Audience Communication Tips for Fledgling Small Businesses
When attempting to expand their respective customer bases, many small businesses have to walk the fine line between engagement and annoyance. Although your intended audience is liable to welcome certain types of communication from your enterprise, others are just as likely to leave them irritated. However, while maintaining a good balance can certainly prove challenging, it’s by no means impossible. So, if effectively communicating with your target audience is among your business’s top priorities, put the following tips to good use.
Quickly Respond to Questions and Concerns
Waiting forever to receive a response to a question or concern is unlikely to go over well with your customers. The longer consumers have to wait for responses from businesses, the less valued they feel and the more likely they are to take their business elsewhere the next time they find themselves in need of your services. That being the case, it behooves all businesses to respond to consumer communiques in a timely and professional manner.
If a question for a customer comes through during normal business hours, make a point of providing a response within several hours. Even if your response essentially amounts to “More time is needed to consider the matter,” this will let the sender know that they aren’t being ignored. (Of course, if you are able to immediately provide a definitive response to an inquiry, don’t hesitate to do so.)
Time Your Social Media Updates
Although social media can be a highly effective marketing tool for businesses of all sizes, not every brand is equally successful in their social media marketing endeavors. When posting new content on the web’s most popular social platforms, one of your key goals should be getting as many eyes on that content as possible. To this end, you should determine the most opportune times of day to post new content on assorted social platforms.
Unsurprisingly, this will require a bit of trial and error. After experimenting with posting updates at various times of day on various platforms, you should have a fairly solid idea of which times work best for which platforms. If this task strikes you as too cumbersome or time-consuming, consider working with a highly-rated web marketing company or hiring a dedicated social media manager.
Regularly Interact with Your Social Media Followers
As stated above, consumers appreciate feeling valued by the brands they support. So, in addition to responding to concerns and queries in an expedient manner, take care to respond to people who respond to your social media posts with questions and comments in a similarly timely fashion. This will show them that their input is valued and possibly even encourage them to share your posts with their followers. Needless to say, if any of your posts get shared by a large account, you’re liable to see your follower count increase by quite a bit.
You should also be very mindful of the manner in which you interact with your social media followers. For example, even if it’s intended as a joke, responding to comments in a glib or insulting manner is practically guaranteed to draw the ire of both the commenters and anyone else who happens to see the exchange. It’s also recommended that you abstain from taking the bait when someone on social media attempts to goad you into an argument, as this may cause you to appear petty and childish in the eyes of your followers.
Use Automated Text Messaging
Automated text messaging can be a boon to small businesses looking for effective ways to keep their respective audiences in the know. Good automated text messaging software helps ensure that whenever there’s a change in policies, alteration to business hours or important sales events, your patrons will instantly be brought up to speed.
Every small business should seek to effectively communicate with both regular customers and prospective patrons. However, when it comes to communicating with your intended audience, there are a number of factors you’ll need to consider. For example, are your preferred methods of communication more likely to annoy customers than endear your business to them? So, if your business lacks experience in this area, you’d do well to familiarize yourself with the tips outlined above. As you’re likely to find, refining your approach to customer communication can pave the way for long-term success.