Customer Communication Archives

Want to Excel at Generating Response From Your Market? Focus!

Client question: “What’s the best way to communicate with the under-35 market?”

It’s a legitimate question and certainly marketers need to think carefully about how they will communicate with their market, recognizing that markets are different. The only problem with this question (and it’s one that most marketers ask in one form or another) is that it doesn’t go far enough to identify a specific market focus. The group of individuals who are under 35 is a very, very broad group, after all. What is the likelihood that there would be a single, “best” communication strategy for them?

When it comes to targeting marketing messages, the advice I offer, regardless of what you are attempting to sell or what response you are attempting to attain, is to Continue reading “Want to Excel at Generating Response From Your Market? Focus!”

Creating Online Communities

I assist some clients with their social media activities, including the managing of online groups–some are more successful than others. As I’ve managed and monitored their groups, dabbled with my own, and evaluated other groups I’ve noted a number of factors that seem to impact their success. Continue reading “Creating Online Communities”

Crisis: It Can Happen to Anyone. Take Burger King, For Example!

Contributed by Rachel Vick

We saw a prime example today of the need for big brand crisis communication. That’s right; Burger King was hacked on Twitter earlier this morning. Nothing like an Internet hacking to threaten a company’s reputation and put them directly in the spotlight!

Burger King’s hackers tweeted around 11:00 am that Burger King had been sold to McDonald’s. Burger King’s Twitter profile was also changed, including the profile photo (which was changed to the McDonald’s logo) and company information, which stated: “Just got sold to McDonald’s because the whopper flopped.”

The hackers continued to tweet for about an hour with obscene statements and false accusations, such as Continue reading “Crisis: It Can Happen to Anyone. Take Burger King, For Example!”

Writing Your Elevator Speech: Individual Branding for Personal and Professional Success

I recently did a presentation for a group of Young Professionals that are part of a local Chamber of Commerce on how to create and deliver effective “elevator speeches.” Elevator speeches are those brief introductions that we’re all called upon to give from time to time, particularly in networking situations when we’re asked: “What do you do?”

For business owners, consultants and business leaders in any field, the opportunity to deliver an “elevator speech” is an opportunity to support your desired brand perception. We often fail to think of it that way, though–instead, we tend to think of it as simply a requirement to provide some general information about what it is we do.

Interestingly, as I worked on the presentation for this group it became very clear to me that just as when thinking about organizational brand impact, individually we have an opportunity to define and manage our personal brands. The steps are very similar to the steps I take when working with clients on branding-related issues. They are: Continue reading “Writing Your Elevator Speech: Individual Branding for Personal and Professional Success”

Boosting The Power of Social Media: Taking Risks Without Getting Burned

What have you posted on your social media sites lately? Anything substantial? Anything risky? Anything controversial or challenging that you thought might provoke a response–even a contrary response–from your audience?

A key to engaging with audiences online and encouraging interaction with them is provoking an emotion: making them care. In the process you reveal something about who you are and what you believe in. Regardless of the business you’re in, the first thing that your potential customers do when seeking information on products or services they may be interested in is Continue reading “Boosting The Power of Social Media: Taking Risks Without Getting Burned”

Connecting With Your Audiences Through Social Media

As hard as it may be to believe, not everybody is engaged in social media these days. And, even those who have profiles established on sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter may not be active participants and, importantly, may not be seeing your communications, regardless of how frequently you post or how brilliant your insights are.

In my work as a marketing communication consultant I work with clients regularly to assess and improve their communications, including online communications. The first area of discussion Continue reading “Connecting With Your Audiences Through Social Media”

Markets Can’t Really Tell Us How They’re Influenced

I’m a proponent of marketing research and the use of data to drive business decisions at every level and in every aspect of organizational performance. I recognize, though, that sometimes the predictive value of research can be questionable and that it can be most useful to evaluate actual behaviors to support future decisions.

Advertising efforts are a good example of this. Continue reading “Markets Can’t Really Tell Us How They’re Influenced”

Leveraging Consumer Feedback – Even When It’s Negative

In the old days, communicators communicated to their audiences. These days communicators, if they’re communicating online, are communicating with their audiences–whether they realize it or not. The old “conversations” were generally cloaked in privacy. When I saw a television ad that generated some kind of response from me, I might share it with the few people I was watching the commercial with, or talk about it later with friends. But, my response was fairly limited.

Enter social media. Today Continue reading “Leveraging Consumer Feedback – Even When It’s Negative”