Paula Chiocchi

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Recent releases of generative artificial intelligence tools for public use have had an enormous impact on operations within many businesses across industries, and the advertising, marketing and public relations space is no exception. Technologies such as ChatGPT and Midjourney are currently being leveraged by agency professionals and in-house teams around the world as they seek ways to better understand and reach their target audiences. Here, 16 members of Forbes Agency Council share ways they and their teams have leveraged ChatGPT, Midjourney or other generative AI tools recently, outlining what the results look like. Check out their insights below to discover exciting ways to use AI to elevate advertising, marketing and PR projects and inspire more innovative ideas. 

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Companies that don’t use Google’s free analytics platform to automate the collection of key data from their websites and apps are missing out on invaluable insights into the performance of their business online. Of course, while the information found in GA reports can help marketers create highly effective campaigns, simply knowing what to do with the mountains of data a single organization generates is a great challenge in itself.  Thankfully, a company’s agency partners will have a good idea of where to focus their efforts when it comes to digging into and leveraging a new client’s GA data. Below, 15 members of Forbes Agency Council share the top data points they review in clients’ Google Analytics reports to assess clients’ real needs, inform creative strategies and build powerful campaigns.

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Agencies need a steady flow of marketing-qualified leads coming in to keep their business development pipeline consistently filled. Without an effective lead-generation strategy, an agency will find it difficult to compete with other firms that are looking for leads among the same target audiences, much less convert those prospects into paying clients. Although lead generation is challenging—not to mention time- and labor-intensive—there are many methods and tools agencies can use to streamline the process and connect with prospective clients in an efficient, effective manner. Below, members of Forbes Agency Council share the methods that bring their agencies the most success in terms of lead generation. Check out their tips below to learn more about how and why these lead-gen methods work.

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Showing that a brand cares about its customers’ experience and satisfaction is a powerful way to build trust and credibility with target audiences. While organizations may realize that leveraging customer advocacy in their marketing can help foster brand loyalty and growth, the challenge lies in doing so in a genuine and authentic manner that resonates with consumers.  Here, 15 Forbes Agency Council members share practical tips on how to organically incorporate customer advocacy into marketing efforts. Follow their actionable insights below to ensure your customer advocacy feels authentic, not forced, and elevate your marketing strategy to create a lasting impact on target audiences.

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A staggering amount of ad spend is slipping through the cracks in digital marketing.

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If there is one truth marketers, advertisers and public relations professionals can all attest to, it’s that life in the agency world is never dull. Clients ask their agencies to take on a variety of unique challenges on a daily basis. Some are more interesting than others—and often, more demanding—but there are lessons to be learned from every new project an agency takes on. Having dealt with plenty of intriguing client requests themselves, the members of Forbes Agency Council know how important it is to consider whether their teams are capable of succeeding with something new or out of the scope of their normal practice areas before accepting one. To determine if undertaking a big challenge a client presents is the right move, check out the interesting client requests below that 15 members have chosen to accept in the past, along with lessons they’ve learned along the way.

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With a multitude of options available, marketers are constantly grappling with the question: Which platform will not only reach, but also resonate with potential customers who are just starting their buyer’s journey at the top of the sales funnel? Below, 19 Forbes Agency Council members share their favorite platforms for finding their target audiences and supercharging top-of-funnel marketing efforts. Whether you’re a seasoned marketer seeking new insights or a beginner just starting to navigate the digital marketing realm, these expert tips can help steer your brand toward successful top-of-funnel engagement.

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Recent and forthcoming shifts in data usage and privacy regulations are poised to challenge marketers by limiting their access to granular consumer insights. These changes stand to hinder not only an agency’s power to create effective, personalized marketing strategies, but also its ability to accurately track success metrics and show clients clear returns on their investments.  Facing these new and impending limitations, marketers must adapt and find innovative ways to measure and report on campaign performance that will comply with data usage rules and won’t compromise users’ privacy. Below, 17 members of Forbes Agency Council explore effective ways to demonstrate ROI for clients in a shifting digital marketing landscape.

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In today’s digitally interconnected world, peer-to-peer marketing has emerged as a pivotal strategy for companies. By harnessing the power of authentic recommendations and social influence, P2P marketing allows businesses to tap into their customers’ own trusted networks, fostering brand loyalty and expanding their reach organically. When customers market to one another through word-of-mouth and personal recommendations instead of having a company market directly to them, it can fortify a brand’s credibility and consumers’ trust in it. Below, members of Forbes Agency Council share 18 best practices for P2P marketing. Read on to learn about the different ways to leverage this powerful method of reaching target audiences.

