5 trends shaping the rise of fractional communications leaders

Increasingly, a new kind of consultant is joining their ranks: the fractional communications leader.

Laura Rapson. Source: Supplied.

In South Africa, this model is still emerging. Most organisations either hire a full-time PR or communications manager or outsource everything to an agency. Yet the trends shaping communications over the last year show clear value in bringing in a senior, part-time practitioner who can bridge internal and external teams, manage agencies, and provide strategic direction without the cost of a full in-house function. This is particularly important given that many organisations still choose between an agency or an internal comms team—rarely both.

Here are five trends that have shaped communications in 2025, and how the fractional comms model fits the moment.

1. Agencies and clients don’t always speak the same language

The communications knowledge gap remains wide. Having worked both agency-side and in-house, and now as an independent consultant, one truth stands out: very few agency consultants have worked inside a corporate, and few practitioners make the move to an agency after landing an in-house role. This creates a disconnect in how success is defined.

In-house teams often believe everything their company produces is newsworthy. I occasionally fell into that trap at my previous company, but I always debated the newsworthiness with our agency and took their consultation when they suggested a different approach. I also served as a buffer for the agency - explaining to HQ why a story wasn’t relevant in different regions or educating people with no understanding of PR why the media wouldn’t care about a new partnership or minor product enhancement.

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Agencies, meanwhile, often chase impressive-sounding opportunities that bear little relevance to the organisation’s strategy or value proposition. Sure, it’s good to secure an interview on a leading business radio show, but if the topic is only vaguely linked to your business offering, and it leaves the listener confused about what your company actually does, then you’ve wasted the opportunity.

A senior communicator with experience on both sides can close this gap. They guide in-house stakeholders on what genuinely matters to the public, while helping agencies align their ideas with real business priorities. Acting as this translator ensures that PR is not only newsworthy, but strategically meaningful.

2. Budget constraints mean communications is often done on a shoestring

Budget pressures have led many organisations to “do PR” superficially: small retainers, no real strategy, and a stream of press releases that add little value. With limited time or budget, agencies often default to company-centric content such as product updates. But unless you’re Apple, this kind of content is unlikely to resonate with media or audiences.

When they’re on a shoestring budget, it’s difficult for agency teams to find time to be strategic, and create relevant, compelling content that will get picked up by the media. If content is all about product and doesn’t focus on the challenges that businesses or people are facing, it’s impossible to insert messages into the news cycle.

When budgets are tight, the smarter move is to work with a communications expert to get owned channels right first. A compelling narrative, clearly articulated across your website, social platforms and marketing materials, provides a foundation for future PR success. Earned media is powerful, especially as Large Language Models (LLMs) increasingly pull information from third-party sites, but only once the basics are in place and the message is strong and consistent.

3. LLMs have reshaped search, and strategic media placements matter more than ever

Tools like ChatGPT, Gemini and DeepSeek have fundamentally changed how people gather information. As LLM-powered search grows, marketers are discovering that these models pull heavily from third-party sources. This has pushed high-quality, strategic media coverage back to the top of the priority list.

But not all coverage is created equal. A passing mention in a top business publication is no longer good enough. In fact, we’re starting to see that coverage in industry-specific, niche publications is becoming more impactful. What matters most is message clarity: does the article link to your value proposition and the problems you solve? If not, it’s unlikely to surface meaningfully in LLM-generated answers.

This requires a deep understanding of both the organisation and the broader media landscape, which is something that junior agency teams often lack. Without a senior strategist guiding the narrative, companies risk chasing vanity metrics rather than meaningful visibility.

4. Communications should be a first priority, not an afterthought

We handle the communications for a global institute and are about to kick off work with a similar organisation. There’s an increasing need for independent, multistakeholder institutes to drive desired behaviours, especially with an increased pressure for organisations and industries to be more sustainable.

What has been clear since we started working on this project, is that effective communication has been critical to its success from day one. Strong positioning, consistent engagement with stakeholders, and proactive updates created the momentum the institute needed to move forward and grow. Even before any full-time resources had been hired, there was a communications machine working in the background, ensuring that important updates were shared and the right people were reached.

This raises an important question: if communications has such an outsized impact on early-stage credibility, stakeholder alignment and organisational traction, why don’t more organisations prioritise this from the outset?

A fractional communications leader can help build this foundation early, long before the organisation can justify a permanent team.

5. Comms teams aren’t going anywhere (and they shouldn’t)

There is a worrying misconception that AI can replace communications teams or agencies. While AI can generate a strategy, thought leadership article or media pitch in seconds, it cannot replicate the judgement of a seasoned professional. A communications leader knows what’s genuinely newsworthy, how to insert a story into the news cycle, and how to shape content that resonates rather than reads like corporate promotion. Years of learning from successes or failures are invaluable in deciding whether something will land or not.

All good communications professionals should be using AI to reduce their workload, but it shouldn’t be a substitute. It still requires experience, nuance and strategic insight. AI isn’t going anywhere, but we need to learn to work with it, and not let it work for us. The fact that OpenAI advertised a Content Strategist role this year, with a salary nearing $400,000 says everything: even the world’s leading AI companies recognise the irreplaceable value of human communicators.

Looking ahead to 2026

As organisations navigate tighter budgets, shifting search behaviours and increased scrutiny from stakeholders, communications strategy remains critical. The rise of the fractional communications leader reflects this reality: companies need senior expertise, but not always full-time. They need someone who understands the business, speaks the language of both executives and agencies, and can ensure that every message has strategic purpose.

In 2026 and beyond, the organisations that win will be those that communicate clearly, consistently and credibly, and many will achieve this with flexible, embedded comms leadership that brings experience without the overhead.