At VOICES 2025, we brought together the internal communications community to explore a key question: How can communicators drive real business impact?
In a landscape shaped by economic pressure, digital transformation, and rising employee expectations, internal communications is evolving quickly. Communicators are now expected to do more than distribute messages — they’re being asked to prove their value, unify disconnected tools, and deliver measurable outcomes.
In this post, we’ll share four major trends from the VOICES 2025 product keynote — and how Staffbase is supporting comms professionals with purpose-built innovation to deliver clarity, trust, and impact.
1. The great consolidation: Simplifying the comms tech stack
A major shift is underway across the digital workplace: organizations are consolidating their tech stacks to reduce complexity, streamline workflows, and improve the employee experience. This “Great Consolidation” reflects a move away from disconnected tools toward platforms that work better together.
66% of executives say they regret not choosing technologies more carefully. That regret is understandable — many organizations are managing too many disconnected tools. The result? Disjointed communication, inefficiencies, and a fragmented employee experience.
Staffbase is built to support this shift. With native integrations across email, intranet, mobile, and core business systems like Microsoft 365, ServiceNow, and common HRIS platforms, it fits neatly into a consolidation-friendly strategy — giving communicators a single place to plan, publish, and measure the impact of their work.
Staffbase Email: Unified and personalized at scale
Now fully integrated into the Staffbase Studio, the new Staffbase Email combines advanced personalization with the most-loved features from Studio — such as Smart Impact analytics, the Editorial Calendar, and multilanguage support — into one streamlined experience.
Now with:
- Subject line targeting and dynamic block targeting to personalize content and increase relevance
- Smart Follow-Ups that trigger based on engagement, so messages don’t get missed
- Companion for Email, our AI-powered writing assistant that helps you craft clear, effective messages — fast
- Scalable customization that reduces effort while boosting outcomes
It’s more than email that just gets opened — it’s email that drives results.
2. Delight or delete: Why UX and findability matter more than ever
Today’s employees expect intuitive, seamless digital experiences — and they quickly disengage when those expectations aren’t met. In fact, 80% judge a company’s trustworthiness based on design, and 75% have abandoned a brand after a poor digital interaction.
We’ve reimagined the Staffbase user experience with a cleaner, more modular interface that helps every communicator build modern, polished experiences — no design expertise required.
UI & UX revamp
- A fully refreshed UX & UI for clarity and consistency
- Block-based content creation for Pages, real-time previews, and more dynamic layouts in the new Pages Designer
- Semantic Search and org-wide integrations to improve findability
These updates empower communicators to become confident digital creators — and help employees find what they need, faster.
3. Getting closer in the pursuit of trust
Trust in traditional hierarchies is shifting. Employees want more than communication — they want connection. And the people they trust most aren’t always at the top — they’re the managers and team leaders closest to their daily work.
This is where proximity communication comes in: activating leaders and managers across the organization to show up consistently, communicate authentically, and foster trust from the ground up.
Organizations that invest in this approach see up to 55% higher employee engagement. Yet only 19% of leaders currently use channels like video or digital briefings to connect with their teams. There’s a major opportunity to close that gap — and unlock the real potential of leadership communication.
The solution isn’t just more top-down messaging — it’s empowering communicators across the organization to speak with clarity and authenticity. Staffbase supports that shift with human-centered formats built for real-world teams.
Staffbase for Leaders
Employees today want more than top-down updates — they expect visibility, transparency, and connection. That’s why Staffbase is introducing new tools that make leadership communication more engaging, scalable, and consistent.
Staffbase supports a range of video formats that help leaders communicate with greater authenticity and human connection — from live Town Halls that enable real-time interaction . . .
to bite-sized Shorts that deliver quick, engaging updates.
For more structured communication, Leader Digests and Briefings make it easy to keep messages aligned and consistent — empowering leaders to show up regularly and with purpose.
These tools make it easy to:
- Host impactful live events with built-in support for event planning and delivery
- Deliver frequent, human-first updates without overloading teams
- Equip leaders across departments with consistent messaging and insights
Whether it’s a company-wide announcement or a local leadership update, these formats help organizations build trust — one meaningful interaction at a time.
4. From tactical to strategic storytelling
Communicators today are being asked to think more like marketers — delivering campaigns that are aligned, data-driven, and designed to move the business forward. To support that shift, we’re rolling out key improvements to campaign planning, execution, and analysis inside Staffbase.
Campaign upgrades include:
- Simplified campaign setup: Easily launch campaigns from scratch, with step-by-step guidance and new templates (coming soon).
- Holistic campaign management: Track all comms in one place — including News and Email — and collect feedback more easily with AI-powered alignment surveys.
- Faster insights: Access campaign analytics more quickly with Smart Impact quick views embedded directly in your workflow.
These enhancements help comms teams move from reactive publishing to strategic, multi-channel storytelling — while staying fast, focused, and aligned with the bigger picture.
Looking ahead: Comms Radar
We’re also exploring new ways to give communicators greater visibility across their messaging landscape. Comms Radar is an early-stage concept that envisions an AI-powered view of key themes, sentiment trends, and engagement levels across your organization — helping you better understand how your narratives are landing.
While still in the exploratory phase, Comms Radar reflects our ongoing commitment to helping comms teams shift from ad hoc updates to intentional storytelling backed by insight. It’s just one example of how we’re thinking ahead — so you can, too.
Internal comms has earned its seat at the table — now what?
The message from VOICES 2025 is clear: internal communications is no longer merely a support function. It’s a strategic driver of trust, alignment, and results.
To meet rising expectations, communicators need more than just channels. They need one streamlined platform that provides high-impact storytelling and authentic leadership connection.
From scalable personalization in Staffbase Email, to unified campaign planning and faster campaign insights, to human-first leadership tools, every product update we’ve shared is designed to help you communicate clearly — and ignite inspiration everywhere.
Ready to learn more?
Explore our latest product innovations, connect with our team, and see how a consolidated communications platform can support your goals.