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The definition of success for any campaign varies, depending on who is doing the defining, the expectations that were set for clients at the outset of the project and, in the end, the measurable outcomes. With data driving most business decisions these days, it’s essential for agencies to ensure their clients not only comprehend the strategy behind a campaign, but also actively help develop the goals, key performance indicators and metrics that will signify success.  Bridging potential gaps between a client’s desired results and the outcomes they can reasonably expect to see requires a strategic approach that aligns the client’s vision of success with the realities of advertising and marketing in the digital realm. Below, 17 Forbes Agency Council members share the ways their agencies ensure clients stay on the same page with them as they execute strategies that will help meet realistic goals and cultivate campaigns that deliver tangible success.

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With summer drawing to a close, agency leaders are reflecting on where their firms stood in the recent past, with an eye on where they hope to be in the near future. As the summer slowdown is replaced by a busy fall schedule, smart agencies have been making the most of the present, modifying their operations and experimenting with different approaches and seeking ways to improve to bring more value to their clients, employees, prospects and communities. Below, 18 members of Forbes Agency Council share special things their agencies are doing to make the most of the summertime. Read on to learn why these agencies chose to undertake these particular efforts, the greater purpose behind them and who stands to benefit.

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Agencies are responsible for making sure their clients achieve a return on their investment in the strategic initiatives they develop together. However, there are times when clients fail to see the outcomes they expected for the money and time they’ve devoted, which can lead them to feel disappointed in their agency partners.  Clearly communicating and setting appropriate expectations can help agencies get on the same page with clients before beginning work on a campaign. Below, 20 Forbes Agency Council members explore common reasons why agency clients fail to see the outcomes they’re seeking, along with effective steps agencies can take to ensure the ROI aligns with client expectations.

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When it comes to hiring salespeople, many companies focus on traditional hard skills and standard qualifications, such as knowledge of specific software, cold-calling experience, project management abilities or certain certifications, to find the best fit for a role. However, making conventional sales skills the top hiring criteria can lead to overlooking outside-the-box candidates who possess certain traits that may help convert prospects. Despite the importance of hard sales skills, many soft skills can play an equally critical role in determining a salesperson’s close rate. Below, 20 Forbes Agency Council members reflect on the often-unsung qualities they value most in their peers in the sales department.

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With technology constantly evolving, agencies around the world are always seeking innovative ways to streamline their operations and enhance their client services. From artificial intelligence tools to better methods of lead attribution, a range of cutting-edge technologies and emerging trends are poised to reshape the way agencies function in the remaining half of 2023.  Agencies are embracing these transformative tools with clear end goals in mind: to optimize efficiency, improve decision-making processes, enhance data security and, ultimately, provide superior services to their clients. Below, 18 Forbes Agency Council members share new tech tools and trends their agencies are adopting this year, exploring both the potential impacts and the strategic objectives they aim to achieve through these implementations.

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The pervasive influence of artificial intelligence continues to reshape industries across the globe, compelling professionals to deepen their understanding of its impact. Below, 20 members of Forbes Agency Council share the proactive steps they are taking to better comprehend the implications of AI within their respective industries. By reading about their experiences and the lessons they’ve learned, a wealth of insights can be uncovered, shedding light on the transformative power of AI. From exploring emerging technologies to embracing lifelong learning, these professionals offer valuable perspectives that can inspire others to navigate the AI revolution with confidence and a growth mindset.

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The process of maintaining a high-quality database is no easy task.

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Artificial intelligence is transforming the way organizations operate, allowing them to streamline their processes and make more data-driven decisions. One area where AI is making significant strides is in improving agency workflows, and smart agency leaders are taking note. By automating routine tasks, detecting patterns in data and providing real-time insights, AI is enabling agencies to work more efficiently and effectively. Below, 15 Forbes Agency Council members explore specific use cases for AI to automate and improve agency workflows, as well as the benefits of each application.

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Blogging has become an essential component of many companies’ content marketing strategies, providing a platform to showcase their expertise and engage with their target audience. However, launching a successful branded blog can be a daunting task, especially for companies new to the world of content creation. Many members of Forbes Agency Council have helped clients launch company blogs and some have even launched their own blogs. In doing so, they’ve learned some key strategies for success. Whether you’re starting from scratch or looking to improve an existing blog, the insights 15 members share below can help you achieve your blogging goals and drive meaningful results for your business.

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Before jumping into a brand-new market to sell an existing product or service, it is important for a company to figure out how the new audience will respond to its offering. While most companies do a lot of consumer and market research when first developing their products or services—running tests to ensure they will solve the right problems and appeal to the target market before being released—it is just as critical to gauge how well those same products and services will do when entering a new market. The members of Forbes Agency Council have vast experience and expertise with product releases and know the best ways to introduce services to new audiences. Here, 15 members share the best ways for companies to determine how audiences will react to a product or service when they’re diving into a whole new market.

