Tom Wozniak

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Staying informed and inspired is crucial for chief marketing officers (CMOs) looking to lead their teams to success. To navigate the ever-changing world of marketing effectively, you'll want to tap into the insights and knowledge shared by industry experts, thought leaders and peers. Here, Forbes Communications Council members share the marketing podcasts, blogs, newsletters and thought leader social media profiles they think every CMO should keep up with. Here's why they believe these resources are indispensable for CMOs aiming to stay at the forefront of marketing trends, strategies and innovations.

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At a time when consumers are bombarded with digital communications, the humble direct mail campaign can be a powerful way to stand out and make meaningful connections with your business's target audience. Despite the perception that physical mailers are "outdated," strategic implementation of this tried-and-true marketing tactic can be remarkably effective in certain scenarios. Below, 17 Forbes Communications Council members share compelling use cases for organizations to embrace direct mail. From personalizing customer engagement to rekindling dormant relationships, here's why direct mail still has a place in the digital marketing landscape.

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As businesses increasingly integrate generative AI into their social media strategies, there is a lot of potential for success and innovation. However, using this ever-evolving technology is not without risk. For instance, AI may inadvertently amplify biases in content creation or generate inaccurate information.  Understanding and learning from these mistakes is crucial for companies seeking to responsibly and effectively harness the power of generative AI in their digital marketing initiatives. Below, 15 Forbes Communications Council members share some significant missteps companies make when leveraging generative AI in social media campaigns, along with tips to make your business's content stand out.

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Organizations grapple with the crucial decision of where to direct their outreach efforts for maximum exposure. Should they aim for the familiarity of local publications, the specificity of trade outlets or the broad reach of national business media? Below, 17 Forbes Communications Council members share the intricacies of media targeting, exploring the unique advantages and considerations associated with each avenue. By unraveling the dynamics of these different platforms, businesses can align their communication strategies with their goals, ensuring that the right audience is not only captivated but also catalyzing the desired impact.

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The dawn of a new year in the world of communications brings not only fresh opportunities, but also a calendar full of trade conferences and industry events, each holding the promise of networking, knowledge sharing and business growth. As 2023 draws to a close, organizations are gearing up to participate in all kinds of vital industry gatherings that span various sectors. What are some of the most impactful events and conferences planned for 2024, and who are their target audiences? Below, 13 Forbes Communications Council members share noteworthy trade conferences and industry events on the horizon, shedding light on how and why their organizations plan to attend or participate in them and the diverse audiences these events aim to engage.

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As another year draws to a close, organizations are taking stock of their biggest accomplishments from last year’s content calendar. It’s essential to evaluate which content projects had the most significant impact on organizational growth and success to ensure they can create a highly effective content strategy again this year. Here, nine Forbes Communications Council members share their standout content projects from the past year, exploring not only what they entailed, but also how they affected their organizations. The success stories below can serve as both inspiration and a roadmap for organizations looking to maximize their returns on investments in content creation in the coming year.

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In today’s fast-paced, social-media fueled business world, a company’s reputation is a primary asset that must be well-maintained to ensure sustained growth and success. Without warning, an organization can find itself facing the kind of negative publicity every business fears, with consumers widely sharing news or information that damages the sense of goodwill and positive image it has worked hard to foster, and this can quickly begin to impact revenue. Comms pros play a crucial role in maintaining their company’s trust and credibility among its stakeholders. Here, 12Forbes Communications Council members share how their communications teams make sure that the reputations their organizations have cultivated remain untarnished in the eyes of customers, investors and the public. Check out the tools and tactics these communications leaders employ to maintain their organizations’ reputations—and bottom lines.

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Now’s a good time to take a breath and ask some key questions about AI before going further in incorporating it into all facets of your marketing program.

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Industry buzzwords reflect the shifting business landscapes in which they evolve, but sometimes these terms overstay their welcome. Phrases that at first seem like exciting and fresh ways to convey certain ideas and information can start to sound impersonal and outdated once they go viral and are overused within the industry that spawned them. While using buzzwords can help establish credibility when pitching to prospects in certain spaces, communications that rely on buzzwords can also make audiences feel disconnected and less likely to engage with a brand or its content. Here, Forbes Communications Council members share buzzwords from their respective industries that they feel have gone stale and should be retired.

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Social media has emerged as a powerful tool for building and nurturing a company’s brand identity. With so many platforms available, though, it’s crucial for businesses to strategically choose where to invest their time and effort.  Understanding where and what to post is vital for carving out a distinct brand identity in the ever-evolving, always-noisy landscape of social media. Here, 15 Forbes Communication Council members explore key things to consider in determining which social media platforms to focus on and the types of content that resonate most effectively with those audiences.

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Artificial intelligence—including generative AI such as ChatGPT—is on every company's radar at this point, and leaders and professionals across teams and specialties are looking into leveraging it to speed up processes and free up time for high-impact projects. With work that's heavily focused on messaging and team and client support, communications professionals in particular have good reason to dig into its possibilities.  From sparking ideas to refining drafts to researching target audiences, AI can be an incredibly valuable tool for comms teams. Below, experts from Forbes Communications Council discuss ways they and their teams are applying AI to streamline and support a variety of essential everyday tasks.

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Here are five ways that I’ve found that email marketers can successfully leverage various types of AI tools in their campaigns right now.

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Once-reliable media channels that used to work alone or in tandem to reach younger demographics aren’t quite doing the trick anymore for marketers trying to capture Gen-Z’s attention. Since birth, Gen-Z consumers have been exposed to a constant stream of content, advertising and rapidly evolving technology, so to stand out and engage this demographic, marketers and advertisers must take innovative approaches. Here, 17 members of Forbes Communications Council share successful and effective strategies to capture the attention of Gen-Z audiences and captivate them with compelling content.

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Writing a subject line that will inspire receivers to open an email can be a big challenge for professional communicators, especially if the same message is going out to a large number of people. Thankfully, there are effective ways to personalize mass emails, include just the right information and make them more intriguing for each recipient. The members of Forbes Communications Council are well-versed in email outreach, and here they share their best tips for capturing the audience’s interest right away via the ever-important subject line. Check out 20 members’ insights below to learn their favorite tricks for writing a compelling subject line to improve email open rates, and why they are so useful.

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While creating timely content can help you maintain relevance and boost brand awareness, trends come and go in a flash -- and so, too, can the value of the content. Posting only timely content can result in your company chasing trends to stay in the minds of your audience, or appearing "out of touch" if you miss the boat. Herein lies the value of evergreen content, which remains relevant to your target audience regardless of current trends. For businesses looking to maintain a consistent online presence, evergreen content can provide ongoing value for new and existing customers alike. Not sure how, where or why to use evergreen content? Below, members of Forbes Communications Council share their top tips on how to effectively use this valuable content strategy.

