage. Her expertise in inter-cultural communication, honed by degrees in modern languages and translation, is key to executing campaigns that succeed across diverse European markets.
