Many modern businesspeople spend about as much time with their online customers as they do with their terrestrial clientele. International trade has become commonplace—after all, the Internet allows even the smallest companies access to a worldwide consumer base. Online business communications, however, are very different than traditional face-to-face meetings: there's no nonverbal language and no eye contact. Email may be convenient, but it often lacks the presence found in traditional paper mailers.
The concept is simple: you need to form the same type of bond with your online customers as you do with your local clients. Unfortunately, turning your digital dreams into a tidy profit can be tricky. It's much easier to create a trusting bond with someone if you encounter that person face to face. Emails are pretty, but they don't convey the same personality.
Thankfully, there are a number of clever communication techniques you can use to make your presence felt internationally as well as locally. The very first is social media—in other words, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and similar sites. The social media approach is especially productive for two main reasons:
- You expose your brand or company to millions of connected individuals on a daily basis via business communications.
- Recent studies show that consumers are more likely to choose one brand over another if their friends recommend it—even if they do so electronically on Facebook.
Business communications on Facebook can be particularly effective if you already know who your target audience is. You simply create a company page, develop an advertising campaign, set your budget, and choose where you'd like your ads to appear. After that, you sit back, watch your likes increase in number, and plan the next stage of your social media campaign.
The overall idea behind social business communication is to be seen out and about in the online community. Keeping up appearances depends upon your ability to keep your followers entertained, well informed, and enthusiastic about your brand. If you can sell yourself to an Internet consumer base and become a regular, welcome presence in their lives, you can build warm, friendly relationships with many clients at a time.
Email newsletters can be hit or miss too. Newsletters are a great form of business communication if you tailor them to your audience; monitor results with a dedicated service like MailChimp, and provide potential customers with valuable information. If individuals on your mailing list see your newsletter as an asset, they are likely to continue opening emails from your company. If you remain familiar, you're much more likely to gain a sale.
In the Internet era, business communications are a paradox. You can reach your client base easily via email or social media, but it can feel much less personal. If you use these communication techniques, however, you can make your business-client connections stronger and more effective—even if your customers are half a world away.
(Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)
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