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Few platforms have demonstrated the power and reach of YouTube, an online juggernaut boasting over 2.7 billion logged-in monthly users. YouTube offers an unrivaled opportunity for marketers to connect with vast audiences through engaging video content. Through years of experimentation and trial and error, leaders have identified takeaways for those navigating the dynamic realm of YouTube marketing. Below, Forbes Communications Council members provide insight into effectively leveraging the platform's influence while sidestepping common pitfalls that might hinder their marketing endeavors.

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The world of professional communications is a dynamic and constantly evolving field, which means those who work within it must also consistently evolve their skill sets. Today, certain skills are highly valued by comms leaders, and teammates who acquire and refine them will be considered great assets to their team and company. A skilled comms professional is capable of handling higher-level responsibilities, receives more visible projects and can achieve greater overall career success. Below, 19 members of Forbes Communications Council share key competencies comms leaders are seeking in current employees and potential hires. Comms pros who gain these abilities and master them will increase their attractiveness to employers.

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All-hands meetings can help improve rapport among employees across departments, boosting their drive to contribute to a business’ success. Sometimes, however, a companywide meeting is seen as more of a chore or a bore than an exciting opportunity to learn about important company news, goals and other key updates.  If content presented at all-hands meetings fails to engage employees in a meaningful way, it can create apathy among teams or, worse, harm morale and do the overall organizational culture more harm than good. Below, members of Forbes Communications Council suggest effective ways for leaders to leverage regular companywide meetings to boost employee engagement.

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Many companies that have embraced a customer-centric business model are realizing the value of maintaining this focus in their marketing as well. Aside from assisting in the ideation and creation of more holistic strategies that will ultimately benefit all departments, from operations to sales, getting customers involved in a company’s marketing is a great way to put them first and learn about their needs while simultaneously demonstrating deep appreciation for them. Whether they participate by providing insights and opinions or user-generated content, customers can be excellent partners to marketing teams. Below, 17 members of Forbes Communications Council share tips marketers can use to show loyal customers how valued their feedback is and turn them into brand advocates at the same time.

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Hosting a webinar is unlike other kinds of speaking engagements, and not just because the audience is virtual. The role of an online event’s host is a combination of emcee, moderator, entertainer, educator and timekeeper, all in one. Even professionals who are highly experienced and comfortable speaking publicly or interacting face to face with clients and customers may feel some nervousness before hosting their first webinar. While podcasts are recorded and edited, webinars are live events that attendees must register for in advance, which means everyone involved in the production of one must be well-prepared to ensure it goes off without a hitch. Comms pros and other team members tasked with serving as the face of their company by speaking on camera and managing the flow of a webinar can take cues from the tips 18 Forbes Communications Council members share below to get up to speed quickly.

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Every industry has its own unique language and vocabulary, developed by those working within it over the years. Some phrases and terms companies use to discuss their offerings in the context of broader industry trends grow so popular and are so widely used, they become ubiquitous features in both internal and external communications, as well as in the media.  Using industry jargon might seem to be an efficient way of getting a point across more succinctly while also sounding up to date on the latest buzzwords, but jargon often only serves to confuse a listener or reader by obscuring the simple ideas behind the words. To ensure that business communications are meaningful and clear to audiences, check out the tips below. Here, 19 members of Forbes Communications Council share examples of commonly used jargon from each of their industries, along with reasons why these terms are pet peeves of theirs.

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Here are five outside-the-box ways marketers can use AI in their marketing programs right now.

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Given the speed at which artificial intelligence technology is influencing operations at companies across industries, it is important for communications professionals to take steps to better understand how it is affecting the particular spaces in which they work. To best leverage the AI tools available to comms pros and mitigate any risks involved in their use, it helps to gain insights into both the technology’s capabilities and the impact it may have on their market. From boosting efficiency and productivity to enhancing the customer experience through data-driven insights that drive true personalization, there are myriad ways to incorporate and experiment with AI tools in the diverse world of corporate communications. Below, 15 members of Forbes Communications Council share their views on how AI is changing their respective industries and what they are doing to better comprehend and embrace it.

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As always, B2B marketing is rapidly evolving and embracing new technologies, which presents both challenges and opportunities for communications professionals. In today’s dynamic B2B marketplace, staying on top of the latest tech trends is essential to standing out from the competition and successfully engaging target audiences.  Moving further into 2023, emerging trends in martech will continue to be a key focus for B2B businesses looking to maximize their ROI and reach their marketing goals. Below, Forbes Communications Council members highlight the top B2B marketing tech trends comms pros should leverage to create effective and impactful marketing campaigns. 

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For new business owners who want to create sustainable growth for their ventures, choosing a company name and logo that will make a memorable impression on prospective customers is crucial to building a recognizable and successful brand. It makes sense, then, that those about to launch a new business often feel overwhelmed and in need of expert guidance to navigate this important decision. Below, 16 Forbes Communications Council members share their top tips for choosing a company name and logo that accurately reflects a brand, resonates with its audience, stands out from the crowd and helps company leaders establish a strong foundation upon which to grow their business.

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Content creation can be time-consuming and resource-intensive for organizations. The good news is, repurposing content by transforming it into different formats and repackaging it in different mediums for different channels is a great way to make the most of existing content and see returns that are well worth the initial investment of ideating and creating the original piece. Repurposing content not only helps maximize its reach and value, but also allows you to more quickly and easily cater to different audiences’ content needs, saving time and effort in the long run. Here, 14 Forbes Communications Council members each share the last piece of content they repurposed and how they distributed it, providing creative ideas you can use to extend your content’s life span and effectiveness.

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Networking events can be intimidating, but they also offer great opportunities to make valuable connections and promote your business. One critical aspect of networking success is the first impression you make. Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or a budding professional, knowing how to introduce yourself can set the stage for fruitful interactions and potential opportunities down the line. Below, 15 Forbes Communication Council members share their favorite strategies for introducing themselves to others at networking events. Follow their tips to leave a positive, memorable first impression that will benefit your career and your business and help you begin to forge valuable and enduring professional connections.

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In the highly competitive world of online retail, having a well-designed user interface is essential to attracting and retaining customers. However, even the most visually appealing website won’t generate sales if it fails to convert visitors into buyers. If your e-commerce store is struggling to meet sales targets, it may be time to take a closer look at your user interface to assess whether it’s optimized for conversions. Below, 14 Forbes Communications Council members share effective strategies e-commerce leaders can use to improve their websites’ UI and drive more online sales. 

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In professional settings, it’s common to use jargon as a shorthand way of conveying complex ideas and concepts quickly. However, using highly technical language or industry lingo in professional communications can also confuse audiences, resulting in miscommunication. Jargon can hinder effective communication with clients or customers who may not have the level of technical knowledge required to understand the messaging. Below, 15 Forbes Communications Council members explore negative impacts jargon can have in professional communications and provide tips for using language that won’t alienate audiences.

