This article was last updated with relevant content in June 2024.
It seems like each year, there are about a hundred new ways to communicate in the digital world. From the latest app to the newest social media platform or communication-based software, innovative solutions keep changing the way we connect online.
And when it comes to B2B or B2C communication specifically, navigating your options can feel overwhelming.
Most business owners understand the value of solutions like social media management, email marketing, and blog management. However, they simply don’t have the time to maintain a consistent digital communication strategy, especially if they have to juggle all the different communication methods their audiences prefer.
However, properly maintaining communication with audiences is a vital part of business in today’s digital landscape.
Let’s look at why communication is so important and offer easy, viable solutions for staying connected with your existing customers and target audiences.
Why Should You Communicate Digitally With Audiences?
Communication is the tool that connects you to leads and maintains your relationship with current clients. It informs interested audiences of who you are, what you provide, and what customers can expect from choosing your business over your competitors.
According to a Project.co survey conducted in Q4 of 2023, 98% of participants agreed that effective communication from a business was important to them as a customer.
Why should you communicate digitally? Because without digital communication, people have limited access to your business and are not easily connected to information that could help resolve their pain points. A lack of communication will not maximize your sales or increase your customer base, and your business simply won’t grow.
Why should you communicate digitally? Because digital communication improves customer retention and boosts referrals. Your clients are your most valuable assets in both growing and sustaining your business. You want to stay available to them and on their minds as much as possible. Well-maintained communication allows you to do exactly that.
Why should you communicate digitally? Digital communication adds value to the service you provide, creates resources for the client, establishes you as an authority within your industry, and has immeasurable value for your customer service, online presence, and SEO.
What Should You Communicate Digitally?
If you’re ready to get started communicating, where do you begin?
It starts with the question: “What am I communicating?”
Before you can begin communicating, you must first know who you are as a company. Otherwise, your message will fail to make an impact. Understanding what you need to say is crucial for resonating with audiences.
Take some time to evaluate your current messaging:
- What is your vision or mission statement?
- What are your competitive advantages (what makes you unique)?
- What is your main message for your target market and ideal client?
If you feel confident in really knowing what your message should be, all your communication efforts will flow more smoothly.
Three important aspects of digital communication are:
- Remain true to your company’s vision and purpose.
- Be consistent in your messaging and in the frequency with which you send your message out to your audience.
- Create effective communication strategies and tactics to ensure your efforts are optimized.
As with most efforts in the life of your business, those that you plan are the most likely to succeed, and communication is no different.
How Should You Communicate Digitally?
Now that you know why you are communicating and what your messaging should be, the question is, “How should I communicate?”
There are a million and one strategies you can create that define how you should communicate with your audience. Some strategies are far more effective than others.
To design your best strategy, it’s essential to start with your goals. You need to know precisely what you want to achieve through your digital communication.
- Do you want your communication efforts to increase brand awareness and your customer base?
- Do you want your communication efforts to increase the sales of a particular product or service?
- Do you want your communication efforts to improve customer service and satisfaction?
Whatever your digital communication goals are, you need to form a thorough understanding of your goals—the best way to achieve that is to make them SMART.
A SMART goal is:
- Specific – A general goal is a hard-to-go-after goal. “I want more social media followers” is not easy to plan around. “I want to increase my follower count on Facebook to increase the number of people my company communicates with” allows you to zero in on your Facebook audience and strategize ways to increase that follower count.
- Measurable – You have to be able to measure your goal; otherwise, you will not know whether your efforts are working or not. “I want to increase my follower count on Facebook by 10%” allows you to track your progress and see if you achieved that 10% increase.
- Attainable – An effective goal is one that is in reach. If you set your sights on something unattainable, you are only setting yourself or your team up for failure. “I want to increase my follower count on Facebook by 500%” is extremely lofty and will be discouraging when that number is not reached. Allowing yourself to strive for a 10% increase is more manageable, attainable, and confidence-boosting.
- Relevant – Your communication goals have to be relevant to your overall business goals. If they are not, you’ll be like a hamster on a wheel, running in circles but taking your business nowhere. “I want to increase my follower count on Facebook by 10%” keeps you in sync with your overall goal of increasing the number of audience members who need to know what you have to say.
- Timely – To optimize your strategies, ensure your goal is properly measured, and track success, your goal has to have an end date. “I want to increase my follower count on Facebook by 10% before Q4 of 202X” best allows you to navigate the path toward that goal.
When you make your goals SMART, you’ll have a deeper understanding of what you’re trying to achieve and how you’re going to achieve it.
Where Should You Communicate Digitally?
Once you have defined your goals and strategies, it’s time to focus on the tactics, or how you will communicate with audiences.
As mentioned, it can feel like there are hundreds of new communication options arising left and right. It’s important to understand which are going to be most effective for your business.
You need to know where your audience is, how they are reachable, and how they like to reach out. Communication is a two-way street, and creating the spaces you and your audience need to stay in touch is key.
As you evaluate your options, consider what is most valuable and effective, like:
Social Media
Obviously, social media is number one when it comes to creating a space for you to communicate with your audience and for your audience to be able to communicate back.
Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn give you the opportunity to promote valuable information to your audiences. It also gives your audience a chance to communicate through:
- Commenting
- Tagging
- Post sharing
- Direct messaging
Three of the biggest platforms you can take advantage of and boost your communication effort on are:
From advertising opportunities to page management solutions, you can use your account on all three platforms to communicate with your followers and future followers.
