But how well are you communicating with your customers? You could have a great product, service, or promotion, but if you can’t communicate these things to your customers, your business could struggle. The majority of consumers don’t think that brands are distributing authentic content. For example, you could say that every piece of content you produce, whether it’s a blog, email, or social media post, always needs to start with an inspirational quote. How could you possibly keep track of all your social media comments each day while trying to run your company at the same time? Segment your email subscribers For your email marketing campaigns to be successful, you need to make sure you’re delivering relevant content to your subscribers. Make sure your brand message is clear Why are you in business? That can be conveyed in your brand message. If you run a promotion on Instagram, make sure your website shows the sale too. As a marketer, you need to be able to effectively communicate with your customers on all your distribution channels.
As a business owner, you need to communicate with many people on a daily basis.
You’re used to delegating tasks to your employees and dealing with merchants, accountants, lawyers, bankers, and everyone else who makes your operation possible.
Communication skills are also important in your personal life. You need to manage the relationships with your family and friends while running a company at the same time.
But how well are you communicating with your customers?
Effective customer communication is the backbone of your business. Your ability to communicate can make or break your marketing campaigns and determine whether you can optimize the customer experience.
You could have a great product, service, or promotion, but if you can’t communicate these things to your customers, your business could struggle.
The Internet has made it possible for brands and consumers to contact each other from virtually anywhere at any time. You need to recognize this reality and use it to your advantage.
With so many different distribution channels at your disposal, it’s imperative you apply your communication skills on all of these platforms.
I see this particular problem often when giving consultations to business owners. They know how to write a perfect email newsletter that converts, but their Facebook posts are awful. Or they have an awesome Instagram marketing strategy but struggle with blogging.
To be successful, you need to be able to communicate with your customers on all your distribution channels. I’ll explain what you need to do to make this happen.
Create an authentic voice
Your communication style and voice need to be consistent across every channel.
This helps create authenticity. The majority of consumers don’t think that brands are distributing authentic content.
What does this tell you?
Your customers want you to be authentic. Establishing an authentic voice will give you a huge advantage over your competitors.
All your content needs to sound as if it’s coming from the same person, even if it’s not.
For example, you might write your blogs, but someone from your staff may be in charge of email newsletters. A third person could be responsible for your social media content.
There is nothing wrong with delegating tasks this way, but it can create a discrepancy when it comes to being authentic.
The best way to overcome this hurdle is establish some ground rules. Create a writing guide that everyone who produces content can reference.
Here are some examples of things you could include in this guide:
- always spell out the word percent instead of using %
- write from the first-person perspective
- use the Oxford comma
You can even take this guide one step further. For example, you could say that every piece of content you produce, whether it’s a blog, email, or social media post, always needs to start with an inspirational quote.
If your writing is consistent, it creates authenticity.
That way when your customers engage with your brand on multiple channels, they’ll feel they’re listening to the same voice.
Monitor your comments sections
Part of having effective communication means being active on as many platforms as possible.
Your increased social media presence makes it easier for your customers to reach you. Don’t worry—this is a good thing.
But if you’re not constantly monitoring your comments, you’re failing your customers when it comes to communication.
Social media is one of the top channels for consumers to voice their complaints.
Put yourself in the shoes of your customers. You’ve got to understand their thought process and mindset.
They just experienced some sort of problem with your business. It could have been related to one of your products, services, or employees.
On top of the issue, they took time out of their busy day to let you know about it by commenting on one of your social media posts. Even though this comment might be negative, it’s still a good sign.
Why? You haven’t lost this customer yet.
Research shows that 96% of unhappy customers don’t complain. They just leave and don’t come back.
If one of your customers is complaining via social media, you still have a chance to keep their business as long as you respond in a timely fashion.
Studies show that 84% of consumers expect a business to respond to their social media comments within 24 hours of posting.
But this also depends on the platform. For instance, 72% of users on Twitter expect brands to respond within an hour.
I know what you’re thinking. How could you possibly keep track of all your social media comments each day while trying to run your company at the same time?
Those of you who don’t have a social media manager or the budget to hire one need to take advantage of my favorite time-saving social media marketing tools.
Certain tools can notify you whenever someone comments on one of your posts. You can get these notifications on one platform instead of having to monitor each social site individually.
Segment your email subscribers
For your email marketing campaigns to be successful, you need to make sure you’re delivering relevant content to your subscribers.
After all, your customers have different wants, needs, and preferences. It’s nearly impossible to create content that can appeal to all your customers.
That’s why segmenting your subscribers will improve your communication with everyone.
A person who works in an office gets on average…
COMMENTS