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In today’s fast-paced digital world, a piece of content’s headline is often the only chance you get to grab a reader’s attention. Whether you’re writing a blog post, an email subject line or a social media post, a catchy title is essential to ensuring your content gets noticed. But what makes a headline great? Below, 14 Forbes Communications Council members share some of the best tips for crafting attention-grabbing headlines. From focusing on the “so what” to considering your audience’s perspective, these tips can help you create headlines that capture eyeballs and drive engagement. 

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As mobile devices continue to dominate the digital landscape, it's crucial for businesses to develop a mobile marketing strategy that complements their existing desktop marketing efforts. However, mobile marketing requires a different approach than traditional desktop marketing, and communications professionals need to be aware of the key differences between the two. To help educate their fellow comms professionals, a panel of Forbes Communications Council experts explored some of the most significant differences between mobile and desktop marketing, including screen size, user intent and potential ROI. By understanding these points of contrast, communications professionals can develop a comprehensive mobile marketing strategy that engages their target audience and drives business growth.

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Pitching story ideas to the media is a critical—and highly challenging—part of a public relations professional's job. Aside from finding newsworthy stories to pitch, coming up with creative approaches to grab the attention of journalists and reporters is another big piece of the process. One common way PR pros try to improve the chances of a story being picked up by the media is by supplementing their pitches with original research and infographics in their pitches. But is it a good idea to include company research, data or infographics in every story pitched to the media? Below, members of Forbes Communications Council share their opinions on the value of incorporating additional proprietary materials into PR pitches, along with their rationales for doing so or not. Read on to learn more about how to effectively garner media attention by including the right elements in a PR pitch.

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It’s time for anyone who creates content as part of their profession to begin getting on board with AI. 

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In today’s competitive job market, attracting and retaining top talent is more important than ever. To do this, companies need to go beyond offering competitive salaries and benefits and also promote their brand as a great place to work. A company’s brand reputation plays a critical role in attracting top talent, and a strong communications team is essential in building and maintaining this reputation. Below, 15 members of Forbes Communications Council share how they and their comms teammates help to brand their companies as great places to work and, ultimately, bring in the best employees.

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A public relations crisis can happen to any brand at any time, and it’s important for PR teams to be prepared. Effective crisis communication can mean the difference between weathering a storm and a PR disaster that damages the brand’s reputation for years to come. While it’s impossible to predict when a crisis will occur, there are steps that PR teams can take proactively to prepare for handling crisis communications when the time comes. Below, 15 members of Forbes Communications Council each share one smart thing PR teams can do to prepare for crisis communication and why that tactic is essential for any organization looking to protect its brand and reputation.

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Businesses use content in different ways to reach consumers for different purposes. To attract prospects into the funnel, content that creates brand awareness and excitement around specific products or services is useful. To convert those prospects, educational content highlighting how a company’s offering can solve customers’ problems can help motivate them to make a final purchase decision. The approach to the ideation, creation and distribution of content that will help customers feel loyal to a brand will vary from the processes companies use to create content that meets other objectives. Below, members of Forbes Communications Council share the best ways for companies to create content that generates real customer loyalty.  

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The world of social media is constantly evolving as new apps and trends emerge that pique the interest of users. However, with so much consistent change and evolution, it can be hard to know the best way to market a business’s services or products on social media.  As experts in their industry, the members of Forbes Communications Council understand how to best track and leverage the latest social media trends to reach their target audiences. Below, 15 members share their predictions for which social media trends will dominate in 2023 and how marketers can gain an edge by jumping on them early.

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While CEOs are undoubtedly proud of the corporations they run, not every chief executive feels comfortable being the public “face” of their company. Public speaking, expressing one’s thoughts in writing and communicating with the press are skills all CEOs need, but if they don’t enjoy the spotlight to begin with and are already struggling to find the time to do so, some CEOs may simply put building their company’s media presence on the backburner. For companies with more introverted CEOs, there are alternative, effective ways to handle media relations. Here, 15 Forbes Communications Council members share some solutions and workarounds for CEOs (and their PR teams) to help develop a company’s media presence.

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The internet and the ways consumers interact with each other and brands on it have been evolving and changing rapidly over the past several years. Since the beginning of the pandemic, people around the world have been shifting their work styles and lifestyles to integrate more seamlessly within online and virtual environments. With a new year on the horizon, how businesses leverage existing digital communications trends will affect the experiences of not only their customers but also their employees, which will inevitably impact their bottom lines as well.  Below, members of Forbes Communications Council share tips to help comms teams who are working on digital marketing strategies for the upcoming year. Check out their insights into which current digital communications trends will remain powerful in 2023 and can help organizations better connect and communicate with target audiences.

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As the year comes to a close, marketers are busy preparing end-of-year reports. While marketing revenue and customer acquisition metrics are important, there are also other key performance indicators that can help companies improve their marketing efforts for the next year, and knowing which ones to pay attention to is key. Here, 15 members of Forbes Communications Council discuss KPIs that should be included in any year-end marketing report. Follow their recommendations to make sure you’re tracking and sharing the most valuable metrics for your business.

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Internal memos help leaders build morale, share company updates and increase community connections. Combining these updates into a monthly or quarterly newsletter can be a creative and effective way for C-suite leaders to communicate with employees and managers. While creativity is essential to the development of an effective internal newsletter, as comms pros know, some approaches and types of employee-facing content are less engaging than others, and knowing what not to do is essential. Below, 13 members of Forbes Communications Council each share one practice to avoid to ensure an internal newsletter achieves the goals of communication and engagement.

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Every new year brings a variety of challenges and opportunities for marketers. With 2023 just around the corner, it’s a good time for marketers to start preparing for some of the likely scenarios the new year may deliver. 

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To create copy that drives sales, communications professionals must leverage the writing skills they have to speak directly to the audience and leave them feeling like they made the right choice purchasing your product or service. Not using jargon and having a call to action are successful tactics that will reach your audience when creating sales copy. Communications professionals can also display other skills that are beneficial for driving sales. Here, 11 Forbes Communications Council members share those skills that can be put to use.

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With email being a reliable way for marketers to effectively communicate with customers, there must be a time when you double-check for errors before you send it out. Personalizing the subject line and checking the spelling and grammar are just a couple of ways that can clean up your email when trying to reach out to customers about any product or service offers. Many marketers may struggle to compose an email that is free of errors and can successfully reach their customers. Below, 11 Forbes Communications Council members share parts of the email that may need an extra look before going out. 

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Here are three practices that could improve your chances of having your email campaigns delivered successfully to a larger percentage of your recipients. 

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Mobile marketing is a strategy used to reach your target audience personally via smartphones, tablets or any devices made for mobile viewing. Techniques like location-based targeting or even an AI-powered system can be used frequently for mobile marketing. However, there lies some skepticism on how consumers give and receive their information online. So, what other ways can mobile marketing be implemented in a way that makes your target audience comfortable and still be able to get sales and leads? Below, 11 Forbes Communications Council members share ways that are effective for both.

