Top Tips for Communicating with Your Customers: How to Stay in Touch and Build Relationships – Part 2
This is the second part of the blog post where I talk about the basics you need to cover when planning about your communication.
Writing a Press Release
When it comes to writing your first press release, you may have questions like: How do I position myself, what should it be about, what should the headline be, and what should I include? It is easy to get overwhelmed. Here are the basics: What your product/service does – At a minimum, you will include this on the front page. Be clear and straightforward, don’t beat around the bush. – At a minimum, you will include this on the front page. Be clear and concise, don’t beat around the bush. Your name – Make it easy for readers to identify you and your company. A brief summary of your company – Tell the reader about who you are, what you are doing, and why it’s a game-changer.
Know Your Audience
Every business is different, but these are the general audiences you want to target: Angel Investors Accelerators/Incubators VCs Angel Investors Because these people have the biggest effect on your future, it’s important to have a clear plan. Prioritize them based on their feedback and success with your business. Do your research, and find people that will get you through the rough patches. Investing in new companies is risky. They can lose their entire investment if things don’t work out for you. You also have to know what you are getting into. Angel investors are people with a deep understanding of your business, your company, and your offerings. You need to prove to them you can build a successful business and see the benefit from it. Depending on your product/service, you will likely have different audiences to reach. Make sure that you are targeting the right people. When it comes to customers, identify who you will be communicating with first. Prioritize your audiences based on your growth strategy. It’s important to decide who you will be engaging with from day one and who needs to know about your product on day 365.
Create a Social Media Strategy
Before we get into the final tips, let’s talk about social media strategy. Social media has become such an integral part of business communication, but it’s a strategic part. While it can be a great way to gather information about what people think about your product and your company, it is also a great way to respond to criticism or to target an audience who will take the bait. A good social media strategy is focused on two different areas: the audience you’re trying to build and the people you’re trying to reach. For individuals, it is a personal decision as to whether or not to share on social media. For companies, it is important to have a strategy to decide what to publish when and where. For instance, you need different strategies to promote your website or brand in the beginning compared to promoting a new product a few years into your journey.
How to manage social media in times of crises
Social media is no longer a marketing tool that you put to one side for six months before revisiting it. Today, it’s a vital part of every startup’s marketing strategy. The first thing you need to do is pick the proper channels. To begin with, it’s essential to make sure that you are communicating with your customers in an effective way. Rather than posting to Twitter, consider joining in with conversations that your customers are having in their micro communities. Start to listen, and start asking questions. Asking your customers questions is a great way to learn about what they want and get feedback on your products and services. Then, in the social media channel of your choice, start posting more. When it comes to content, don’t just post cool-looking photos to your wall. Add value to people’s lives with your content.
Social media can be a powerful communications tool, but it has the potential to get out of hand quickly. It can also be incredibly useful in a crisis. Hurricanes, tornados, floods, earthquakes — all of these disasters can leave cities reeling. But how do you communicate when the news coverage is bad? If there is a major event, how do you let your customers know you are there and they can reach you? Turning to social media in face of disasters or emergencies is essential for some industries such as financial services or data storing products.
Conclusion
As a startup founder, you’ll likely be reading plenty of articles about the specific tools you will need to build your business and add some of the missing pieces. Your end goal is to get the investors on board and get your business up and running. As a founder, it’s in your best interest to stay focused on getting the funding and start building your product and service. But once you have it up and running, you’ll need to stay in communication with your customers. Your customers are your first tier of investors, and if they are still waiting for your new product or service, you’re not going to get funded. You’re also missing out on the customers that will be out there looking for your offering. I realized that we are often scared to speak with our potential customers, investors, or partners. We fear that if we show them vulnerability, that won’t make strong communication. On the contrary, in our age, authenticity is what consumers are looking for.
Anil Uzun