You already know that the internet is a fantastic platform for customer outreach and brand building, but have you stopped to really consider the most powerful messages you could be sending? If you think about those, and clearly identify the messages you want to send, then you become much more effective. Your various efforts, be they on your blog, or on various social media outlets, begin to work together much more seamlessly. Here are five of the most powerful things you can tell your customers and future customers online, and why they’re so important.
We Do
Messaging should never be about negativity. Don’t tell a customer or future customer what you cannot, or will not do. Tell them what you can and will do. When you’re describing your products and defining your brand, you need to be compelling. Your words need to convey a sense of action, of motion. The best recent example I can think of to cover this is the phrase “There’s an App for that.” That’s a really powerful phrase, it translates to, whatever the customer’s desire, our answer is, yes, we do that. There’s an app for that. You can use your device the way you want to. With a message like that, who wouldn’t want to buy in?
You Can
Hand in hand with “we do,” is “you can,” and that’s the beauty of the “There’s an App for that” phrase, because it encompasses both of these messages at once. The important thing about the “you can” message is that you want them to know that you’ve created an empowering technology. Something that enables them to do things that they were never able to do before. Do you love to read but don’t feel like toting around the three books you’re working on this week? You can do that with our tablet. Let us show you how easy it is.
Do you travel a lot but get lost easily and want to have access to mapquest, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, wherever you are? You can, and we’ll show you how. Anything the consumer wants to do, demonstrate how your product will empower them to do that. Of course, it’s not always possible, depending on exactly what you’re selling, but the more that it is possible, the more powerful your message will be.
We’re On It
Much support desk communication occurs via digital channels, with email communication being the most common means of getting in touch. This message is important when things go wrong, because customers don’t want to feel like they’ve opened a support ticket and the moment they did so, it promptly fell into a black hole, from which no light or support tickets ever escape. Rather, what they want is a reply that says, “we’re on it, here’s what we’re doing to fix it, and here’s how long it will take.” You would be amazed how far this kind of communication goes.
You’re Invited
Everyone loves exclusivity. Everyone loves to be in the in-crowd. To get the exclusive, backstage pass and peer behind the curtain. You want to do that as much as you possibly can in your online communications.
It doesn’t stop with just that, however. Make other sorts of invitations as well. Invite them to tell their story in a way that makes your brand a part of that story. Again, the best modern example of that is the iPhone commercial that simply shows people all over the world connecting. A girl crying about a breakup to her mother on the iPhone. Separated by miles, but still face to face. A family playing in the yard with their small children, beaming the pictures in real time to grandparents several states away. Their stories. Your tech. That’s how you get remembered, and you don’t have to rely on TV commercials to do that. You can do it in your regular messaging via social media channels.
What’s Next?
Just as everyone loves exclusivity, everybody loves anticipation and momentum. While they’re using the current model of your product, they want to hear what’s in store for them with your next version. They want to know the ideas you’re kicking around. The possibilities for the future. That’s what keeps people excited, and that’s what keeps them coming back.
Are you sending powerful messages to your customers and future customers? If not, why not?