Are You Communicating (Digitally) With Your Customers
and Prospects?
By Dawn
Varga
August 26,
2020
Maintaining clear, frequent, and useful communication with
your prospects and customers is vital to the success of your business. In
today’s world that means more than in-person communication…it also means
digital communication. Consumers spend much of their time on digital
devices researching products, reading
reviews, following brands on social media, and taking in the myriad amounts of
information being shown to them. To compete in today’s market, it is more
important than ever before to make sure your company is being found online and
communicating digitally with consumers.
Here is just a sampling of the places and ways your business should be
communicating online.
BUSINESS WEBSITE
Your business website is the cornerstone of your online
consumer communication. Your website should be user-friendly and provide clear,
accurate and up-to-date information. Make sure it is responsive and works well
on both desktop and mobile devices. The design should not only be pleasing to
the eye, but also readable. Take care in choosing your colors and fonts. Make
sure the navigation is intuitive for the user. And most of all, make sure your
website is successfully optimized for better performance in search. It takes
time to rise in the ranks on the search engines, but make sure that SEO is part
of your marketing plan.
ONLINE REVIEWS
Consumers take peer reviews seriously when searching for a
company to do business with. Make sure you have claimed your listings on the
major sites (Google, Yelp, Facebook, etc.) and ensure the information is
accurate. Communicating misinformation can cause consumers to go elsewhere.
Implement a program for requesting new customer reviews as well as responding
to current customer feedback. Consumers want to see good ratings, current
reviews, and a business that takes the time to respond to reviews, whether they
are positive or negative. And make sure you monitor all these listings for new
reviews so you can communicate your responses in a timely manner.
SOCIAL MEDIA
I spoke at length about the power of social media in last
month’s newsletter, so here are the highlights. Consumers are spending a
large amount of their time on social media sites and use them to not only
communicate socially but also to research products and services. Maximize your
reach by being present on all the major social platforms (Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram). Communicate valuable information that helps your readers make informed decisions. Monitor your listings for consumer comments, reactions
and reviews and engage with your audience and communicate with them
accordingly.
PAY-PER-CLICK ADVERTISING
Great communication is particularly important when it comes
to your online ads. You have limited space to grab consumers’ attention, so
your ads need to effectively communicate your products as well as your brand
identity. The combination of tantalizing text and eye-catching imagery can lead
to online advertising success. You must also make sure that the webpage the
consumer lands on when they click on your ad is also engaging, relevant (did
they find what they were looking for?) and that it encourages the user to
perform an action or take a next step with your business.
TEXT, EMAIL, INSTANT MESSAGING, CHAT & CLICK-TO-CALL
Communicating in the way consumers want to engage with you
is also essential. Providing internet-based communication options on your
website, in social media, on your online listings and in your search ads and
allowing consumers to choose their preferred method can increase your
opportunity to reach more people. Texting increases these opportunities
significantly since 90% of text messages are read within 3 seconds (Dynamark). However, offering text, chat, email, click-to-call, and instant
messaging as communication options can increase engagement and lead to more
direct consumer communication.
Businesses need to communicate effectively with their
customers online because they are a huge voice to other consumers when it comes
to sharing their experience and either advocating for or against our companies,
products, and services. The increasing importance of internet-based digital
media -- social networks, search engine marketing, online reviews, and mobile
communication options -- has forever changed the way we communicate with
consumers and consumers communicate with us.
Need help managing your company’s digital consumer
communications?
Contact OnTarget Digital Services to find out how we can help!