Where to focus your PR in 2025: The online platforms that matter most

It’s no secret that media is constantly in flux, but the latest audience rankings from Ipsos iris reveal something more fundamental: a shift in where influence lives, how audiences interact, and what formats PR must now prioritise to stay relevant. At first glance, it’s a leaderboard of digital giants, but beneath the surface lies a map for rethinking strategy, measurement, and storytelling.

It’s a signal that the way people consume, trust, and engage with content is changing. The platforms that once defined immediacy are shrinking, while those that promote community, entertainment, and discoverability are accelerating. For PR professionals navigating 2025, the message is clear: platform loyalty is a liability, and agility is non-negotiable.

Engagement is the new currency

The PR industry has long measured success through reach, but the Ipsos Iris rankings expose how misleading that metric alone can be. The BBC remains the most visited UK online publisher, commanding a reach of over 42 million monthly users. Yet in terms of time spent, it competes not with newsbrands but with algorithm-powered platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, which have fundamentally altered the dynamics of engagement.

TikTok, for example, has not only grown its audience by 14% in a year, reaching over 29 million UK users, but also continues to capture staggering attention spans, totalling more than 27 billion minutes each month. For PR teams, this shows a shift in content expectations. Messages that used to travel via press releases or tweets must now be embedded into visual storytelling - fast, dynamic, and platform-native.

It’s no longer enough to reach audiences. Brands must hold them.

The collapse of legacy virality

While some platforms boom, others falter. X, formerly Twitter, exemplifies this reversal. Once a cornerstone of real-time media relations and breaking news, the platform’s 12% drop in monthly users and 34% plunge in time spent in the UK are stark indicators of its declining influence.

The PR implications are serious. Fewer people are seeing posts. Even fewer are engaging. Referral traffic to news sites from X has become almost non-existent, and algorithm changes have all but erased its value as a driver of reach. What used to be a frontline tool in crisis response or announcement rollouts is now a shadow of its former self.

This demands a recalibration. For clients who once depended on trending hashtags or viral quote tweets, strategy must now prioritise owned media, direct newsletter campaigns, or platform diversification. Immediacy still matters but now, it must be anchored elsewhere.

The community effect

One of the most surprising developments in the Ipsos iris data is the dramatic ascent of Reddit. Once considered a niche corner of the internet, it’s now a major player, ranking eleventh in the UK, with more than 31 million users and nearly 4 billion monthly minutes of attention.

This rise is about more than numbers. Reddit’s unique model, built on forums, conversation threads, and user moderation, represents a broader cultural shift toward decentralised, peer-driven credibility. Unlike polished campaigns on Instagram or staged influencer videos, Reddit thrives on authenticity and unfiltered discussion.

For PR professionals, this creates both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is control. Reddit can be brutal to branded content that appears disingenuous. But the opportunity lies in participation, not to push product, but to offer expertise, insight, or clarity when misinformation spreads. Smart engagement here, especially through AMAs or verified brand reps, can build significant trust.

Reddit should be considered in media monitoring. It’s a core community hub shaping public perception.

Platforms as publishers

What’s most striking is that the most influential “publishers” are no longer traditional media companies. Platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, all controlled by global tech giants, dominate not just user numbers but attention time.

Meta’s suite of platforms (Instagram, Facebook, Messenger) now absorbs more than 112 billion UK minutes per month. Alphabet’s portfolio (YouTube, Search, Maps, Gmail) matches that closely. These numbers dwarf even the largest national publishers, illustrating how blurred the line between social media and media has become.

This has two immediate consequences for PR. First, campaign success now depends on understanding each platform’s content dynamics and algorithmic preferences. A story designed for the BBC or Guardian won’t automatically succeed on YouTube Shorts. Second, media relations must expand to include platform creators and not just journalists.

If PR teams aren’t pitching to creators, partnering with microinfluencers, or seeding branded explainers into Shorts and Reels, they’re likely missing entire audience segments.

The fight for trust in a fragmented landscape

Although the BBC retains top spot in reach, commercial news publishers like Mail Metro Media and Reach plc are seeing only modest growth, or slight declines. Mail Metro remains strong on time spent, but outlets like Reach, despite growing to over 36 million users, rank lower on engagement metrics.

This creates a dilemma for PR practitioners. National coverage still carries prestige and amplifies brand legitimacy. But securing column inches is no longer enough unless the audience engages, shares, or spends time with the story. That’s why quality placement must now be coupled with cross-platform promotion, republishing content through email, social embeds, and community integrations to extend its life cycle.

For brands with a UK identity or purpose-driven message, there’s also growing strategic value in regional or local titles. These outlets, often overlooked, command strong trust and can punch above their weight in influence per impression. PR teams should revisit these opportunities, especially where local impact and human interest are central to the story.

Diversifying discovery

Another major shift uncovered by the Ipsos iris data is the dwindling importance of social referral traffic. As platforms like X and even Facebook increasingly close the gates on outbound links, news organisations are seeing a sharp drop in traffic from once-reliable sources.

This signals the need for stronger integration between PR, SEO, and owned media. If readers aren’t being directed from social posts, then discoverability must happen through search, where platforms like Reddit, with its new content licensing deal with Google, are rapidly gaining traction in search results.

PR campaigns must now be built with SEO in mind from the outset. That includes crafting releases that can double as search content, designing visuals that show up in Google Images, and producing expert commentary that’s structured for snippet placement. The most impactful stories of 2025 will be the ones that show up before users even realise they were looking for them.

From coverage to conversion: A new measurement model

Finally, these shifting audience patterns require a transformation in how PR success is measured. Tracking “coverage” as a proxy for influence is increasingly insufficient. Instead, campaign reporting must include indicators such as time spent, search visibility, social engagement quality, and multi-platform resonance.

Ipsos iris data itself is a resource PR professionals should learn to integrate more directly. By analysing where and how different platforms command attention, across devices and demographics, PR strategy can be tuned in real time, not just post-campaign.

For agencies like Hendrix Rose PR, this opens the door to offering deeper insight to clients. Quarterly reviews can now include attention metrics, community sentiment, and performance benchmarking not just by outlet, but by audience segment, which is real strategic foresight.

Platforms rise and fall. Audiences shift loyalties. But within this flux lies immense opportunity for PR professionals willing to adapt. Those who understand not just where audiences are, but how they consume, why they trust, and what drives sustained attention, will define the next era of influence.

Hendrix Rose PR is already retooling for this moment, rethinking media outreach, diversifying placement strategies, and investing in content that meets people where they actually are. Because the rules have changed. And so must the way we play the game.\

If you’re interested in finding out how we could help focus the PR for your brand in 2025, get in touch.

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