Today’s consumer has the tools to be better informed, to share experiences and most importantly, to find the businesses that pay attention to their customers needs and desires.
The successful business has a “Communications Strategy”
When the consumer wants to know more about what you have to offer, are you their #1 source? Will they spend their money with you? Will you achieve category dominance in your trading area? Here are 10 considerations when devising your Communications Strategy.
1. A website with a blog
- Use internal links to connect content already in your website inventory
- Have outbound links to experts and associates
- Produce videos, vodcasts, podcasts, interviews with guests of your choosing and more
- Respect your followers’ time
- Never be boring
- One substantial blogpost or other relevant experience from you per week plus one relevant article or experience from another source per week ought to be your minimum
- Take care to maintain Search Engine Optimization
2. Social Media – What’s Your Strategy?
- The big 3, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn
- Learn to use these tools to drive eyeballs to your website and its rich content
- Provide your followers with the social media buttons encouraging them to share your content with their personal networks
3. Top of mind goes far beyond SEO (search engine optimization)
- Once they find you, your job is to keep them coming back for more
- Reach = the number of people in your overall network
- Frequency = the number of times per week that they hear from you in an interesting and relevant way
- To be constantly adding to your network, you must make it easy for your followers to share you with their personal network
- The secret to frequency is always be interesting, relevant and always have a point
- Be confident that you understand your customers’ and potential customers’ needs and give it to them over and over in a compelling array of written word, video, vodcast, podcast, interviews and links to still more information should they want to dig deeper into whatever subject you are on today
- As to how frequent, some communicate daily, some do it weekly but whatever your chosen number, be consistent
4. Published articles and the art of repetition
- Place your content in multiple locations
- Can your weekly blogpost be converted into a column for a weekly newspaper
- Is it potential content for a local web portal
- Write every blog post as if a chapter in a book and then publish an ebook and have copies printed to be given away at speaking engagements or to valued clients
- Never fear repetition
- Just because your audience has read your post once, doesn’t mean they won’t read it again as long as the article has been updated with new information or a new angle of approach
- In every year there is the need to have a special time for the “best of” your writings or productions, those articles that received the most views or the most reaction
- Always present your “best of” series in context
5. A newsletter
- Create a consistent cycle, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly
- Use permission marketing by having a sign-up available on your website
6. Become a “go-to” expert for the traditional media
- What are your areas of expertise
- Could you be quoted in a story as having an opinion or being the source of a solution
- Cultivate key members of the traditional media
- Mine the news daily for relevant story ideas you can pitch, ideas where you are the natural interview
- Offer up ideas when the key interview is one of your clients or an associate
- Always be sure to re-post the articles on your website including TV stories through video posts and radio interviews through podcasts
- Have key members of the traditional media on your circulation list for blog updates and news letters
- Can you become a regular guest/expert on a local radio talk show or cable TV show
7. News releases
- Whenever you wish to alert the media to your availability for a story, write a news release
- For effective results, update your distribution list quarterly
- Research your contacts to be sure that the right people within the news media are on your list and to be sure they are still working
8. Public speaking and presentations
- Trade shows
- Business groups such as Chambers of Commerce and networking clubs
- Volunteer to speak to students at Trade Schools, Universities, Community Colleges and other post secondary institutions
9. Service Clubs, charities and other community groups or organizations
- Join an organization such as Rotary or Kinsmen
- Or, develop your own community charity strategy to help raise your profile at times when your business naturally slows
- Coach and/or sponsor a local sports team
10. Business networking groups
- Every community has groups that meet on a regular basis for breakfast or after hours
Communicate
internally with your staff. Communicate externally with your current
and potential customers. Be consistent, relevant and entertaining and
this will help you Build Your Business.
