Earlier this summer, CIO Magazine ran an article covering the Red Cross’s expanded use of Twitter and Facebook to communicate with victims during disaster emergencies. It’s a classic example of the importance of meeting your customers where they’re at.
How the Red Cross improved their communication
After the earthquake in Haiti in 2010, the primary channels that survivors used to communicate with the Red Cross and with their loved ones were social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter.
The Red Cross could have ignored this information and continued to communicate via traditional channels, but instead they saw the benefit of communicating with customers on their own terms. By monitoring Twitter and Facebook feeds during a disaster, the Red Cross is able to identify emergency zones, locate missing loved ones, and offer emotional support to those in crisis.
How are your customers trying to communicate with you?
Keeping your business afloat during tough economic times requires flexibility. Are you resisting the social media trend because you don’t understand it? You might be missing out on a deeper relationship with your customers.
Today’s consumers communicate on a variety of channels—some for personal relationships, some for business, and some for interacting with brands and companies. Your job as a small business owner is to find out where your current and potential customers are hanging out and how they want to communicate with you.
How well do you know your customers?
A study by Forrester Consulting found that less than half of marketers know which channels their customers prefer for receiving marketing offers. The study also found that marketers with a better grasp on their customers’ preferred channels received a greater return on investment from their multichannel campaigns.
Do you know how your customers prefer to be contacted? If not, now is the time to find out. If you don’t know and respect your customers’ communication styles, you could be alienating them without realizing it.
Minneapolis Marketing Firm
Do you want to communicate better with your customers online? Snap Agency offers marketing strategy, social media management, email newsletter services, and other online marketing solutions for small business. Give us a call at (763) 548-2297 to learn more, or contact us online. Snap Agency is a Minneapolis marketing firm that helps businesses grow through the power of the Internet.
Image Credit: Dennis Drenner/American Red Cross