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The trail of digital information a customer leaves behind on the buying journey is an invaluable resource for marketers, helping them develop the best strategies for reaching target audiences. However, with businesses facing an uncertain economic climate, ever-increasing concerns about data privacy and new rules that impact how third-party data is tracked, collected and used, betting on consumer data to make strategic marketing decisions in 2023 may be trickier than it has been in the past. To overcome these challenges, there are some important things for marketers to remember to ensure that the data they rely on in their decision-making paints a clear picture full of actionable insights. Below, members of Forbes Agency Council share 15 key considerations when using consumer data to inform their strategies for connecting with target audiences and prospects. 

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Can data privacy and quality third-party marketing data coexist?

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Artificial intelligence technology is being employed across many industries in countless ways, and the agency world is no exception. Marketers and advertisers have been using AI and machine learning tools to automate and elevate campaigns for years now. As ML capabilities increase, so too do the applications for leveraging them to reach consumers. Here, members of Forbes Agency Council share impactful ways agencies are leveraging ML advertising tools. Read on to learn about a variety of innovative ways agency pros are using ML to better reach consumers and attract more targeted audiences.

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When a buyer who is in the market for a product or service has narrowed their choices down to a handful of options, being able to deliver a well-conceived and well-designed case study that speaks to relevant questions they may still have can be the key to closing the sale. Going beyond a testimonial, a case study can address last-minute concerns and objections while verifying the promise of a company’s value proposition through measurable examples. Case studies come in many formats, and the choice of the best medium depends on many factors, including the target audience and where they are in the buyer's journey. Here, members of Forbes Agency Council share their best tips on using case studies to effectively showcase how valuable a company’s products or services are and persuade shoppers to choose them.

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As with most businesses that offer services rather than products, when agencies see many teammates taking paid time off at the same time—which often happens around major holidays and in the summer months—measures must be taken to ensure client work does not suffer during these periods. To ensure everyone working on client projects can take a well-deserved break when they need to without causing delays or introducing other issues when it comes to completing their work on time, each agency develops its own process for end-of-year vacation planning. Below, members of Forbes Agency Council weigh in on the question of how to prepare for those times when work still needs to be done, but there are fewer people around to do it.

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The countdown to the holidays has begun, and consumers and brands alike are putting their plans into action to make the most of the season. While a customer who puts off shopping for gifts until the very last minute can usually find something left on the shelves, brands have less wiggle room—when it comes to increasing sales around the holidays, a solid marketing strategy takes time to devise and then execute.  If a business hasn’t yet started rolling out holiday marketing campaigns, there’s still hope. Rather than leave their share of the holiday market on the table, brands can use the tips below from members of Forbes Agency Council to get some last-minute holiday marketing done.

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When most agency pros think about account-based marketing, they automatically think about B2B businesses. Given the effort that would be required to generate enough data on specific consumers and their recurring buying habits to radically personalize marketing down to the customer, it’s easy to understand why B2C companies don’t typically leverage ABM tactics. Moreover, messaging and offers that are hyper-personalized not for a persona but for an actual person could carry a significant creepiness factor if not done in a professional, respectful way. The members of Forbes Agency Council understand the nuances and potential pitfalls of targeting customers based on personal data and predictive analytics. Here, ten members offer tips for using technology to nurture customers with personalized marketing that B2C companies can leverage to create success with repeat customers.

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A company’s marketing funnel is the framework of buying stages—from attraction to conversion—it creates for its prospects to follow. Through inbound marketing efforts, potential customers and clients may enter the funnel at any stage, and the paths they take through it may not move directly toward a sale.  Consumers often want more information before making a final purchase decision, and that means every stage of the funnel must function correctly and effectively to tempt prospects further into it and closer to conversion. Setting up such a system is not a one-and-done process; as customer needs change, so too must the storyline and calls to action a brand weaves around its offerings. Here, members of Forbes Agency Council share 15 important things they would advise their clients to consider when revamping a marketing funnel.

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The world of e-commerce has been consistently and rapidly evolving since its inception, and the rate of change has only increased over the past few years. As more consumers turned to the Web for their shopping needs during the Covid-19 pandemic, brick-and-mortar retailers scrambled to boost their online efforts and retain market share. Now that physical locations have reopened their doors to the public, businesses are trying to balance digital and offline marketing strategies to ensure healthy growth in both areas.  Brands that can creatively integrate the latest e-commerce trends into their outreach and operations may find it easier to adapt their user experience and offerings to better meet their customers’ needs. Here, 16 members of Forbes Agency Council share ways to leverage e-commerce trends that should be on every marketing professional's radar at the moment.