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Because cold emails are unsolicited, most people don’t expect to receive them—nor do they always have the time or desire to read them—which means companies that send cold emails face a big challenge in encouraging engagement. When sent out, a cold email should always contain engaging and relevant information that helps the customer, and they must be accurate and precise for the recipient to actually read it. However, there are also other strategies companies can employ to encourage engagement with these emails. Here, 11 members of Forbes Communications Council members offer other ways business leaders can ensure their cold emails are as effective as possible.

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Here are a few hopefully helpful tips for marketing pros who want to add humor to their marketing programs.

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Communications teams help spread company news and other important information both internally and externally, creating narratives their organization hopes will resonate with target audiences to establish a strong brand story and reputation. Whether it's a social media post, a piece of thought leadership or an outbound email, seasoned comms pros develop their own unique processes to ensure all external communications are on point. Here, members of Forbes Communications Council share questions they and their teammates ask themselves before posting, publishing or hitting send on any external communication.

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TikTok may be the video-sharing platform with the most buzz around it at the moment, but YouTube is still a powerful channel for brands to use for marketing, internal comms, onboarding, employee engagement and other purposes. While TikTok is a great place to gain exposure and build brand awareness among younger audiences, surfing YouTube’s well-established platform is one of the most popular ways for many different demographics to consume content. With a smart strategy for sharing video content on YouTube, brands can help their organizations take advantage of a rich opportunity to utilize many intriguing features to engage their target audiences. Here, the members of Forbes Communications Council share creative ways for brands to leverage YouTube in 2022.

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For a long time now, video has been, and continues to be, the most popular and compelling kind of content among consumers, and this fact hasn’t escaped marketers’ notice. According to Wyzowl’s report, “The State of Video Marketing 2022,” 86% of businesses surveyed have incorporated video into their marketing strategy, and yet 16% have not because they aren’t sure where to begin. Whether marketers don’t feel familiar enough with the creation, production or distribution process when it comes to using video for marketing purposes, learning from those who are in the know before leaping into any new endeavor is always a wise move. There is a lot of valuable expertise and guidance around video available online, including below, where members of Forbes Communications Council share their top tips to help organizations create innovative video marketing campaigns that will stand out in 2022.

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As every communications leader knows, there are countless ways to interpret data. Sometimes, tweaking how you're approaching stated success metrics can reveal a different perspective, either allowing for better insights into how a campaign could be refined to improve results or illuminating a part of the bigger picture that had been obscured. The tricky part is determining which measurements aren’t adding up as expected or providing enough actionable information so that the analysis can be adjusted. If the results of a campaign or comms project aren't as clear or aligned with expectations as a comms team had hoped, remapping the path to success may help streamline efforts and generate better outcomes. Here, 14 members of Forbes Communications Council share different ways they might go about rethinking key performance indicators to better understand campaign results.

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Gaining media coverage is a great way to build a company’s brand and, ultimately, drive engagement and sales. While public relations teams may collaborate with the sales team and other departments to plan their media outreach, different teams often have different ideas about how to reach their shared goals of increasing positive brand awareness and boosting sales. As corporations develop marketing strategies and campaigns, it’s important to create a media plan that incorporates the objectives of both PR and sales. Below, 14 members of Forbes Communications Council discuss specific tactics that can help both teams meet their goals.

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Blogging is a great marketing tactic to drive organic traffic to your website. Providing your consumers with valuable content and information can help solidify your status as an industry expert and create loyal customers in the process. A company blog can be even more successful with a strong inbound strategy that not only attracts visitors to your site but also gets them to come back time and time again. The members of Forbes Communications Council know the most effective tactics for creating a blog that helps generate leads for your business. Below, 15 members explain the best ways to turn users who stop by or stumble upon your blog into repeat visitors.

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Even the best copywriters occasionally leave typos, grammatical mistakes and missing words in their work sometimes. Error-free copy can still include unnecessary words or superfluous adjectives that muddle the message and don’t speak to the target audience. Having a thorough proofread done by a second or third set of eyes can help flag such problems and prevent weak copy from circulating to your business’s stakeholders. But knowing how to avert the most common missteps in your copywriting is half the battle. Below, members of Forbes Communications Council share some copywriting mistakes and how they avoid making them.

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If you want to get started with SMS marketing, how do you get the ball rolling?

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No matter the size, every business can benefit from a good public relations and branding strategy. Of course, not every company can afford to spend the money it might take to launch a comprehensive PR and branding campaign. Fortunately, you don’t need an enormous marketing budget to run a successful campaign. Below, 14 members of Forbes Communications Council discussed some low-cost and effective approaches to PR and branding strategies for companies on a budget.

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The simple act of human communication is becoming more complex and more complicated to navigate as we live and work in an increasingly digital world. Professional communicators must always be on the lookout for new ways to improve their skills and strategies, and sometimes those lessons come from unlikely places. Here, members of Forbes Communication Council share important lessons communicators can learn from seemingly unrelated industries, and explain why adopting these principles is a big key to finding success in the communications field.

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If you’re new to email marketing, it may seem like a daunting task to get started, but rolling out a new email marketing program doesn’t have to be an overly complicated process. 

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Generation-Z is made up of digital natives who are often savvier to marketers' tricks and stunts to gain their attention and earn their business than past generations have been. When a member of Gen-Z is researching brands to figure out which ones they want to patronize and purchase from, their core values carry a lot of weight, heavily impacting their buying decisions.  What are those Gen-Z core values, and how can marketers show younger prospects that their brands not only understand them but also live them? Aside from speaking to a near-universal desire to make the world a better, greener, more equitable place, there are some unique things marketers can do to create genuine connections with Gen-Z consumers. Below, members of Forbes Communications Council share their best tips for doing so.

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Smart companies create comprehensive content strategies to inform their content creation and editorial calendars, often shaping plans that can carry them through an entire quarter, if not a year. When you’re deciding on what kinds of content to create and where and when to distribute it for your company’s marketing needs, don’t forget about one thing that can enhance and extend the reach of all of your content: repurposing. Ideas for repurposing content can even be baked into your overall content marketing strategy from the get-go, allowing you to predetermine different themes, formats and outlets you’ll leverage to stretch the usefulness and effectiveness of your work over time. Below, 14 members of Forbes Communications Council each share details of the last piece of content they repurposed to illustrate the concept in action.

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A lot of thought and consideration go into finding the ideal name and logo for your company. The name will create the first impression potential customers get of your business, and it could easily turn them off or invite them in. The logo will provide further insight into your brand by serving as a visual representation of your business, making it a crucial piece of your marketing materials. The key is to find a name and logo that will suit your brand and all it stands for while at the same time being recognizable and memorable to your customers. The members of Forbes Communications Council members understand this process well, and below, 14 of them offer their best tips for new business owners looking to solidify their brand identity.

