This year, Black Sun Global’s Digital Index 2025 explores the key digital trends shaping corporate communications—and how leading organisations are responding.
Our theme, “New Direction, New Realities”, reflects the need for companies to reimagine their digital presence, meet rising stakeholder expectations, and harness the full potential of digital transformation.
Against a backdrop of declining trust, there are 4 key streds that are impacting the future shape of digital communications and websites in particular.
These trends are fundamentally altering how digital channels are structured, used, and measured.
Whether it's investors assessing performance, future employees evaluating culture, or stakeholders scrutinising ESG commitments—corporate websites and digital channels remain the most powerful owned platforms for engagement.
Amid these shifts, companies must deliver a digital experience that is engaging, accessible, and future-ready. At Black Sun Global, we help organisations do exactly that.
Now in its tenth year, the Digital Index assesses how well companies are communicating with and engaging their stakeholders online.
Our analysis investigates how companies are rising to the challenge of digital communications, assessing both the content and the drive for engagement, to help our clients understand how they can better leverage their channels to deepen stakeholder engagement.
The analysis we do is grounded in our deep understanding of stakeholder needs drawn from our own experience and from expert organisations that represent these stakeholder groups.
The result is a powerful tool to create enriching digital experiences that will deepen stakeholder engagement and improve the performance of your digital communications.
We analyse nearly 200 variables across websites and social media, focusing on three performance areas. This year’s research covers leading global companies, including the FTSE 100 and STI 30.
Analysts say a poor website can dampen investment decisions
Say websites can be persuasive on investment decisions
Say websites are used to assess stock
Investors use LinkedIn weekly
Management of ESG important in investment decision making
Workforce expect their employer to be a force for good
A strong corporate story is now the cornerstone of digital engagement. The best-performing companies align their purpose, value creation, and governance with targeted stakeholder content. We are seeing a continued growth in more connected narratives driving stakeholder content.
present a purpose-led narrative
connect sustainability directly to purpose
purpose-led job seeker narrative
Investors are placing greater emphasis on digital transparency. This year, we’ve seen a notable increase in dedicated investment narratives and online financial reporting.
include an introductory narrative
articulate an investment case
publish a full online report
Leading companies are moving beyond commitments to evidence, linking material sustainability topics to measurable outcomes. They are also more clearly articulating their material issues and their materiality process to explain why specific issues are material to their business.
link sustainability to purpose
share case studies
outline their materiality process
Last year there was a big step up in enabling job seekers to search and apply for jobs. This year we have seen a growth in the communication and emphasis on culture and values - aimed at attracting the right talent and better explaining what it is like to work at the company.
increase in values-based content
growth in employee profiles
uplift in promoted employee benefits
The use of social media continues to grow. We have analysed the 'active' publication of content through different channels. The big shift was a big drop in active use of X - as predicted last year.
As the bar continues to rise, so does the gap between those leading the charge and those falling behind.
The strongest companies excel across all three dimensions of our Triple A framework. They:
Craft cohesive, multi-stakeholder narratives
Use interactivity and content to foster deeper engagement
Leverage social media to extend reach and relevance
Prioritise accessibility, compliance and user-centred design
Overall leaders in 2025: Coca-Cola HBC, Vodafone, Centrica
Leaders in experience: Anglo American, Haleon, Coca-Cola HBC
At the other end of the spectrum, laggards demonstrate:
Minimal or outdated content
Weak or non-existent narrative
Low engagement levels
Little to no social amplification
Dated digital experiences
This year, we’ve observed a 52% performance gap between top and bottom performers – the widest yet. As digital becomes more strategic and stakeholder-driven, companies can no longer afford to treat it as a simple 'shop window'.
Our Digital Index helps clients identify where they stand—and what steps to take next.
We offer a full suite of digital services to help clients:
We are your end-to-end digital partner—from strategy and design to development and analytics.
Are you a digital leader—or falling behind?
Get in touch with Black Sun Global to receive a personalised benchmark of your digital communications and discover how to build stronger, more meaningful relationships with your stakeholders.
Get in touch to book your Digital Benchmark review
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