By Christina Códova-Herrera
Proactive communication is not only a way to keep your customers engaged, but it’s also a way to keep them informed. By approaching your communications strategy proactively, you will be more prepared when there are communications issues you can address right away. Here are five ways to engage your customers through proactive communications.
Keep them informed As communicators, we sometimes feel that we are oversharing a lot about our organizations, but the reality is that we’re not sharing enough. As shown through our customers following and connecting with us on social channels, they want to connect with us in different manners. They want to see our day to day and learn more about our work and our staff; it humanizes us. Through your proactive strategies in connecting a new way and sharing the internal workings of the organization, more customers will identify themselves with you. You will no longer be just an organization; you’ll be an organization they trust.
Trust builds loyalty
The more trust customers have with your organization the more loyal they become. They will understand your reasoning for a certain program and why you support it more than those that are less connected. They will turn into your most trusted external advocates because they believe in your work. This is critical for cause-related campaigns because you need more people taking action. The more people that take action the more impact your campaign will have.
Added value
By providing additional information you wouldn’t normally share, your customer will find more value in your messages. They will continue to stay connected to your message and have added value to being affiliated with your organization. This added value is another piece to your customer being an advocate for your organization helping share information with others that could potentially be other advocates.
Two-way communication This more open and continuous communication encourages more feedback and response from your customers. This is one of the reasons social channels are great at connecting with your customers. Social channels opened up two-way communication that was non-existent before. This new way to communicate has continued to build more engaging and meaningful connections with customers.
Honest communication
Because customers are more engaged and trust that organizations are truly listening and caring about what they think, they are more prone to let you know when something is wrong. They will be the first to alert you and support you when issues arise. As we’ve seen on Twitter, and whenever negative press appears, the Tweets and comments that follow from passionate customers are genuinely remarkable. Of course, an organization should respond to any crisis quickly, but it’s better when you know your customers have got your back.
Crisis prevention
Because you’re informing your customers constantly, they won’t be surprised by your new campaign. They will be aware something new is coming and will be more likely to be on board during the launch. These are added benefits that would reduce negative feedback and will increase advocacy among your customers.
Reactive communication can feel like you’re always a step behind. Thinking through possible scenarios and creating processes and protocols to address them will support your proactive communications strategy. Your preparedness will show in the messages you share with your customers. These are five great ways that proactive communications will help your organization and continue to build your customer base.
Source: Workshop Team (2017, December). 5 ways to engage in proactive communication. Retrieved from: https://www.workshopdigital.com/blog/5-easy-ways-engage-proactive-communication/