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Once a startup has grown to a certain size, it can become a real challenge for the founder to get to know every member of the organization as personally as they did their core team members. Small-business owners who scale their operations into medium-sized businesses have a harder time still learning the name and face of every person on their staff, much less forging a personal connection with each of them.  When it comes to large, well-established enterprise corporations, one might think it all but impossible for leaders to develop any real sense of connection with every rank-and-file member of their workforce. Contrary to conventional wisdom, however, today’s corporate leaders are proving that notion wrong. Below, members of Forbes Communications Council share their insights into how leaders of major corporations can instill a sense of community and shared purpose in team members that helps the entire organization feel connected to each other and the company’s mission.

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In recent years, many brands have turned to Twitter as both a crisis management tool and a way to engage with customers. With its real-time emerging trends and snappy 280-character limit, the lightning-fast social platform lends itself to immediate updates, easy engagement and community building. However, with such limited space (and the shelf life of a user’s feed), it’s hard to know exactly how to craft a tweet that both captures the attention of a brand’s audience and promotes continued engagement. As communications professionals, the members of Forbes Communication Council understand the ins and outs of using Twitter effectively. To help marketers use this popular platform wisely, 15 members offered their best advice for ensuring quality tweets from a brand account.

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Let’s take out the crystal ball and see what email marketing can expect to see in 2022, along with some things I believe won’t come to pass.

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When it comes to delivering pitches, sales professionals will often work from a script to help keep the intention of their interaction with a prospect at the forefront. However, some scripts can feel inauthentic and rehearsed, especially if salespeople adhere too closely to them on calls or during meetings. To help ensure your sales pitch is supported by a useful script that keeps the discussion focused on the task at hand while also flowing naturally, as a conversation should, Forbes Communications Council experts share their do’s and don’ts for writing effective sales scripts.

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To ensure a cohesive organizational culture, it is critical for a company’s leaders to ensure that all internal stakeholders understand and embrace its core values. However, corporations also need to communicate their values outside of the organization in ways that people will pay attention to and remember. While there are many avenues for reaching external parties, some are more useful than others. Here, the members of Forbes Communications Council explore 14 clever ways to communicate corporate values to audiences outside of the organization.

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Young professionals have an exciting opportunity to transform the companies they join by introducing innovative, fresh perspectives. But for many recent graduates, their transition from college into the world of professional communications comes with growing pains.  Industry veterans can play a key role in helping a young professional survive and thrive in their first full-time position. Below, 14 Forbes Communications Council members share the best advice leaders in communications can offer junior employees to help them find success.

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In an increasingly fast-paced world, communications professionals must think strategically about how to capture the attention of busy consumers. Writing straightforward, digestible copy is key to keeping audiences engaged, but preventing readers from losing interest is a lot easier said than done.  Below, 15 Forbes Communications Council members offer their best tips for communications pros who are tasked with writing copy that will speak to even the busiest of consumers. Follow their advice to cut through the noise and reach your target audience with impactful copy.

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Digital marketing teams have relied on cookies to help them understand user behavior for years now. But for many website visitors, having marketers and advertisers track their online activity with third-party cookies has become controversial, raising issues around consumer privacy. As major companies, including Apple and Google, begin to phase out support of cookies in their browsers, digital marketers must adapt their strategies for gathering data to improve the user experience and to help ensure that ads are seen by the right target audiences. Here, a panel of Forbes Communications Council members discuss the top considerations for marketing teams preparing for a cookie-less world.

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While it’s great to become experts, are we missing out on something important when we stop being beginners — trying new things — so often?

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C-suite leaders lean on communications teams every day to ensure that their companies’ messaging is coherent, cohesive and compelling—especially now, with a pandemic underway that has often led to demands for more customer and stakeholder outreach. Communications professionals crafting or massaging communications coming directly from the CEO or another high-level executive must not only be well-versed in the voices of both the brand and the individual but also understand the best ways to support the company’s business goals so that they can provide insight and strategic advice when needed. Tailoring communications that serve the objectives of a business and match the tone of the person delivering the message while simultaneously delivering value to the audience is no small task. Below, 16 members of Forbes Communications Council each share a skill that comms pros today need to cultivate to best support leaders in a post-pandemic world.

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When copywriting for your brand, it’s critical to keep in mind where your customer is in the sales funnel. Copy that is meant to introduce a consumer to your brand, for example, is not the same as copy intended to increase conversions. But how exactly can writing be tailored to get people to heed a “call to action?” Here, 15 members of Forbes Communication Council shared their top copywriting tricks for driving sales. See their advice to learn how to generate more sales through effective messaging.

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Building a brand is never a simple task. Your branding strategy must not only get people to recognize and relate to your company but also associate it with the specific products and services you offer. When a small to midsize company in a growth stage expands internationally, it faces even greater challenges in terms of making the most of its marketing budget, launching new products and getting all stakeholders on the same page across multiple time zones and countries.  To build a brand on a global scale with a limited budget, it takes more than time, energy and whatever funds you can afford to spend. By getting creative and drawing upon innovative ideas from the agency world, even a new startup can begin to brand itself globally for a relatively small spend. Here, members of Forbes Communications Council share their best advice to help brands overcome the obstacles inherent in building a global brand and capture the attention and interest of international audiences.

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As companies continue to leverage remote work practices, here are a few tips to help address the communication and team-building challenges that can naturally arise.

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Marketing a necessary but decidedly “unsexy” product or service to other businesses is a perpetual challenge for companies in industries considered to have little to no intrinsic charm or “sex appeal.” Thus, sales and marketing teams in these marketplaces have traditionally relied upon more conventional tactics to help them establish accounts with loyal B2B customers. The internet, of course, turned all of that on its head. Today, leading a prospect from awareness through the consideration stage to conversion takes more than a visit from a sales rep; an annual check-in to adjust current deliverables and analyze potential upsells no longer cuts it in terms of customer care. Finding success with a “boring” or unintriguing offering also requires a strong social media strategy. Enchanting and delighting target audiences via modern channels means making useful and needed products and services seem as alluring as possible.  To help businesses achieve this feat, the experts of Forbes Communications Council offer unique social media strategy ideas that will help even the unsexiest of offerings stand out and draw interest.

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Once it becomes a financially feasible, viable option for them, hiring a marketing firm is a big step many companies take to help grow and scale their business. Because agencies often cater to certain types of clients and industries, their areas of focus, menus of services and other important traits can vary widely, so there are some key things to look for when shopping around for one to ensure you find a firm with relevant experience that can meet your marketing needs. If yours is an exclusively e-commerce business, the attributes you want to seek out in a marketing firm might be distinct from those that would benefit a retail operation with physical stores. To find out what kinds of qualities, expertise, practice areas and other features e-commerce businesses should look for in a marketing agency, see the advice from the experts of Forbes Communications Council below.