For more about the benefits of communicating on social media, check out our Definitive Guide to Social Media Marketing.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is a phenomenal way to communicate up-to-date information and messages to audiences who want to hear from you. It’s your way to communicate focused messages to your existing customers, leads, and anyone in between.
Whether you want to promote your current or upcoming offers, explain changes happening with your company that affect your customers, or send a hub of relevant info directly to your email list, you can do it all through email marketing.
What can you do with email marketing?
- Send welcome messages to new subscribers or to people who have purchased an item from your online store and opted into receiving emails from your company.
- Inform subscribers of your newest offers, products, services, or deals.
- Send remarketing emails to those who have shown interest in your company but haven’t pulled the trigger to make a purchase yet.
- Celebrate company milestones, customer birthdays, or business anniversaries.
- Survey customers, asking for feedback or requesting they leave you a review on your Google Business Profile.
Email marketing can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be—the most important thing, though, is that you use it.
For deeper insights into email marketing, check out our Definitive Guide to Email Marketing.
Business Listings Management
This one often goes under the radar, but your business listings management is one of the most important elements of your communication efforts. It provides your audience with the info they need to understand who you are, where you are located, and what you can do for them.
There are hundreds of listing profiles you can create and maintain, some of them general (like Google) and some industry-specific (like Healthgrades or Tripadvisor).
Some of the most popular platforms and directories your business would benefit from using are:
- Google Business Profile*
- Bing Places for Business
- Apple Maps
- Yelp for Business
- Instagram for business
As well as many others.
Your business listing can feature a wealth of information, the most crucial being your NAP: Your business’s name, address, and phone number. It can also include:
- Hours of operation
- Business category
- Website URL
- Company bio or about info
- Product and service information
- Forms of payment you accept
- Relevant photos and videos
- Reviews left by customers
Your listings profiles communicate vital details about your business to your audiences. The ones that allow your customers to leave reviews also provide a chance to receive both positive and negative feedback that you can respond to.
Customer reviews and ratings are huge factors in consumer decision-making these days. Reviews show potential customers what it may be like to do business with you. Engaging with the reviews people leave will further show what someone can expect from your company. From appreciative “thank you” responses on positive reviews to sincere, professional, and courteous responses on negative reviews, your review engagement can help shape your image among users and significantly heighten your communication with your audiences.
For more insight into boosting visibility through your listings, check out our Definitive Guide to Business Listings Management.
Website
Last on this list, but certainly not least, is your website. Next to your business listings, your website is arguably the most important tool for digitally communicating your messages to your audience.
The majority of internet users check out the website of a business they are interested in buying from or partnering with. It’s important they know who they are dealing with and understand what the company offers. Your website should provide a well-rounded picture of who you are, what you do, and what the customer can expect after choosing you.
Depending on your business or organization, as well as the type of website you want or already have, your website can display a variety of pages for optimized communication.
Common types of websites businesses and organizations use:
- E-commerce
- Business
- Nonprofit
- Educational
Common communication-focused pages that businesses and organizations feature:
- Homepage
- About page
- Service pages
- Industries pages
- Product pages
- Contact page
- Blog
Why Are Blogs Important?
It’s no secret that content is king. As a result, you need to have fresh content on your blog to serve your customers, leads, and relevant audiences. An up-to-date blog with fresh, new articles allows you to create online resources and establish yourself as an authority to those who are visiting your website.
Plus, your blog boosts your rankings on search engines like Google. It significantly improves your SEO, allowing you to improve your communication with users searching for businesses just like yours.
There’s so much to think about when it comes to your website. For the best guidance, check out our Definitive Guide to Web Design.
When Should You Communicate Digitally?
The simple answer is, “As often as possible.” Consistency matters because the phrase “out of sight, out of mind” rings so true in today’s digital landscape. How many times have you seen a social media post from a new company or come across a new company in a Google search but never encounter anything from them again?
With so many companies using the most effective digital tools to improve communication with their customers and audiences, it can be easy to get lost in the shuffle if you are not staying consistent with your own communication efforts.
You should present your company to your market often and only when you can provide a superior message—think quality and quantity, not one or the other.
It’s essential to find a communication rhythm that is effective for your business, where you provide a quality message on a routine basis.
This probably sounds daunting, especially if you want to communicate through your social media platforms, email marketing, business listings management, and your website and blog. However, creating and maintaining a strategy for each will help keep you on track as you enhance your communication with your audience.
Audience Communication Can Be Tricky to Navigate. Optimize Your Journey to Better Communication With Help From M&R.
If you’re ready to establish a communication strategy but can’t find the time in your schedule to create or maintain it, the in-house copywriters and digital strategists at M&R Marketing are ready to help you out.
Our agency specializes in developing communication strategies for clients and maintaining an active schedule for social media ads and page management, email marketing, blog development and management, and more. Our marketing management services ensure someone is consistently and accurately communicating your brand to your target market.
Let’s Chat: Call Us at 478-621-4491 or email us at hey@mandr-group.com!
Did you love this article? Then sign up for our monthly eNewsletter so you never miss one.
Detailed Marketing Deets
Want some profound insight into all things marketing? Check out our Definitive Guide Series for detailed information, tips, and advice regarding: