Powerful Communication Tools to Get the Word Out

As most business owners know all too well, it is essential to master communications tools if you want to get the word out. Happily, today's digital marketing landscape means that there are ever more accessible and affordable ways in which small businesses can reach their target markets. We take a look at some of the best communication tools available for SMEs.

Newsletters

Most SMEs have a newsletter that they send to prospective and customers and other stakeholders. In the past, these were printed at considerable expense, but today's email marketing technologies mean that businesses can expertly craft professional looking newsletters, send them to a defined list, and then track the opens and overall engagement rate.

The cost of sending these newsletters is affordable and in many cases subscription-based. Online newsletters can link back to the business' website to encourage click-through and onward engagement and conversion. Whether you are sharing news of a product launch, seasonal offer or a message from the CEO, these online channels are a great way to communicate with your audience on a regular basis.

Customer surveys

Customer data, insight and analysis is like gold dust for marketeers. Small businesses can't begin to hope to devise the best possible marketing strategies if they don't have the management information needed for accurate and effective decision making.

Customer surveys are a great way to tap into your customers' thoughts, desires, needs, experiences and more. You can offer a prize to incentivise them and enlist the help of a market research specialist in order to craft your survey. The results will be invaluable when it comes to designing and targeting your next marketing campaign.

Blogs

Blogs allow you to share a regular message with an engaged audience. The trick is to provide rich and valuable content in your field of expertise. So, if you sell lawnmowers, rather than talking endlessly about your product range, you could share expert tips in creating and managing the perfect lawn; give guidance on different seed types; talk about drainage and even touch on wider garden trends.

Of course, you will sometimes link gently to your products, but the primary purpose of a blog is to get communication flowing and to provide content that is of genuine use to the reader, and which keeps your client base 'sticky'.

There are plenty of proven platforms for hosting a blog. These can either be integrated with or linked to from your website and shared via your social media channels for greater reach. Look at technologies such as Wordpress. Just remember that if you start to blog as part of your business' marketing strategy, you must stick to it, or customers will switch off. If you can't stick to a schedule, hire a copywriter to ghost-write it for you.

Vouchers and offers

Sharing special offers, codes and vouchers through social media channels is a great way to spread your message. Attach them to a competition and it may even go viral! Great marketing is all about providing easy ways for customers to refer others to your brand. And digital media is the ideal means by which you can make this happen.