Digital Communication

The digital world we are living in is ever-evolving and is growing bigger, faster and more powerful with each passing day. Human interactions and communications have also seen a gradual evolution with the advent of digital channels and social media. Distances are closing in at a rapid pace. The same is relevant to businesses as well.

Importance of Digital communication

Businesses need to prioritize digital communications as it is where the customers are, both existing and potential. It is only with effective communications, can you even go to the people to sell your product or service.

As per the Global Digital Report, there are 4.388 billion internet users in 2019. That is a 9.1% spike than a year before.  The number is internet users is almost half of the world population that stands at 7.676 billion. The number of active social media users stands at 3.484 billion globally.

Digital communication helps you reach more people both locally and globally at a much lower cost compared to traditional means. Apart from enabling you to distribute the content which has the potential of going viral with no added cost, you could personalize your content based on your customers’ demographics and interests. If you are keen on your business growth, you cannot ignore digital communication.

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Need for Digital Communication strategy

Any business owner or company needs to have a digital communication strategy in place to grow their business. It also helps them reach the target audience to acquire new customers and retain old ones. The statistics we mentioned above prove the point that the customers are there in the digital world and it is for you to go there.

To help you identify your marketing goals, we have jotted some sample questions you may want to ask:

  • Are you in need of new investors for your business?
  • Do you need to communicate with your customers as you manage through a crisis? 
  • Are you losing market share to a competitor? 
  • Do you need to keep your brand ‘top of mind’ due to new competitors in your market? 

You can formulate and implement a strong digital strategy with the answers to these questions.

Developing a successful digital communication strategy

Here on this blog, we give you the steps you could follow to chart out your digital strategy as well as accommodate it into your current marketing plan.

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1. Define your audience

The most crucial feature of your digital communication strategy is defining your audience. Knowing who your audience is and who are the people you want to communicate with is important. There are numerous ways to define different audiences to reach. You could use surveys, focus groups, customer interviews, etc. to collect data.

With the gathered information, you can develop user personas. Personas are fictional characters that represent your ideal customers or key segment of your target audience. A more in-depth understanding of your different target audiences, their motivations, interests, etc can be derived from this.

Since your customers are placed in the center of your digital communication strategy, a more focused, relevant and highly engaging content can be created for them leading to brand loyalty and ultimately generate revenue.

2. Choose the right digital communications channels

It is easier for you to reach your target audience through the most effective channels once you identify them but blasting your messages through all the various digital channels available, better focus on those that they spend most of their time in. It is cost-efficient and saves time and effort too. There are a few digital communication channels you could consider.

  • Website blog: Though the website itself is a great resource for customers, for you to compete for customers’ attention and for them to engage with you, you need to have a website blog. A blog provides high-quality content that provides value to your customers. Besides the content, you could make do with various tips and tools to drive traffic to your websites like SEO and pay-per-click ads.
  • Email newsletter: It is ideal to update your customers using an eNewsletter, and it could also serve as a good discussion forum to discuss a new or existing product or service your company is offering.
  • Social media: Social media content too is highly relevant to your target audience. You need to make sure to include messages that are interesting or fun, socially important, educational or even news related to your industry or market. Make sure to interact with the community by asking questions or answering their comments. Involve your staff, influencers, and thought leaders in helping you promote your message in social media. Determine which social media platform works best with your target audiences – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
  • Customer Relationship Management: Incorporate a CRM system to help you deliver highly targeted, personalized content at the right time to the right customers. So CRM gives you in-depth data on customers and potential buyers and also gives a clear picture of where they are in the sales funnel. It helps you tailor customer experience and build a valuable relationship with them.

3. Reach your audience

After you have adhered to all the above-mentioned steps, it is time to construct the right message. You need to know what you want to communicate with your customers. Your message should reflect your brand’s story and tone of voice. And it should encourage brand loyalty.

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