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Recipients of cold emails will often find their inboxes flooded with messages from sales representatives hawking products or services offered by companies they’ve never done business with before. But how often do they actually read them? Moreover, how often does a cold email result in a conversion, or even a warm lead?  While it is all too easy to turn prospects off with cold emails, they can be effective at getting the attention of prospective customers and clients when done right. Here, 16 members of Forbes Communications Council share their top do’s and don’ts when it comes to cold outreach via email. See their tips below to wow your prospects with a message that inspires them to open the next cold email you send.

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Let’s take a look at a few big changes that could impact email marketing in 2021 and in the future — and how marketers can adapt and identify new opportunities.

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After telemarketing, email may be the most universally despised form of marketing among consumers. As effective as it can be in helping brands attract and retain customers, the sheer abundance of commercial emails that consumers receive in their inboxes every day can turn them off, leading to poor click-open rates.  While the reasons recipients delete, unsubscribe from and move branded messaging to their junk or spam folders are many, with an effective strategy, brands can generate a good return on their investments in email marketing.  The key to overcoming consumers’ tendency to send branded emails to the trash bin is to grab their attention quickly and in a way that inspires them to click to open them instead. The tips these 15 members of Forbes Communications Council share below can help brands improve their email marketing tactics and boost low click-open rates.

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The email channel and email marketing have been around for well over 40 years and successfully met numerous challenges in that time.

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W hether you’re writing copy for a press release, an email marketing campaign or an internal corporate memo, certain standards and conventions will apply in each area of professional communications. While high-level creativity is essential to doing your job, some of the approaches to writing that communications professionals commonly employ won’t actually help get your message across in a clear and effective way. Making any one of these errors in a professional communication could be more than embarrassing; it may also make your peers and managers question your acumen. Here, 15 members of Forbes Communications Council share the copywriting mistakes they most frequently encounter, along with tips on how to avoid making them.

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Positive online reviews, user-generated feedback, comments and content are all invaluable for building credibility and authority in your space. What if you could purposefully integrate your happy customers’ satisfying experiences with your offerings directly into your messaging? With the right approach, it could result in a potent mix of content that can be repurposed and reimagined across campaigns. Here, 15 experts from Forbes Communications Council offer their best insights on how you can get your customers involved in your brand’s marketing efforts.

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Because it's possible for email campaign recipients to reside in various parts of the world -- which means marketers communicating with them are subject to different rules and regulations -- it’s important for email marketers to consider laws and regulations beyond just those in their home country.

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No matter what department or role they’re in, every employee should be given opportunities to voice their own ideas and provide input on campaign strategy in a collaborative manner. However, some might feel hesitant to speak up if they don’t hold the “right” title and are not officially serving in a creative role. To help, 14 members of Forbes Communications Council shared ways to encourage all team members to share creative ideas for marketing and communications campaigns, even if they are not formal members of the creative team. Follow their recommendations to promote cross-team collaboration and better marketing results.

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While many of these practices (particularly compliance) are must-have components of your email program, they can also play a dynamic role in your optimization strategies and initiatives.

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As a marketing tool, good public relations can help businesses become more visible, highlight their value and position them as leading experts in their industries. The only caveat is that acquiring certain types of PR can be expensive. If you’re looking to boost your PR game without making a huge investment, there are many ways to earn coverage from the media and other sources. Below, 14 members of Forbes Communications Council shared their best strategies for getting free PR.

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The emergence of Covid-19 dramatically changed life and business as we knew it. Yet, despite all of the negativity, worry and fear that has accompanied this global health crisis, many professionals gleaned valuable insights over the past year. This is especially true in the communications industry, which had to quickly adapt to sharing information about the ever-changing pandemic. Below, 13 members of Forbes Communications Council share how the pandemic has impacted their work and the important lessons they’ve learned from their recent professional experiences.

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Media interviews are a great way to generate awareness and attention for a business. That’s why having a company representative featured in a live interview is such an exciting and promising opportunity. However, if someone’s never participated in one, they may be nervous or unsure about what they should say.  As their manager or coworker, you can offer guidance and support to help your nervous colleague feel more comfortable delivering the company’s message. Below, 15 members of Forbes Communications Council share their best tips for helping a colleague prepare for their first live interview.

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The most brilliant email content won’t get a chance to amaze your audience if they never read it. So, it makes sense for email marketers to put more than a little thought into crafting an effective subject line.

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When customers love your service, they usually don’t want you to change anything about it. However, as your business evolves, you may eventually need to adjust your offering to better serve shifting market needs or your own bottom line.  Whether it be a price change, a retired service or even an upgrade, it’s important to understand that any change in service can create anxiety for longtime customers.  To help you communicate in a way that helps customers adjust to the news, 15 members of Forbes Communications Council discussed the most effective strategies for announcing significant service changes without alienating your happy customers.

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Social media is one of the most effective ways for a business to communicate with its fans. However, sending out dozens of tweets when one would suffice just because it’s easy to do is not a good strategy.  While a company’s PR arm can gain beneficial traction and attention with a well-crafted tweet, a poorly crafted one could lead some online users to try and “cancel” a business these days. Creating an ideal branded tweet not only demands clear knowledge of exactly what your brand wants to say, but also a solid understanding of how to say it in a way that will appeal to your target audience. To help you mitigate the risks and enjoy more of the potential rewards of managing your company’s presence on Twitter, 12 experts from Forbes Communications Council explored how PR practitioners can ensure that every message they tweet is of the highest quality.

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Many of the same marketing predictions show up year after year with only subtle variations. With that, I thought I would put together a short list of things I think will and won’t happen in the email marketing industry in 2021 and how you might set up your marketing strategy accordingly.

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As companies put together their communications and marketing budgets for the new year, they need to adapt and adjust to the new reality of increased digitization of all industries. This digital transformation is evident in every aspect of operations, from how they work to how they sell and communicate with clients, vendors and employees. In 2021, marketers and communications professionals are likely to continue leveraging the same trends and approaches as in 2020, focusing on meeting the needs and demands of an increasingly remote world. New innovations are also expected to impact the marketing world this year, and any company attuned to the needs of its market should be ready to incorporate these novel approaches as well. To help, 15 members of Forbes Communications Council explore several must-have elements, both new and established, that communications and marketing teams should include in their 2021 budgets.

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While we can take what we know and what we learned from 2020, it's important to realize that successful marketing plans for 2021 should not be set in stone.

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Social media can be a useful tool to keep businesses connected with their consumers. However, while it allows a company to reach out to its audience, social media also has the capacity to significantly impact its reputation when consumers offer negative feedback online. It takes a careful touch for businesses to address public criticism on social media. The results of your company approaching the issue in the wrong way can be shared widely and could result in backlash from the consumer base. If you intend to engage with consumers regarding negative feedback and comments, you need to be aware of both the dangers and the potential benefits. Here, 10 members of Forbes Communications Council look at the critical considerations a business should have when dealing with negative social media feedback.

