Leaders in communications are constantly evaluating new technologies, platforms and practices that could be integrated into their teams’ day-to-day work. As businesses work to stay up to date on changes in their industry, it’s up to communications executives to keep abreast of the latest industry trends to ensure their organizations grow and thrive and that they remain relevant leaders in their space.
From studying the competition to learning from previous failures, there are many ways for comms executives to tap into the latest developments and industry news. Below, 15 Forbes Communications Council leaders offer their best tips for keeping up with this ever-evolving field.
Forbes Communications Council members share key things comms leaders can do to stay relevant.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.1. Stay Curious
Read, listen and watch to stay up to date on what’s happening. There are so many good ideas and smart people out there; as communications executives, we should make it our priority to live in a constant state of engagement with the world around us. Go out of your way to find new ideas. For example, pick up a magazine you haven’t read before—one that’s not in your “area.” - Kristin Faulder, Heurisay
2. Understand What Drives Your Audience
Staying relevant in the communications profession simply comes down to understanding your audience. Generations change and evolve, and technology changes and evolves. You have to keep up with what drives your audience, then meet them where they are. It is easy to get lost, follow shiny new objects and lose sight of who you are trying to reach. Always anchor on the audience. - Jamie Ceman, Chapman University
3. Experience The Real Customer Journey
Get off your high horse and follow the customer and your team. Executive leadership is about the balance between taking a helicopter view and working on the front line to feel the real problems. Some retail companies insist their executives work as a seller or as customer support to be able to experience the real customer journey, not a hypothetical one. - Iryna Manukovska, XME.digital
4. Know Who You Are Targeting
Always be mindful of who you are targeting. Communication is a two-way relationship, and the key to staying relevant is actively listening to customers and receiving ideas with no judgment, which is the essential foundation of being mindful. Remember that mindfulness is not about meditation—it’s about being aware of who you are in contact with. - Ehsan Jahandarpour, FirstWave ASX:FCT
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5. Use Data To Articulate Your Value
With the tech market approaching recession, every business is going to be asked to justify go-to-market plans to their customers and investors. Those communications executives who are most fluent in using easily justifiable data to articulate their value will maintain their relevance. - Daniel Raskin, Mperativ
6. Stay Up To Date On Social Media Trends
We all need to stay up to date on trends and what will be the next big social media trend. Even in B2B, our customers are on social media either personally or professionally, so having a brand presence on social platforms is a must. A considerable part of communications is being able to relate to others, which is easier to do if you can understand current references. - Sarah Lero, Peerless Products Inc
7. Consume Content To Stay On Top Of Industry Trends
Stay on top of your industry trends so that you can create impactful strategies and programs. It will also allow you to have informed conversations with your customers. For example, I am in the tech industry and I’m a news junkie. So, I consume content voraciously to stay on top of trends—from automation and robotics to software as a service and artificial intelligence—to help my clients with their go-to market strategies. - Parna Sarkar-Basu, Brand and Buzz Marketing, LLC.
8. Ask Important Questions
Communications executives need to be curious. They need to always pay attention to the latest news and trends and, most importantly, ask questions. How do we fit in? How does this impact and/or change the work we do? What unique perspective can we provide? How can we add value? - Kathy Sucich, Dimensional Insight
9. Link Marketing Inputs To Business Outputs
If there is no cause-and-effect relationship (as opposed to just correlation) between projects, campaigns and bottom-line impact, marketing activities will always be considered a cost at a tactical level. For marketing to be relevant, it has to be strategic, and hence impactful to the business in a robust, credible and measurable way. - Pablo Turletti, ROI Marketing Institute
10. Connect With New And Emerging Audiences
Make sure you are in touch with new and emerging audiences. Are there groups out there who might benefit from your product or service that you haven’t tapped into yet? Keeping our eyes open for those new and emerging audiences and learning how to translate those audiences into customers will keep the business relevant over time. - Kate Warrington, Academic Partnerships
11. Be Willing To Be Wrong
We all have our own perspectives, but we must be open to the idea that ours is not the only point of view. Talk to your customers and your employees and incorporate their perspectives into your strategies. If that means going against your own gut feeling from time to time, that’s okay. Be open to celebrating success even when it means your initial opinion was wrong. - Esther Bonardi, Yardi Systems
12. Look To The Competition
Study the competition and analyze how their communications approaches are evolving over time. Understanding which events they are exhibiting in and sponsoring, what kinds of field marketing tactics are they executing and how their product marketing materials are shaped will not only help you differentiate yourself, but also benchmark which kinds of investments are bringing the highest returns. - Noel Ortiz, Aizon
13. Learn From Failures
To stay relevant, executives need to fail every now and then so that they can turn lemons into lemonade. We’ve all had those campaigns that just flopped when our message didn’t resonate with our readers. Although it can be disheartening, communication pros take these failures in stride and learn from them. At the end of the day, good marketing and communication is all about trial and error. - Yael Klass, Similarweb Ltd.
14. Don’t Take A ‘Set It And Forget It’ Approach
With today’s rapid news cycles, the “set it and forget it” approach can cause a company to seem tone-deaf and out of touch with what its audience cares about. To avoid missteps—and be more engaging with your audiences—it requires active management of your narratives and channels, a contextual understanding and a willingness to continually adapt and evolve. - Alyssa Kopelman, Healthline Media
15. Spend Time With Customers And Front-Line Staff
It can be easy to develop communication plans and content behind a desk, but having a strong understanding of your customers requires you to actively engage with them and those who talk to them most often. From listening in on customer service calls to holding focus groups and conducting surveys, being close to customers can pay off in dividends. - Roshni Wijayasinha, Prosh Marketing