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The sales cycles of clients’ businesses often dictate how work ebbs and flows for agencies, and each industry has its own, unique "busy season." If an agency serves many clients in an industry that sees an uptick in business activity during the summer or around end-of-year holidays, many employees—members of both agency and client teams—may be on vacation right as business starts to ramp up and campaigns are being launched. Balancing the personal requirements of team members who need to take time off from work to recharge occasionally with the obligations of ongoing client work can make meeting client expectations a challenge for agency leaders when many people are out of the office at once. Here, 15 members of Forbes Agency Council share their best tips to help agency leaders manage the workflow during busy months when they may be understaffed and overloaded with projects.

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No matter how creative or clever your marketing might be, your campaign will fall flat if the right eyes don’t see it.

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When a public relations crisis hits, it’s not uncommon for a business to approach it as it would other messaging challenges by reaching out to consumers via social media. Speaking to as many consumers as possible at once might seem expedient, but there are potential hazards to beware of when attempting to minimize the fallout of a narrative that has grown beyond the company’s control via these channels. To ensure any possible damage to the brand and its reputation is mitigated properly and effectively, the agency partners or in-house team members in charge of handling a crisis situation should craft a careful crisis communications strategy. Here, 16 members of Forbes Agency Council share important precautions to keep in mind when making a plan to address any issues that the crisis has presented over social media platforms.

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The inbound method of marketing involves creating and distributing content that your target audience values, along with a strong call to action that will prompt them to click, read, subscribe or take another step further into your sales and marketing funnel. If a prospective customer opens an email from your company that promises to provide insights or information they want or need, and instead sees a soft sales pitch, your efforts can backfire. No one wants to be sold to when they’re simply seeking information to help them solve their problems; it turns their hunt for useful knowledge into a game of scratching companies off their list of potential solutions for being too transactional. To avoid coming across as salesy in your content, losing the trust of interested prospects and leading them to back out of your marketing funnel, check out the tips from the members of Forbes Agency Council below.

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Companies are using artificial intelligence for basic communication, to make product recommendations and more. In the world of marketing and advertising, the applications for AI are virtually endless—brands come up with new ideas and innovative ways to leverage it every day. What is the best way to employ AI in marketing and advertising in 2022? Each agency leader will have their own preferences and notions about the most effective use cases for AI in their space, and below, members of Forbes Agency Council share their current favorites. 

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Agencies today are leveraging artificial intelligence technologies in many different ways and to varying degrees of success. A big question that has been on the minds of industry leaders in recent years is, “What is the best way for our organization to invest in AI?” From automating processes to serving as a conduit for better customer care and communication, agencies are embracing AI capabilities they hope will streamline operations and improve results for clients. Below, members of Forbes Agency Council draw upon their industry insights and personal experiences to explore how agencies can incorporate AI and what kinds of results they can expect.

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Attending an industry convention or trade conference can be a huge turning point in an agency professional's career, introducing them to new connections, opportunities and ways of working. With so many to choose from, though, it can be a challenge to figure out which events would be most beneficial. Depending on the space you work in and your career and networking goals, some trade conferences in the agency world may be more in line with your interests than others. Below, members of Forbes Agency Council each share the No. 1, must-attend conference they believe all agency owners and professionals should attend, and why.

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Creating a blog to highlight your brand is a great way to achieve multiple objectives at once. With a well-conceived, well-executed company blog, you not only can draw potential customers who are seeking information about your industry or the type of service or product you offer to your site, but you can also position your brand as an authority and thought leader in your space. Once people have discovered how valuable your blog is, you may find it serving as one of your main sources of lead generation. Before launching your blog, though, there are some key points to be aware of that will help ensure it achieves your strategic goals for writing it. Here, 14 members of Forbes Agency Council share the advice they would suggest if one of their clients came to them for help in building a blog that showcases their brand and drives traffic and leads.

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When a company partners with an agency, its leaders are usually seeking to gain exposure in specific markets, generate leads, boost sales, increase profits or all of the above. Working with agency pros who are up on the latest trends and can provide testimonials from their own happy clients can be a huge boon for any business, provided the company is willing to meet their agency partners halfway. All of the excitement and enthusiasm that exists on both sides when a company starts working on a new campaign with an agency can sometimes lead to critical balls being dropped or essential details being glossed over. To ensure the best results, clients need to understand some important things about the nature of the client-agency relationship. Here, 14 members of Forbes Agency Council share what they wish all new clients understood up front and ways to make this clear at the start of a partnership.

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If you’re not already employing a multichannel strategy, now is the time to get started.

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Without the specific technologies they need to streamline operations, optimize marketing processes and maximize efficiency in place, marketers’ efforts may not have the desired effect. Agencies must produce excellent, measurable results for clients if they hope to retain their business. Consequently, it’s critical to have the right martech in place to help agency teams do their best work. When the effectiveness of an agency’s marketing stack (and the ways in which they employ it) could be the difference between gaining and losing clients, it makes good sense for industry leaders to keep close tabs on the latest tools and trends in martech. Here, members of Forbes Agency Council share the latest trends and developments in martech they find most exciting, along with ways they are helping their agencies do better work.

