Communication is a hard thing to do, communication on the internet is even harder, and it becomes even more difficult to do it as a brand and not as an individual. If you have a message and want it to be heard by most people, you have to follow certain rules.
If you are too aggressive, too loud, or too soft and not clear enough, you won’t get the kind of attention you’re looking for. You have to be careful with the kind of tone and language that you’re using because you don’t want to offend anyone and lose potential customers.
In these times of internet scams, fake news, and disinformation, it’s not a smart business decision to get involved in political debate, or any illegal activities, so be careful to whom you give your support.
I mean, as an individual you can do whatever you want, but just don’t drag your brand into it, unless you don’t mind losing half of your customers. Very big names in various industries have lost everything because of one wrong post on Facebook or one wrong image on Instagram.
But not only that, if you earn a reputation for bad customer service or as a brand that doesn’t care about its customers, you’re doomed. If you have too many bad reviews on Google or any other place, people will notice and they won’t do any business with you anymore.
The most important rule is that, if you want to send a message effectively, you have to go through the whole cycle of communication. First, you send a message, then you listen for a response (repeat as many times as needed). It sounds simple and silly, but I assure you it is not.
You can say anything you want or almost anything, and repeat it as many times as you want to get your message through, but you also have to listen. Any effective conversation works this way, or else it becomes a monologue.
An exchange of information can only occur if you follow these simple steps, and as a brand, we must do so. Everybody is already doing the first part, that’s easy, but the tricky part is to actually listen to what people are telling you like we have said so many times.
Most of the time people just want to be heard, they don’t want to take advantage of you, they just want to get the kind of service they deserve. I agree that some people make the most ridiculous requests just to see if they can get away with it, but most are not like that.
Basic stuff like this is frequently taken for granted, and that’s when the problems start. It may sound funny, but it is true. Keep in mind this is not a monologue and it is not a discussion, it’s a dialog, and dialogs have two parts. So, if you want your message to be heard and you want to be able to say anything you want, you also have to listen.
Old Dog Digital 