Want to build a loyal following of superfans? How about keeping your customers informed and educated? Are you tapped into your best marketing asset while continually improving your customer service?
These entrepreneurial daydreams become streamlined best business practices when you dial in your customer communication plan. The bottom line is brand loyalty and excellent service are born from continually serving your ideal customers with valuable content, great offers, and the undeniable presence of “we hear you and we’re here for you” that comes from consistent clear communication. Emphasis on consistent! Make your communication plan align with your brand style. Are you a social media butterfly? Do you enjoy more in depth blog articles? Or are you most comfortable with sending an email? Let’s differentiate the advantages for each content platform so you can mix the perfect blend for your business.
Blogs:
1 or more pages in length used to answer your ideal clients most burning needs and questions. What you blog about is what you will be known for! Get inside the mind of your ideal customers and anticipate their biggest questions so you can become a trusted expert in your field.
Answering questions and client needs will advance you to the level of a professional or at least internet expert. When great content is shared it builds trust for your clients and positions you as the best business to serve your their needs.
Blogs are also great for improving your SEO (more on this in another blog!) and at the very least your content associates your brand with ideas you emulate or aspire to in the minds of your readers.
Your Blog Communication Plan:
- 1-2 pages of educational and or interesting content aligned with your industry
- Positions you as an expert in your industry and the knowledge base you share from
- Allows you to answer your clients questions, needs, and concerns, building trust and brand loyalty without being sales-y
- Improves your websites SEO and associates you with the ideas and professionals you emulate or aspire to
Newsletter:
Your newsletter is the bare minimum communication plan and a marketing gold mine when used to serve your clients by offering exclusive, up to date content, and new business offerings.
Your newsletter can and should be aligned with how frequently you’d like to reach out. Consistency is key! A monthly newsletter that’s consistent is much more advantageous than a spotty, should be weekly, schedule. Pick a schedule and stick with it by batching your newsletters and scheduling them ahead of time.
Don’t overthink it. Your newsletter is meant to be a check in conversation with your ideal client. With that in mind, create an avatar for your dream client and when it’s newsletter time just sit down and write them an email!
Save your best content for your newsletter list, treat your newsletter subscribers like gold, because they are! Keeping your most relevant and valuable content in your newsletter is a great way to appreciate your subscribers and entice new ones!
Your newsletter should be clear and to the point. Their time and attention is precious, so get right to it and share your behind the scenes insights, trade tips, exciting and inspiring stories, solutions for their biggest concerns, and of course drip in your best offers with genuine excitement.
Your communication plan isn’t just an obligation to teach, or a commercial for your products. It’s a window into how you think. Be sure to share your brand’s values and the excellent impact your business is making on the world. These are the real connection points for your clients brand loyalty.
Your Newsletter Communication Plan:
- Your best marketing tool! When treated like an ongoing conversation with a valued client you earn trust and loyalty that allows you to position offers your clients will love hearing about
- Provides a window into how you think
- Shares your brand’s values and your businesses excellent impact on the world
- Feeds inspiration & education, answers to your ideal customers biggest needs within your niche
- Drips in offers and new developments within your company
- Is a shorter, more ongoing conversation, your just writing a check in email to your best client
Social Media Posts:
If digital communication were dating, your newsletter would be your most prized committed relationship. Your blog would be on par with a great date and your social profile would be your best outlet for flirting. Social media is our platform for making a perfect first impression and for courting our new acquaintances.
Remember, you don’t own your ability to interact with your social followers, unlike your newsletter list. This means your blog and social profiles should always be an avenue to offer potential clients a way to join your mailing list and get the most value from your content.
Social media analytics are transitioning away from likable vivid images and 1-2 snappy lines of copy. Now usable and entertaining share worthy content is what these platforms look for. This includes insights, tips, and new perspectives served up within well planned short video clips and clearly designed graphics.
Always put your best foot forward and post less frequent (think weekly instead of daily) and more thoughtful content that isn’t just likable- it’s so good we need to share it with our friends.
Your Social Posts:
- First impressions
- Thoughtful, share worthy content
- Connect, excite, and invite all within 1-2 lines
- Striking Graphics and poignant memorable videos
Have fun with your new communication plan and adjust as you feel you need to in order to engage with your clients, and in a way that matches what you like as well. If you have the budget, a firm like mine can help with creating a great plan and the content needed to get people’s attention. If you haven’t set up your social media accounts, check out our useful post Social Media Setup – 7 Must Haves on my Checklist. And, if you’d like to learn more about blogs, visit this great Wikipedia page Blogs.
