It’s fair to say that few, if any, companies—or their communication staff—were prepared to respond quickly and appropriately to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. As millions of employees suddenly found themselves working remotely from their homes and millions of customers found themselves suddenly shut off from the companies and brands they typically engaged with, communication professionals began grappling with important questions, including the following: (more…)
Archive for the ‘Customer Communication’ Category
Communication Lessons From COVID That Will Last Long Past the Pandemic
Saturday, December 19th, 2020Content IS King – Regardless of Who Said It!
Tuesday, November 24th, 2020While there’s a debate about where the phrase “content is king” originally emerged, Bill Gates is widely given credit for the phrase and wrote what Fox Business calls a “remarkably prescient piece” back in 1996 in which he “accurately foresaw the content boom years before Google, WordPress, Facebook and YouTube even existed.” The rest, of course, is history.
Organizations of all kinds have jumped on the content bandwagon, recognizing that the trusted relationships they have with patients puts them in a prime position to share content on a wide range of topics of interest to, and representing value for, their audiences. (more…)
Communication Best Practices Learned From COVID-19
Wednesday, November 11th, 2020It’s fair to say that few, if any companies—or their communication staff—were prepared to respond quickly and appropriately to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, a pandemic that has swept the world and decimated lives and economies.
As millions of employees suddenly found themselves working remotely from their homes and millions of customers found themselves suddenly shut off from the companies and brands they typically engaged with, communication professionals found themselves grappling with important questions:
- How do we continue to communicate with a suddenly dispersed audience?
- How do we find the right balance between standard key messages and the need to address the ravages of the virus for employees, customers and the community at large?
- How do we strike the tone—certainly not too flippant, but also not too alarmist?
There have been some important communication lessons to be learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. We asked content marketers to share their key takeaways—what has worked well for them, what hasn’t, and how the experience will shape their communications for months, maybe years, to come. (more…)
The 3 C’s of Marketing and STP: How they Align
Thursday, October 29th, 2020
Email Subject Lines: It’s Not Rocket Science, But It Is Important
Monday, October 26th, 2020Like many things we see all of the time, email subject lines are easy to overlook, especially when drafting them. Too often, though, copywriters, content marketers, and others fail to give enough thought to their email subject lines. They’re an afterthought. Something quickly thrown together and easily overlooked, not only by those writing them but those seeing them in their email inboxes! And that’s the problem.
Fail to pay enough attention to your email subject lines and your audience will too. (more…)
Why You Should Seek Employee Feedback Before Customer Feedback
Tuesday, June 23rd, 2020It’s quite common for companies and their marketers to seek feedback from customers about their products and services. But there’s another group whose feedback should also be considered. In fact, it should be considered before seeking customer feedback.
Marketing During, and After, the Pandemic
Friday, June 19th, 2020As businesses slowly begin to open back up, many find themselves doing business far differently than they may have before the pandemic. Safety is top of mind. Not all customers feel comfortable at this point, interacting in person with the businesses they may have frequented without fear in the past. That means for many companies, a combination of in-store/in-person and online or socially distanced interactions. Many are operating on the fly, figuring things out as they go. But now may be an excellent time to take a step back and update, or create, a marketing plan to help you move forward more strategically.
Here’s some advice for doing just that: (more…)
This is Not the Time for Blatant Sales Pitches, But Don’t Lose Touch!
Tuesday, April 14th, 2020
Our Advice: Yes, But…
How Are You Doing?
Wednesday, April 8th, 2020
Every Employee a Brand Ambassador: A Message for Healthcare Providers (and others)
Thursday, October 10th, 2019Think your clinical staff members—primarily doctors and nurses—are the only ones, or the most important ones to impact the patient experience? Think again. Every single one of your employees and volunteers has an opportunity to influence the patient experience while on the job, and off. In fact, every single one of these individuals has the opportunity to influence patients’ choices when they are considering a new provider or care facility.
While on the job, and off. (more…)