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Today's business world is vastly different from where it was a mere year ago. In a short twelve months, we've seen businesses shift, pivot, and evolve into new versions of themselves. In almost every industry, there has been a rapid change in how companies do business and interact with their consumers. Naturally, these fundamental changes require a brand-new set of skills and traits for the communications personnel involved in interacting with clients. But what are these unique critical traits that the modern communications professional should possess? Thirteen experts from Forbes Communications Council weigh in on the characteristics they think are crucial for any communications professional trying to navigate this brave, new world.

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Marketers must continue coming up with great ideas and new tactics to test, while not chasing every interesting marketing opportunity that presents itself. 

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While you don’t need to start entirely from scratch, you do need to reassess virtually every part of your holiday marketing playbook to make sure it is still relevant in 2020.

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When you're setting up a high-profile event for your company, there will be complicated communications demands because of the event's size. The business needs to have communications strategies before, during, and after the event to ensure that everything happens smoothly. Unfortunately, nothing in planning high-profile events is straightforward. It's not uncommon to see businesses overlooking critical communications steps or strategies when putting together their event. Sadly, a breakdown in communications could lead to the collapse of the entire event. To prevent this, we asked 15 professionals from Forbes Communications Council about the strategies that companies typically overlook in their high-profile event planning. Here's what they told us.

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There are certainly good reasons to test new communication channels, but when you are reassessing your marketing plan, don't ignore some of the more tried-and-true digital marketing strategies that already have a track record of success.

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While many businesses are involved in fields that are easy to craft stories, others with more esoteric products are faced with an interesting dilemma. How does a company take a "dry" product or service and make it compelling enough to get a buyer interested? Their product or service is necessary, but developing a compelling story around it is difficult, if not impossible. For these businesses, getting the public's attention is an uphill struggle, but it doesn't have to be. Below, 13 contributors to Forbes Communications Council share their best strategies that can take even the "driest" of products or services and turn them into something interesting enough to engage and convert customers.

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When you dig into the details, running a successful email marketing program can seem complicated. However, if you start with some basic best practices, you can get your email program off on the right foot.

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For many companies, marketing is a digital-first endeavor, and email has remained a key strategy over the years.

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In most industries, experience nets you a lot of information. The longer you work in a particular area of expertise, the more versed you are about the situations that may arise. More importantly, you learn how to deal with those situations to best benefit the company. Critical knowledge about how to handle certain events can only come from dealing with them. However, experienced employees can impart their knowledge and experiences to those who are only just getting their feet wet. Below, 15 experts from Forbes Communications Council share some of critical advice that more experienced colleagues should offer their peers and junior employees to help them succeed.

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Copywriting is one of the most effective methods of marketing. However, it's not as simple as putting words on a sheet and hoping it captures a reader's interest. Copywriting requires a skilled professional to use their writing to appeal to a reader's desires and artfully deliver an offer to them that sounds good. With such a complex goal in mind, it's a hard business to get right, but easy to get wrong. Marketers need to be constantly aware of the minor errors that could turn their copy from something remarkable to something the reader will just toss out as junk. These 16 associates of Forbes Communications Council look at the most common copywriting mistakes that marketing professionals should keep an eye out for.

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Marketing departments live and die on the quality of their innovation, in an industry where businesses can’t sit on their laurels for too long. Innovative change is needed constantly, and innovation relies heavily on solid insight and thorough input to be successful. Sometimes, the best ideas come from the sources you’d least expect. In the case of many businesses, employees from across all departments, not only marketing or communications, can provide valuable insight and innovative ideas. The hardest part is to encourage them to share their thoughts. Creative sharing could introduce the competitive edge a company needs to help it beat back the competition. These 16 contributors to Forbes Communications Council look at the best way for a leader to encourage creative sharing within their team, leading to more innovative ideas pitched each session.

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This changing work environment can affect consumer behavior, and marketers must adapt their strategies to compensate. 

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In the past, a company's newsletter was the touch point to engage employees and spark discussion while informing readers of the company's innovations. Today, an online presence or intranet has largely replaced the newsletter. However, even if less popular, newsletters remain valuable tools for conveying information to the entire staff of a company, whether in a printed, physical format or a digital one. But how can an internal newsletter enable true employee engagement and not be discarded as useless -- most of the time, without even being opened? Corporate communications departments all have their own ideas as to what constitutes the best strategy for creating a valuable newsletter. Here, 14 associates of Forbes Communications Council look at how a corporate communications department should approach the development of an engaging newsletter strategically, and why these approaches are so successful in practice.

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While tech is ubiquitous in the world today, it doesn't entirely sell itself yet. Business-to-business marketing professionals need to stay aware of the newest trends in the industry continually. However, trends change and shift so quickly that even the most current experts sometimes find themselves caught unaware when new marketing strategies or approaches emerge. As 2020 progresses, the need to be aware of what trends are likely to be crucial to the success of B2B marketing professionals remains vital. To help, these 16 professionals from Forbes Communications Council take a look at what B2B marketing trends we should keep an eye on in 2020.

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Marketers must make determinations when their audiences are impacted by a situation and then identify ways to message them appropriately.

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Successful email marketers will dial in their messaging strategy to ensure it finds the right balance between continuing to serve its marketing purpose and taking the prevailing situation into account.

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Social media is an invaluable tool in businesses’ arsenal nowadays, as it facilitates immediate feedback and connection between brands and their customers. While this means that input from users and improvements due to that contribution can come faster than ever before, it also means that any company faux pas could be disastrous. There are numerous case studies of how inappropriate or infrequent social media posting has forced companies into a corner and destroyed their public image. To help businesses avoid falling into the same traps, these 13 members of Forbes Communications Council explore the most common social media snafus that a business can run afoul of and how to avoid being caught in those traps.

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Thanks to online shopping, consumers are now even more in control of where and when they can shop. Despite this, some consumers fill shopping carts and abandon them before getting to the checkout page. There are several reasons why a buyer may choose to leave their shopping cart, but one of the most common is not having a proper guide to completing the sale. A virtual guide implementation usually needs some experimentation to implement appropriately. Here, 13 professionals from Forbes Communications Council examine several ways that an online business can help its customers complete an online purchase by guiding them virtually, resulting in less shopping cart abandonment in the later stages of checkout.

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While similar to making your New Year’s resolutions, effective goal setting should be more than an annual exercise. 

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Businesses around the world have realized how important it is to get their products in front of the right audience. One of the ways they've decided to do this is by using influencers that have a massive following. However, influencers can be extremely expensive to work with, and the more followers they have, the less likely it is for your messaging to reach your target niche. Luckily, businesses have begun to realize that working with influencers with smaller but well-targeted audiences can yield a better return on investment. Here, 10 associates of Forbes Communications Council share some of the benefits a company can look forward to when using microinfluencers to target a market.