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Marketing trends come and go, constantly evolving as brands strive to better leverage the latest technologies and respond to shifts in the marketplace. It’s not just about making a splash or creating attention-grabbing content anymore. After making target audiences aware of their existence, businesses must then connect with prospective customers in meaningful ways, build a reputation as a trusted source of information, and nurture those relationships.  That’s a lot to accomplish when so many consumers are preoccupied with managing the effects of the global pandemic on their lives. To reach people in this climate, brands would be wise to leverage emerging marketing trends that promise to give them an edge over the competition. Here, members of Forbes Agency Council each share one top trend they anticipate in their industry this year and predict how it will impact the market in 2022.

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It's important today for leaders to ensure they're working with the newest technologies to be more efficient and stay up-to-date. Having technical proficiency gives companies an edge compared to companies that ignore the latest tech tools. Technology is especially important in today's digital-first advertising and marketing industries, and clients should confirm that their potential agency partners have the right tools and skills to advance their projects before signing a contract. Below, a panel of Forbes Agency Council members shared some of those essential proficiencies and why they're important to look for in an ad or marketing agency.

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Trends in B2B marketing have always evolved and changed to better reflect the market’s behavior. In the past year, businesses have had to rethink popular practices in B2B marketing to keep up with seismic shifts in the global economy caused by the pandemic. After being forced to innovate rapidly and continuously for more than a year to escape or survive the devastating effects the health crisis had on many businesses, marketers are relying on emerging trends in the B2B space to carry them through to the next stage.  Here, a panel of 14 Forbes Agency Council members share their thoughts and predictions on which of these trends will endure beyond this particular moment in history to stand the test of time, and why.

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Sometimes, an ad campaign just doesn’t land quite right with the target audience. Although you may have done your research and informed your strategy with data, for whatever reason, your efforts may be building the wrong kind of brand awareness. When an advertising campaign isn’t well-received, it is key to figure out what the reason is before attempting to solve the problem. Here, members of Forbes Agency Council each share the first step they would recommend brands take to figure out the root cause of the issue so that they can course-correct.

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From types of clientele to subject matter expertise, practice areas and menus of services, every agency has its particular differentiators that help it stand out in a crowded field and appeal to its target audience. Facing stiff competition to win clients, agency owners need to take note of emerging trends in their industry to ensure success in the coming year. For insight into the latest movements in the world of advertising, marketing and PR, look no further than the advice members of Forbes Agency Council share below. If you’re an agency owner, learning more about the trends that will impact your business in 2022 can give you a head start on incorporating them into your client work and your own marketing strategy and help your agency stand out from and rise above your competitors.

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The only way a marketing or advertising agency can run successful campaigns is by learning as much as they can about their clients' audiences first. While some agency clients may come armed with plenty of demographic and even psychographic information about their existing customers and prospects, many come seeking guidance to understand their own customer base. To help agency professionals better inform their clients' goals and identify the ripest opportunities for reaching them, 14 members of Forbes Agency Council share unique, unusual and sometimes surprising ways of learning more about a client's audience.

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Comparing them side-by-side as stand-alone channels, there are two big questions to answer: How much does it cost? And does it actually work?

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Rather than viewing it as an opportunity to transfer valuable skills and impart key knowledge throughout the organization, some agency leaders might think it’s best if people stick to their own disciplines and focus on getting business done.  The truth is, setting your employees up to perform in different job roles so that they are able to step in for colleagues when they’re out ensures that your agency can keep functioning smoothly even when absences occur.  According to these Forbes Agency Council members, far from being a waste of time and energy, cross-training is a great exercise that can benefit an agency in many ways. Here are 15 important things they say it can help agencies accomplish.

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If a company already has people out on leave to deal with illness, bereavement or welcome a new family member at the same time a number of team members go on vacation, a “lean” operation can start to struggle. This can affect not only the morale of team members who are still around, keeping things running, but also client and customer satisfaction. With summer in full swing and many employees gearing up to take well-deserved breaks, how can leaders ensure nothing slips through the cracks? Here, members of Forbes Agency Council share ten effective ways for companies to best manage the workflow when many employees are out of the office at once.

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More than ever before, consumers are turning to the internet to find information and engage with brands and other consumers. With the right tools and knowledge, your company can create digital and mobile marketing strategies that effectively capture the attention of digital buyers. To take full advantage of the opportunities to interact with customers and prospects online, you have to make sure your strategy will help you reach your target audiences where they are. Below, 14 members of Forbes Agency Council discuss effective ways for companies to improve their mobile and digital marketing in 2021.

