What’s the story?
When it comes to building brilliant communications, it is business critical to create a brand narrative that cuts through.
We all invest a lot of time, money and energy in promoting our businesses to new and current customers. Whether it’s through calls, emails, social, newsletters, advertising, every point of contact is your opportunity to tell a great story and be the reason why your company is the first one to ask when the need arises.
Most of us don’t have access to a crack team of marketing specialists to hone our communications but a few simple checks on your next round of newsletters or social messages could be the difference that drives reaction and action.
Be engaging and stand out
Ultimately, you want to engage your audience with a clear and interesting stand out reason. Whether it is an industry communication between suppliers and distributors or from distributors to end users, give them a great reason to open that latest email. One distributor told PM they had received over 400 emails from suppliers in a 48 hr period, filled with compelling promotions and offers. Realistically, they won’t all be read so make your headline count. Sounds simple but unless there is a clear call to action, it’s possible your content might be missed.
Get emotional
Don’t be afraid to put your heart on your sleeve – if your mission and values matter to you in the way you conduct business, say so and its critical if this drives the outcomes too. We respond to positive values and we prefer to do business with people who care. Defining the values that matter to you and help convince a potential customer it matters to them too may need some work to ensure a clear message is conveyed; the impact can be instant and put you and your team front of mind. Not every communication has to be about a product either, tell your customer a story about progress, innovation… anything that delivers impact and triggers the idea is worthwhile especially for end users.
It’s also important to remember for end users, you’re the expert. Whether they are a regular customer or a potential one, they will have a lot less knowledge than you of what is possible when it comes to products and what they could order. Providing new knowledge that could match their values, particularly when it comes to delivering on the sustainable agenda, could land the next order for you.
Be memorable
By standing out and for the right reasons, means you will stand out and be different from the rest. It’s tempting to say your standout memorable point of difference is service or even price but stop and consider first what truly makes you different. The unique points of difference you promote mean you are more likely to be remembered, re-told and gives the answer to every buyer about why they chose you.
Consider your value proposition
Traditionally, we look at a classic features, benefits and experience of products to promote ourselves. To appeal to our customers, we need to take into account their conscious and subconscious wants, fears and needs. What are the rational drivers for purchase? Is there a hidden need? Could there be an emotional driver of the purchase? Is there a risk of switching to your business or product range? What happens if they do nothing as a result of seeing or interacting with your business?
When we are communicating with customers, we’re doing several things; we’re building the ‘brand’ message with them about your company or we’re activating a ‘sell now’ message. The memorable triggers which help influence sales over the long term, priming them emotionally to prefer your business can and should be a part of the communication mix so when you’re ready to push a targeted sales message, it’s more likely to hit home.
PM’s advice on great communications is keep your marketing communications clear, represent your company brilliantly and tell a compelling story about why doing business with you is an excellent idea.
This article is based on a BPMA webinar which took place in January 2023 on Brilliant Communications. Members have access to brand building worksheets and other resources via bpma.co.uk
