When I was in elementary school (a long, long time ago) our teacher wanted to give us a lesson in communication. So she whispered a short and simple phrase to one student and asked him to pass it quietly to the next student and so on, until the message reached the last recipient. You know already how this goes, the last student repeated what she heard out loud, something that was now totally distorted and unrecognizable from the original message.
So….to the point! With each new person/communication channel you involve your message becomes both less effective and more expensive. Realistically, in large corporate environments the boss cannot write all of the copy and approve all of the marketing collateral. So here are a few thoughts to consider.
1. You don’t control the message. In today’s consumer generated media environment you DO NOT control your message, your employees, customers, competitors, target audiences and others do. So….simplify your messaging, make it succinct, easily communicable and tie it to your most critical core business values e.g. quality, value, responsiveness – preferable pick one or two at most.
2. Making the most of your online presence. Make sure that your core messages are evident in your online presence. Are you seen e.g. is your site search engine friendly, optimized for maximum traffic? Did you let your marketing staff write your copy without review from those who really understand and work with your services/products? Are you taking advantage of other social media outlets to promulgate your message?
3. Brand Identity. Is your branding consistent with your messaging? Does it really reflect who you are and what you do? Do you convey your brand identity to your employees, customers, competitors and target audiences? Tip: We are talking about more than just colors and collateral here.
4. Networking. I am not talking about online, but rather, old-fashioned one on one connections. I still think there is no better way to make a connection than to sit down with a person and listen. Maximize your time and resources by identifying networking opportunities that are best suited to your particular business needs – you may have to experiment a bit.
Our core belief is that at the end of the day, the more communication layers you add the greater the likelihood of ending up with a distorted and unrecognizable message – similar to the one in my elementary school communication lesson.
Follow me on Twitter! @TurckLLC
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