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No marketer wants to see users unsubscribe from their client’s email list, especially when it seems as if they’re all doing it at the same time. You may be wondering what went wrong and whether you can fix the problem so that the exodus stops and doesn’t happen again. After taking the time and care to help your clients build relationships with their customers, don’t ignore it if subscribers start dropping en masse. Use the advice of marketing pros who have experienced their own fair share of users unsubscribing from email lists. To help, 14 members of Forbes Agency Council offer their best suggestions below.

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At a time when most people rarely look for answers beyond a simple Google search, there’s real power in reading work published by those who have been where you dream of going. Whether you’re just starting out or a veteran looking to sharpen your skills, there are multiple books out there that can help you find success in the agency world. The members of Forbes Agency Council recognize the importance of growing and maintaining their industry knowledge. Below, 12 of them share the most influential books that they believe everyone who works in an agency should read. Check out their recommendations and see if any of them are on your physical or digital bookshelf.

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Today’s consumers are largely desensitized to generic, one-size-fits-all advertising. Instead, they appreciate customized approaches, and they’re often more inclined to buy from companies that personalize their outreach. While it is clear that personalization is key to a successful campaign, the truth is, it also requires more effort. Here, 14 members of Forbes Agency Council weighed in on how to personalize campaigns without sacrificing efficiency. Follow their recommendations to produce more tailored ad collateral that actually converts.

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Content marketing is a great way to connect with your audience and establish yourself as a trusted thought leader in your industry. A solid content marketing plan will help build your business’s reputation and credibility. However, a poorly conceived content strategy that doesn’t deliver authentic value to your target audience can come across as nothing more than self-promotion. And content that seems to make an indirect sales pitch is typically a major turnoff for consumers. The members of Forbes Agency Council know what it takes to plan and execute an effective content strategy for a brand. Below, 14 of them share ways to ensure your content is viewed as useful advice and not a veiled sales pitch.

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Delivering a quality customer experience is one of the most important aspects of running a business. As successful marketers know, providing valuable products and services and being available for questions and concerns are important factors, but not the whole equation when it comes to giving customers an all-around excellent experience. To really stand out among your competitors, you’ll want to go even further above and beyond for your customers than they might be expecting, adding value at every touch point. Below, 15 experts from Forbes Agency Council share their favorite ways of surprising and delighting prospects and customers. Try their tips to deepen your customer relationships.

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The opportunity to leverage data, and put it into action at scale, is there if you know how to use it.

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From communal meeting spaces to office parties, the setup of a traditional, on-site workplace lends itself to employee engagement. However, as more agencies adopt work-from-home or flex-location policies for the long term, they may face new challenges in keeping staff engaged. Luckily, even with more remote and blended options, your agency can still offer excitement, energy and connection. It just takes a bit of creativity and innovative thinking. To help, 15 members of Forbes Agency Council share how they plan to make their remote or hybrid agency a more interesting place to work this year.

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A primary function of a business website is to attract new customers. As such, it’s crucial for companies to ensure that their websites represent them in the best possible light and appeal to their target audience. However, business owners may not always know how to make a site attractive to users, especially if they’re not well-versed in UX or web design. Fortunately, a little effort in this area can go a long way in improving how consumers experience your brand online. Below, the members of Forbes Agency Council share 16 simple changes that can make your business website and your brand more appealing to potential customers.

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Given the innovations in digital advertising that continue to arise every year, advertisers may be feeling pleasantly overwhelmed with effective options to choose from. Yet reaching target audiences online with the right content at the right time is still a huge challenge for brands. While new solutions and a wider variety of platforms provide the opportunity to create more effective ads than ever before, the sheer number of tools and tactics available for reaching consumers online can make creating digital ad campaigns more complicated and challenging than traditional campaigns. To help, 15 leaders from Forbes Agency Council look at this year’s biggest digital advertising challenges and suggest some concrete ways to overcome them.

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Artificial intelligence can be a powerful tool, capable of giving marketing and advertising agencies the deep insights into their audiences they need to create the most compelling and engaging campaigns. However, for many agency leaders, figuring out what AI can and cannot do and the best uses for such a technology is challenging. To help, we asked members of Forbes Agency Council to explore ways to leverage AI in marketing and advertising. See 11 of their best ideas below.

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The best marketing is often created by consumers. Recommendations from real individuals go such a long way toward promoting a brand’s message because people will often trust satisfied customers before the brand’s claims about itself. User-generated content that showcases the benefits a product or service has delivered can be branded and used in many different ways to sway audiences with the undeniable power of actual reviews. If you can increase the chances that customers will share their delight in your offerings, you stand to build a considerable supply of user-generated marketing materials with which you can generate leads to more happy customers and more cost-effective UGC to utilize. Here, 13 members of Forbes Agency Council explore some of the best ways to promote content being created by customers and fans of your brand.

