|
Effective Marketing Communication Key to Business Success |
|
|
Effective communication can have a huge impact on the success of your company. By definition, communication is the process of transmitting information from one person to another. Marketing communication takes it one step further. In marketing communication, you share information to influence an individual's behavior — generally to purchase your product or service. As you seek ways to jumpstart your business in this tough economy, take a hard look at the marketing tools you use to communicate with your customers and prospects. A lackluster message won’t gain attention or lead to results. Your message should be clear, succinct and written for your target audience. It should be appropriate for the medium — email, website, newsletter or other marketing tool. If you are not using effective communication, you are losing out on countless opportunities to make a sale. Here are five tips to help make your marketing communication more effective:
- Think about it. Writing is a thought process. If your thinking is unclear, your writing will be unclear. Before you start writing, determine what pain points drive your customers to purchase your products or services, what benefits you offer, what makes you different from your competition and why that is important to your customers. Sharpen your thought process by summarizing in a single sentence what you want to communicate. If you can't do that, you have more thinking to do!
- Keep it simple. Keep your writing as simple as possible. Get rid of extraneous thoughts and words and focus on one message. If five words convey your thought, don’t use ten. Make it easy for your customers to understand why they should purchase your product or service.
- Play by the rules. Although grammar and spelling have fallen into disrepute in recent years, they are critical to effective communication. Misplaced or missing punctuation and misspelled words can change the meaning of a sentence. If you want to communicate effectively, you must do everything possible to make it easy for your audience to understand your message.
- Announce yourself. Don’t keep your customers guessing about what you are communicating. If you are sending an email, write a compelling subject line that clearly indicates the purpose of your email. Use meaningful headings and subheadings. Help readers focus on key points by using bullets and bold or italic type.
- Make an offer your customers can’t refuse. Don’t assume your customers will automatically make a purchase because you have pointed out the benefits of your product or service. Include a call to action in every marketing communication piece. Better yet, add a sense of urgency by providing a limited-time offer.
Copyright 2009 Joan B. Marcus Communications LLC Joan B. Marcus, president of Joan B. Marcus Communications LLC, helps small businesses and nonprofit organizations build their brand through the power of words. Learn more at www.joanbmarcuscommunications.com.
|