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A strong media pitch sets the stage for a brand to stand out from its competitors. Companies that develop persuasive media pitches sometimes have to rely on external sources to present their case. Elements such as infographics and research done for the company can help craft a credible story for the media. How the PR professional uses this information in his or her presentation will affect whether the media accepts their narrative or not, just like with all of the company's internal information sources. To help, 12 members of Forbes Communications Council discuss how PR professionals can use these internal company resources to craft a perfect media pitch.

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Taking a multichannel approach to marketing has always delivered big results, and combining email and SMS marketing can do the same.

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Historically, leaders have always been seen as people of action whose authority cannot (or should not) be questioned. However, as more generations enter the workforce, with different expectations and values, the entire paradigm of leadership has been turned on its head. Today's leaders are not supposed to be inflexible and unmalleable, but understanding and vulnerable as well -- oftentimes resulting in stronger relationships with their teams, enhanced productivity and overall better results. Below, 12 associates of Forbes Communications Council explore the benefits of embracing vulnerability as a leader, and why more executives and managers should do so.

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Once you decide an event warrants your team’s time and attention, the most important thing is to make sure you get the most value from the commitment. 

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Consumers don't like feeling as though they're being sold to. This quirk has made it extremely difficult for scales tams to script interactions between consumers and salespeople. To work around this, many internal teams have developed a "dictionary" that they use to teach a new language of sales. Making connections with this approach is more comfortable for both parties since it depends less on actual selling. For sales teams and companies looking at developing this type of language, there are a few things that can help solidify what you're looking for. Fifteen professionals from Forbes Communications Council provide some guidance as to what elements a team planning to develop its internal sales language should keep in mind.

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Marketing is all about being fresh and having a bold new angle on things. Unorthodox marketing tactics have a way of drawing in a crowd and being very successful. However, figuring out what sort of unrelated marketing strategy works and what doesn't can be complicated. Balancing how the company appeals to its clients while utilizing the new angle to its best exposure takes a certain level of skill. To help businesses that may be considering marketing from different angles, 12 experts from Forbes Communications Council share their successes in using unrelated marketing to engage clients. The details of how they implemented these campaigns may surprise and inspire you.

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The art of marketing in the 21st century is selling without actually selling. As counterintuitive as that seems, it stems from the fact that most people in today's society dislike the idea of being sold to. Consumers want authenticity, and because of that, they are hypersensitive to specific phrases that they consider "tells." These tells are hints to the consumer that the person they're speaking to isn't actually concerned about their best interests but just wants to make a sale. Eleven associates of Forbes Communications Council share some of the most common phrases that consumers consider as tells, to help you understand what should never make it into your sales scripts.

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By focusing on a few key areas, you can come out of the gate strong in the new year.

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From the outside, the field of communications seems like a dynamic, fast-paced, and rewarding field. While the industry is indeed all those things, there are a lot of pitfalls that newcomers don't immediately recognize as drawbacks. If a newbie has a mentor to guide them through their onboarding process and the first few months at an agency or communications department, then things might work out well for them. In the case of those that don't, companies enjoy throwing newcomers into the thick of an ocean of turmoil and seeing how well they swim. Thirteen experts from Forbes Communications Council offer some advice for new professionals in the field to avoid sinking when they're in this situation.

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Here's How To Get Your Whole Company To Promote A Positive Brand ImageWhile it seems like the success and image of your brand is in your hands, every department and employee can play a role in improving it. From executives to assistants, each person involved in your business can bring something new and different to the table. This helps you gain a variety of viewpoints, and you may even come up with solutions you'd never thought of before. To this end, we asked a panel of Forbes Communications Council members how everyone in the company can get involved to promote a positive brand image. Their best answers are below.

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It's nearly the end of 2019, and that means that marketing and communications teams are busy finishing up their work before drawing the line. The new year offers a lot of promise, but marketing and communications departments should be wary not to carry things across into the new year that are better remaining in this one. Setting these departments up to face the unique challenges of the coming year means closing off this year correctly. So how can a marketing or communication department close off the year right to segue into a successful new one? To help, 15 professionals from Forbes Communications Council take a look at some of the most important things marketing and communications teams should do to set up a successful transition into 2020.

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Good copywriting can not only help a company define its own identity and convey its core message to its target audience, it can also educate potential and existing customers and ultimately drive sales by persuading people to buy. But good copywriting is not as easy to accomplish as one would think. Creating strong, persuasive copy goes beyond merely writing down what a company stands for -- it has to do with truly understanding the target audience and crafting content that speaks to them and their pain points. While mastering the art of copywriting may take years of practice, luckily there are a few tested tricks of the trade that any writer can benefit from. Below, 13 members of Forbes Communications Council explore a few foolproof copywriting methods that any business can use to drive their sales and examine why these strategies are so successful.

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Brand communication is a promise a company makes to the consumer. To make sure that the right message gets across, organizations need to be able to pinpoint the most critical elements to their brand's message. The biggest problem preventing authentic brand communication is the fact that brands aren't people. They're companies. Most consumers don't like to interact with corporate brands because of the sanitized, unfeeling way they communicate. Being genuine is what brands need to do to ensure positive interaction with customers. To help brands find their voice, 15 experts from Forbes Communications Council pinpoint the vital elements a company that wants to communicate authentically with its customers should focus on.

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While click rate, conversion rate and, of course, ROI or ROAS are all vital metrics to measure and optimize toward, there are just as many metrics that measure negative outcomes that should be given more attention than they typically receive.

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It is said that someone can never tell what the future holds. However, understanding the trends within an industry allows a professional to plan for the future with great accuracy. Within the fast-changing communications industry, professionals need to be ready to adapt to new technologies and approaches in the field to ensure success of their operations. To this end, communications experts need to develop critical skills to set themselves up for future success. Below, 13 experts from Forbes Communications Council examine what skills a communications professional should invest in today in order to stay relevant and be prepared for future trends.

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Creating your marketing plan for next year is always a time-consuming task, but worth the effort to get the new year off on the right foot.

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SMS marketing offers the potential for an extremely high-performing channel for advertisers in almost any vertical. However, effective and compliant use of the channel requires careful preparation and planning.

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While there is no guaranteed path to improving your sender reputation across the spectrum of recipient email platforms, there are several best practices that are sure to make a difference.

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As a marketing leader, it's critical to ensure your team is up to speed and following the rules.  

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While the storyline of the Fyre Festival is fascinating and entertaining, there are many lessons marketers can take from the experience.

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As with all marketing channels, an email campaign’s ultimate success or failure relies on a variety of factors, but compliance needs to be a foundational aspect of any company’s email marketing program.

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Being compliant and following email marketing best practices around deliverability makes it more likely that a company’s email makes it into the inbox, but marketers still have the challenge of making their email messages stand out in the inbox to convince recipients to open them.

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The digital marketing space is no stranger to fast-growing startups, as it tends to be a highly entrepreneurial industry, and how you address growth challenges can ultimately impact your company's future success.

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Create a framework to set your remote employees up for success.

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Understand and honor new opt-in and opt-out policies in your EU-based marketing campaigns.