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While email marketing is still one of the most reliable forms of outreach, there are some must-have elements that must be double-checked before hitting send. To ensure that your message comes through loud and clear and provides the most value possible to the correct audience, it’s a best practice to follow a checklist of items that need to be reviewed, especially prior to sending a mass email Here, 12 experts from Forbes Agency Council discuss the most crucial aspects that marketers should verify before sending any kind of email, whether it is part of a welcome, promotional, drip, newsletter, reengagement or any other type of email campaign.

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Seasonal marketing campaigns may look a little different this year. Marketers may find they need to modify or totally upend commonly used tactics this holiday season to reach consumers who are in a very different mindset and facing a whole new set of circumstances. We asked Forbes Agency Council members about the forces they foresee impacting consumer behavior this holiday season. Here are 11 of their best insights into how marketers can evolve standard seasonal marketing practices to achieve success this year.

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Swift and continuous evolution has long been a trademark of the highly competitive world of marketing, which means staying on top of industry trends and identifying opportunities to innovate is key to success in the field. Consequently, this race to stay ahead of the curve all of the time can become exhausting for agency professionals. Where do the experts turn to find the inspiration that stokes their creative fires and keeps them moving forward? Below, members of Forbes Agency Council share 10 go-to industry publications, agency peers and other influential resources that consistently inspire them to do more, reach higher and try new things.

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Having the hard work that you and your company do acknowledged feels great. What’s more, those testimonials, awards, honors and other forms of recognition you receive offer powerful ways to build credibility and trust with both current customers and potential leads. The key is to share accolades from satisfied customers in strategic ways that show prospects what they’re missing out on by not using your product or service. While you can proclaim your value proposition in emails, ads and owned media, potential leads will find nothing more persuasive than the praise of their fellow consumers. Earning and broadcasting thanks and kudos from current customers gives leads who are interested in your offerings the solid evidence they seek before making a decision. Happy customers provide instant credibility, helping your leads trust that you and your organization can and will deliver on the promises your business makes.  Here, 13 contributors to Forbes Agency Council look at the best ways to leverage personal or business accolades to maintain customer loyalty while winning new business.

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You’ve reached out to make initial contact, nurtured relationships and pushed for commitments. Following that, silence from potential customers signals their fading enthusiasm. When leads stop responding, rekindling their interest can help salvage the investment you’ve made in converting them to customers. However, as seasoned marketers know, reengaging with cold leads is easier said than done. Don’t give up if a prospect stops responding to you. Instead, find the best way to revive the connection you’ve already established. Here, 11 experts from Forbes Agency Council share the methods they use to reengage with leads that have gone cold.

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Digital marketing is undergoing a sea change. For marketers today, data is not just a helpful tool, but a necessity to reach the right customers.

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Account-based marketing (ABM) has been around for a long time, but it can be a challenging concept for businesses to grasp as it comes with its own, different set of challenges and practices. Whether it’s data quality, misalignment of goals or an insufficient budget, businesses new to ABM have to overcome several obstacles to achieve success. Knowing what to avoid when switching to an account-based marketing model is just as important as knowing what to do – especially for companies that are not familiar with the concept. To this end, 12 contributors to Forbes Agency Council discuss some of the most common mistakes businesses make when implementing ABM and offer their thoughts on how an organization can avoid these pitfalls.

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With so many people stuck at home, it's no surprise that the e-commerce market is going through a renaissance. More and more, operators of physical retail outlets are closing their doors and instead opting to set up online stores. With the sheer number of new retail platforms opening up online, however, how can an e-commerce business stand out? How does a company make itself known amidst the thousands of other enterprises marketing similar or related products? Luckily, 12 professionals from Forbes Agency Council use their experience to shed some light on the trends businesses can use to boost their visibility in a crowded e-commerce market.

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Influencers are among the most impressive traffic-generation engines marketers have available to them today. However, not all influencers are created equal. For a business, just seeing the numbers that an influencer can impact is only the tip of the iceberg. Companies need to know the people they're getting into partnership with. In all aspects of business, trust plays an important part, and a company should know it can trust the face of its marketing. Thus, for companies to be secure in partnering with an influencer, they should start by learning more about their potential partners. Below, 13 experts from Forbes Agency Council share a few critical steps companies should take when checking an influencer's trustworthiness.

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Account-based marketing (ABM) has been around for a long time but has fallen out of favor within the industry lately. However, with more companies moving toward individual-based marketing approaches, we're likely to see ABM surge in popularity soon. Already, businesses are uniquely aware of how cost-effective the procedure is. The benefits to a business's ROI are also hard to argue against.  If a company intends to reintroduce ABM into its marketing strategy, it must find practical ways to approach the problem. To help, 13 associates of Forbes Agency Council look at the practical considerations a company should have when using ABM to connect to its customers and offer their best tips on creating an effective ABM strategy.

