How to breakup with poor communication.
Email marketing landing in the junk folder, unread SMS messages, no response from your audience, not making any sales -- does this sound familiar? These are the signs of poor communication, and they can ruin your business. I’ll share some practical ways to instantly lock in with your target audience using communication to your advantage.
Know your audience.
The first thing you have to realize is that whether you’re an entrepreneur who is communicating one-on-one with your audience or you’re a CEO sending out large-scale information, you need to know exactly who you’re talking to. Let’s say you want to give instructions or share important information about an upcoming change, the way you do that should be suited to your audience. If your audience is a group of 20-something-year-olds glued to their cellphones, maybe you should opt for an SMS alert about changes rather than an email. The vehicle of communication matters as much as the words themself. Ask yourself these questions
What is my audience’s primary form of communication?
What devices are they using most often?
What language do they respond best to?
Personalize your communication.
Written communication is an excellent tool to build a solid relationship with your audience. This connection should feel human. It may come as a surprise but consumers don’t want to be sold to nor do they want another advertisement via email. They want an experience that feels human and not automated. For this reason, I say personalization is the way to go. No one wants to open an email that says “dear customer”. Come on! Someone is giving you their hard-earned money for your product or service. You could at least personalize the message by using their name. Addressing them by names is just the tip of the personalization iceberg. To take it a step further, consider mentioning a product or service they purchased in the past. Maybe you want to reach out to them on birthdays, holidays, or any special day? Connect with your audience in a natural way.
Spice up templates.
Let me be clear, I’m not bashing templates at all. They can be extremely useful, however, add your own spice to it. Don’t just use a template, plug in the information and send it out. Why? Because it reads like a template and it’s boring. When you use a template, whether it’s for an email campaign or website copy, make it interesting. Make it sound like you and your brand. That’s what consumers want.
Keep it clear and concise.
Aim for written communication to be clear and concise. Do you have a ton of questions or feel there are gaps in information after reading your writing? That’s a sign that it isn’t clear. Another tip to know if your copy is clear is the one-pass test. If you have to read the same sentence twice or three times for it to make sense, that’s a glaring sign that your writing isn’t clear. You should be able to understand the message after just one pass. At some point in the writing world, we got excited to use big words. I hate to break it to you, but when it comes to good copywriting, all those SAT prep words you studied aren’t typically useful when talking to your target audience (unless of course, your target audience is studying for the SAT). You want to speak the language of your audience. It helps them relate and understand your message better. Combine clear writing with concise writing and you’ve got some powerful communication. Concise writing is all about getting to the point but with all the clarity and proper information necessary. The goal is to have the most impact with the least unnecessary words.
Find the right frequency.
If you are communicating across platforms to mostly the same audience, be very intentional about the frequency of communication. It has become common for email and SMS marketing to be sent out daily; this is strategic. I encourage you to be strategic about how frequently you are communicating on each platform. This heavily relies on your ability to understand the desires of your audience. Communicate too frequently and you’ll lose your audiences’ attention, not frequently enough and you'll lose visibility altogether.
Don’t underestimate the power of great writing.
The actual words themself are the magnets to pull the audience in. Great writing can grab their attention, resonate with them, provide knowledge and insight, and then motivate them to take action. It may be easy to forget that writing is an art form. Writers use words, grammar, punctuation, mood, and other elements to produce excellent pieces, and you can do this too! Maybe you have a hidden talent for copywriting or you’re ready to dedicate the next chapter of your life to learning how to write great copy. There’s also another option to elevate your communication and it’s super easy. Hire someone else to write for you. If you’re ready to break up with poor communication for good, consider working with a copywriter.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
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