Starting and maintaining a successful business is no easy task.
You may be able to start with a great concept, product or service that is designed to fulfill your customer’s need, but the key is to effectively communicate and entice your customers through the right external communication strategies. At Konnect Agency, a Los Angeles public relations agency, we understand the importance of differentiating yourself from other companies and competitors. As markets continue to become oversaturated, we help you to focus on creating effective and unique communication strategies that align with your company goals. Establishing your “unique selling proposition” will help define your intended audience, form the foundation of the brand’s identity, create future marketing campaigns and assist in any external communication to improve overall business performance.
What is external communication, and why is it important?
External communication strategies are the company’s communication efforts outside your organization. It is an important part of your overall branding as it helps shape the brand narrative and is used to capture the attention of potential customers. These methods typically include email newsletters, press releases, reputation management, employee advocacy, customer communications, speaking engagements and presentations to shareholders. These strategies are designed to attract and initiate a conversation with customers, partners and suppliers to conduct profitable business transactions. Needless to say, it’s important to know how to reach your key audience to have an effective external communication strategy.
Improving your external communication
There’s one rule here: Know your audience and establish your unique tone and voice. How do you want people to engage, remember and talk about your brand? The foundation of any good external communications strategy is knowing how to resonate with the target audience. Before you can decide how you want to deliver your content or messages, it’s important to know how to speak your audience’s language. Give your communications a tone and personality. The more you know about each segment, the easier it will be to create engaging and intuitive campaigns and generate profitable transactions.
Choose the appropriate platforms
Once you master the brand identity and know the target audience, you’ll be able to start thinking about the platforms you can use to amplify your message. The two main factors to consider are where the audiences spend the most time and where you’ll be able to communicate with them. Most of the best external communication strategies take an omnichannel approach, establishing connections through digital marketing and public relation strategies designed specifically for your company. Remember, there is no one-size-fits-all strategy. The majority of strategies will include anything from social media, advertisements and press releases. Though it is not a new concept, email-marketing is still highly effective with its marking return on investment. Choosing the right platform for your needs will depend on your brand and whom you’re trying to reach.
Give your message value
No matter what industry you’re in or what type of business you run, it’s important not to overlook the benefits of a good external communication strategy. Oftentimes organizations see external communications as a way to plaster their name everywhere with no real thought. Though it is getting the company name and product services out there, that doesn’t mean it is creating a positive experience or generating a profitable return. A well-thought-out plan will deliver value with each message that is communicated, allowing stronger results to grow from it. It is also good to note that sounding like a sales pitch in every communication effort will not do the brand much good. Segment your audiences, find out what matters to them and deliver the best value your company possibly can. Remember, a good communication strategy helps build brand awareness and gives you an avenue for long-term relationships with the people outside of your company, helping to increase your return on investment. Find ways to get audiences excited when new services, materials, products come from your company.
How to utilize ROI data
Return on investment calculations provide numerous advantages. This data gives you and your shareholders valuable insight that can be utilized to see potential areas of growth, underperforming areas and advance your marketing strategy. One of the most obvious insights gained from return on investment measurements is where you should be spending your money and where you may need to pivot.
A common misconception about return on investment is that it only focuses on revenue. Though that is extremely important, it doesn’t necessarily have to focus solely on revenue. For example, if you’re trying to boost your social media following, you can calculate return on investment to determine the success of your efforts. Other important business decisions can be made based on return on investment calculations such as purchasing a new tool, hiring new employees, adding new departments, sales strategies and services.
ROI and Marketing
In addition, return on investment calculations can be especially beneficial for marketing. The objective of marketing is to get the word out about your product or service effectively. These efforts have a direct impact on the success of sales. However, calculating the return on investment for marketing may be a little more complex. Some helpful tools would be Google Analytics and CRM software. Both are essential for marketing strategies and measuring the success of certain initiatives. Google Analytics allows you to view organic online traffic and campaign performance. Analyzing data about your digital audience gives valuable insight on what is working, and adjustments need to be made to improve profitability.
Using CRM software helps businesses maintain healthy relationships with customers by streamlining interaction and gathering important customer data. This information helps companies determine if a sales or marketing strategy is yielding results.
Final thoughts
External communications do not only fall on the shoulders of marketing or communications teams; they also come from all departments and play a key role in the success of a company. Providing consistent valuable information, establishing a unique brand identity and analyzing data insights on the return on investment will give paramount information to executives. It gives a clear indication of the company’s success and the direction it is heading.
-Crystal Robbins