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The holy grail of the agency world is finding a product that "sells itself." Unfortunately, even the most amazing products in the world don't sell themselves. The ones that are decidedly "unsexy" by comparison might prove an even more difficult challenge. Necessary products don't have the same appeal as sleek, well-crafted, and innovative products. So how does an agency figure out the best way to approach marketing an "unsexy" product?  Fifteen industry leaders from Forbes Agency Council give their own opinions on the methods that an agency can adopt to market even the most "unsexy" items and make them worthy of an audience's purchase.

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One of the downsides of being so interactive with customers is that they tend to expect personalized advertising. Gone are the days when a broad-blanket ad would attract attention and drive sales. Now, consumers are focused on themselves, and it's up to the business to follow that trend and give them what they want. However, companies still need to pay attention to their budget. How does a company approach personalized advertising in a way that doesn't break the bank? These 14 members of Forbes Agency Council share how a business could engage in customized marketing without having to spend too much on its implementation and without sacrificing efficiency.

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Whether you send more email or less, make the decision to send smarter, more thoughtful campaigns that mean something.

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Satisfied customers are loyal, but appreciated customers are even more so. The best way to make a customer or prospect feel appreciated is to do something that delights them. Most people tend to enjoy surprises, just so long as they benefit from them. By delighting an existing or potential customer, you encourage them to enjoy the company's work. It's an incentive for them to come back to the business if they have any other work in the industry to get done. But how does a company go about delighting its customer base! Here, 13 members of Forbes Agency Council examine some of the best practices a company should adopt to delight its customers and encourage a longstanding relationship.

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At the close of 2019, we saw a massive move toward influencer marketing, both by large and small brands. Influencers are a trend that sprung up and shot to prominence because of the gigantic returns it made. However, like other trends, it is hard to predict if and when it will start declining or whether it'll be around for a while longer. Determining what trends are likely to happen before they do can help marketers get ahead of the curve and fully capitalize on relevant trends before they fade. To help marketing experts map out their strategies for the remainder of 2020, 12 members of Forbes Agency Council share their insight on what trends they expect to see in the coming months.

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ABM has become a new mainstay for B2B marketing, and rightly so.

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Marketing data collection has grown to such an extent that processing it can be a deep dive. As more companies opt for automated methods of data collection, the size of data assets increases, and this can increase the gap in time between data collection and actionable insights. There are ways to make for more effective data processing, however. Setting things in place early on can make for faster processing time and allow actionable results to be generated and used efficiently. To help, 13 experts from Forbes Agency Council discuss the most effective and efficient ways of interpreting large volumes of marketing data to create insights.

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Google Analytics remains one of the most straightforward tools to use for data analysis. With the advent of big data, a company can use Google Analytics to comb through its massive data stores to get insights into crucial aspects of its operations. Big data's versatility makes it ideal for spotting things in a business's customer base that can positively impact its marketing and sales efforts. If used correctly, it can even clue the enterprise in to understanding its customer motivations more effectively. Ten members of Forbes Agency Council share some of the most critical pieces of data they believe a company should focus on when using Google Analytics.

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With the change of each year, there comes a distinct alteration of trends in the marketing industry. The changes that occur may be blatant, but more often, they are subtle, and you need to be looking for them to notice what they are. Determining what is trending is in a company’s best interests since it gives it the ability to focus on the big issues. With social media competing with mass media, a trend could explode in a matter of hours, making it even more critical to predict the eventuality before it happens. To help, 15 members of Forbes Agency Council weigh in on the trends they expect to show up throughout 2020, to better inform marketers where they should be putting their focus.

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As a social media site, LinkedIn has cemented its place as the "go-to" for businesses. Maintaining a presence on LinkedIn not only enhances a company's online presence but also allows them to interact with other businesses and professionals. However, just having a page on LinkedIn isn't enough to utilize the full power of the platform. To leverage all that LinkedIn has to offer, businesses must define goals for their online presence and implement strategies that align with those intentions. To aid companies in figuring out how to best use LinkedIn, 13 contributors to Forbes Agency Council weigh in on the most valuable LinkedIn strategies that companies all over the social media network aren't using to their full potential.

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Email personalization is a necessity in today’s technology-driven world.

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It may sound counterintuitive, but when searching for a data-cleansing service provider, look for one that knows the value of bad data.

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Particularly in customer acquisition campaigns -- which focus on engaging new contacts -- data can be leveraged to zero in on the right prospects and personalize communications based on the buyer journey.

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For most of us, attracting customers and winning new business is a top priority. Acquisition email campaigns, which focus on bringing new customers into your fold, can fast-track your efforts -- but only if you’re strategic about it.

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These B2B email acquisition principles can generate a healthy ROI.

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When crafting email marketing campaigns focused on millennial consumers, make the content relevant, authentic and easily shareable.

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In order to land an SMB, having an intimate understanding of its unique challenges -- and how to overcome them -- is crucial.