As the fourth quarter fast approaches, many businesses are looking for ways to finish the year strong. Communications teams must ensure their holiday and end-of-year messages are delivered loud and clear to all employees, consumers and potential investors to prepare to thrive in the new year.
Here, 15 members of Forbes Communications Council share items that are a top priority on their own teams’ agendas for the final quarter of 2022, and why they believe these action items will help them close out the year on a strong, positive note.
Forbes Communications Council members share action items for comms teams’ fourth-quarter agendas to finish the year strong.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.1. Build Awareness Of Your Unique Point Of View
Our biggest target to round out the year is building more awareness of our unique point of view. We’ll do this by adding more newsletter subscribers, being guests on key podcasts, sharing daily on social media and contributing content to publications that our target buyers read. - Corey Quinn, Corey Quinn, Inc.
2. Try The Carpet Bombing Strategy
The carpet bombing strategy in digital marketing offers a great advantage when you enter new markets. It provides a significant boost to brand trust when the market is flooded with diverse measures, whether that means influencer marketing, pay-per-click ads or public relations. But for this strategy to be effective, you need to be well-prepared, with fully localized resources, an extensive list of ready-to-go partners and much more. - Toma Sabaliauskiene, Nord Security
3. Lay The Groundwork For In-Person Channels
People are craving the connection that is only possible through in-person events. As we wrap up the year, we want to make sure we’re laying the groundwork for in-person channels in 2023. Part of that is standing out from the crowd as more brands rush to offer events. In Q4, we’ll be able to take stock of our core lessons from 2022 and better build our events around the latest trends and insights. - Alyssa Kopelman, Healthline Media
4. Gather Employee Feedback And Audience Input
Our team is focused on getting employee feedback on communication efforts so that we can plan accordingly for next year. Getting our audience’s input on content, channel and frequency preferences alongside engagement metrics is key to guiding our efforts and making sure we accomplish our communications goals. - Angela Ivey, Insperity
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5. Launch A Brand Awareness Campaign
After 16 acquisitions in the past six years, we are preparing the launch of a brand awareness campaign. Our goal is to help our robust roster of customers understand what we do for them now and what we can do for them in the future. We’re excited to use this as a baseline for years to come and leverage the campaign to further integrate our solutions and messaging. - Kristin Russel, symplr
6. Develop Industry Expertise
I think it is important to develop my team into industry experts, not just marketers, because if they have a strong grasp of the industry, they’ll be even better equipped to work with different agencies and partners to meet our business goals. I believe this will place the marketing team at the core of our company’s success. - Hanna Park, bemyfriends
7. Plan Ahead For Big-Ticket Items
Plan ahead for big-ticket items next year so that they make it into the budget in time. Building new websites and planning expensive digital marketing campaigns can have a major impact on a company but can’t be thrown together at the last minute. As we approach the last quarter of the year, our team is targeting high-impact campaigns and budgeting for time and resources in advance to ensure they are properly planned. - Victoria Zelefsky, The Menkiti Group
8. Publicize Client Successes
Publicize client case studies and success stories. In the second half of the year, companies need to move pipelines, and high-profile validation is a key ingredient. Whether submitting a client for an award or capturing a testimony on video, showcasing these wins will help your company close out the year strong. - Erica Morgenstern, Virgin Pulse
9. Generate New Clients
So many businesses come to the end of the year thinking solely about profits and how they’re going to finish the fiscal year. They tend to lose sight of the next quarter. Marketing takes three to four months to show results. If you focus too much on bookkeeping and quick cash to show right now, you lose out when quarter one of next year rolls around. - Asad Kausar, Dabaran
10. Review, Revise And Reiterate
For Q4 we are in review, revise and reiterate mode. We’re taking a look back at client comms’ performance to gauge the efficacy of our campaigns and messaging, then adjusting accordingly to finish out 2022 on the strongest note possible. - Melissa Kandel, little word studio
11. Leverage Customer Champions
We are continuing to create and market through our customer champions. We know this is the type of marketing that validates what we do and cuts through the clutter. It also shows we care about our customers versus just new business. - Monica Ho, SOCi
12. Create And Execute A Thought Leadership Plan
Creating and executing a thought leadership plan for executives, leaders and team members is one of the biggest goals for comms. Utilizing LinkedIn and other platforms for thought leadership strategy helps to increase engagement, traffic and exposure to the company’s leaders. Thought leadership can also lead to new media opportunities. - Maura Kennedy, Strategic Elements
13. Prepare For In-Person Events
The event industry is experiencing a strong return to in-person events in 2022 while continuing to also offer virtual events. This is unprecedented territory. The biggest item on our agenda to finish the year strong is to prepare for our 2023 Speaking Industry Benchmark Survey. Asking the right questions now will help event organizers and keynote speakers create amazing events in the new year. - Jennifer Best, AAE Speakers Bureau
14. Get Started On Holiday Content
Q4 is always a fruitful sales season for online businesses. Digital marketing and e-commerce make brands more visible to consumers, but competition is fiercer. As a marketing agency, we always remind clients to plan ahead. Don’t wait to finalize your holiday campaign. Create holiday content tailored to your audience on social media. A well-planned strategy will help you cut through the noise. - Jessica Wong, Valux Digital
15. Be Ready To Think On Your Feet
To be effective at the end of the year, you have to be ready to think on your feet. You are unlikely to have a clear line of sight until late in the game on how the final company performance will look and what the strategy for the new fiscal year will be. Be prepared for multiple outcomes and get ready to build messaging fast based on how the cards fall. - Andrew Martin, Asia Online Publishing Group
