28.02.2025
The war has plunged us into a period of complete uncertainty and turbulence. The challenges faced by the energy sector since the beginning of the full-scale invasion can only be compared to those in the military sphere. There will likely be no fewer problems related to energy security and terrorist attacks in the future.
On the other hand, the war has become a springboard for the Ukrainian energy industry on the international stage. Unprecedented material, technical, and logistical assistance from foreign partners has allowed us to withstand the blow and fight the challenges facing the country.
The international community’s interest in the war in Ukraine is plateauing, and attitudes are changing significantly. There are many skeptics abroad, and active anti-Ukrainian propaganda initiated by the enemy is being conducted. Trust from key stakeholders – foreign partners – will continue to depend on the presence of Ukrainian companies in the information space. It is important to maintain contact with those who shape and implement national policy, as well as with business representatives and foreign partners. To maintain focus, Ukrainian companies and state-owned enterprises need to be more assertive, develop, and become more visible.
Ukrainian energy companies face a task with many unknowns: how to direct communication to all groups of stakeholders so that none of them are left out, and what communication strategy to choose when stakeholders can be anywhere and trust different media sources.
Today, key decisions are announced primarily on X (formerly Twitter), which has become an important tool for political communication. One of the platform’s co-founders described it as “really more of an information network than a social network.” This emphasizes the need to implement a new smart strategy that will ensure coverage of the target audience through various channels of interaction – digital platforms, traditional media, and social networks.
The optimal solution to achieve this goal is a 360-degree communication strategy. It adapts to different conditions and effectively works with different groups of stakeholders – investors, partners, journalists, and decision-makers. It allows for easy integration of new digital or traditional channels, real-time tracking of results, and prompt adjustments. Most importantly, the key message, which acts as a “single voice,” must be the same for all channels of interaction with the audience.
The 360-degree strategy combines digital and traditional communication channels for maximum audience reach. Integrating these approaches allows you to use the advantages of each channel, which optimizes the overall strategy. Digital channels provide targeted contacts and instant analytics, while traditional channels strengthen communication with audiences that are not active on social media. It is important to choose the right channels depending on conditions, trends, and audience requirements, and to ensure their effective interaction.
According to data from Gallup.com, 76% of Americans see or hear about Donald Trump’s tweets on other resources, while only 8% read the tweets directly from his account. This highlights the role of social networks as an important source of information for further media publications.
The trend of using accounts as a primary source is actively developing in Ukraine. While X has become the main platform for politicians in the US and Europe, Ukrainian officials prefer Telegram. According to a study by the Institute of Mass Information in November 2024, 40% of news in the ten most popular Ukrainian online publications is based on materials from social networks. At the same time, most of this news (57%) is based on Telegram publications, while 17.5% is based on Facebook.
Foreign experts actively use these and other tools of the 360-degree communication strategy. Since Ukraine’s energy sector is closely connected with international markets, such a smart strategy becomes an important component of successful business goal realization for Ukrainian enterprises.
It doesn’t matter whether you are implementing a communication strategy for a large state-owned enterprise or a regional representative office. The main thing is to unite voices and ensure consistent interaction with stakeholders, which will increase the overall level of trust in Ukrainian companies.
