Whether you need to inform your current customers about a software bug fix, let potential clients know about an upcoming special or alert the news industry about a corporate milestone or award, getting the information to your audience is of utmost importance. While you may already be familiar with communication procedures such as press releases or faxes, there are other successful ways to capture your target audience’s attention.
Email Newsletter
Send out email newsletters to reach customers who prefer to conduct all their correspondence and research through email and the Internet. While hard-copy newsletters have long been a staple of corporate communications, adding email newsletters to your communications artillery may give you a way to reach these "online only" clients. An email newsletter is similar to a hard-copy one; it includes late-breaking information about your company, product or service and leads to a call to action. Whether your target readers contact your sales department, fill out a survey or request more information, they can do it directly through an email newsletter. You can take advantage of a number of software programs to help you create email newsletters, from layout programs such as Microsoft Front Page and Adobe InDesign, to graphics software such as Photoshop, Paint and SnagIt to help you create eye-grabbing images for the newsletter. Through use of HTML links, you can create a way for readers to "go further"--they read an article snippet in the email newsletter, then click a link, which transports them to your website or a full-text article on the Internet.
Calendar Cards
Send postcards to customers. One goal of corporate communication is to "get the company’s name out" and keep it in front of the current or potential customer. While it may seem like the only time you’re communicating with a customer is by sending a bill or filling an order, you can do much more to keep the lines of communication open. One option is to create a set of cards to mail throughout the year. Postcards are an inexpensive option (they cost less to mail than a standard note card) and can be quickly altered to feature a different design for the calendar month. Examples include a January postcard that says "We can’t wait to start the new year with you as our customer;" in February "Having your business is sweet;" or March "We feel as lucky as the Irish to have you as our customer." Sending calendar cards keeps your name in front of the client, opens a dialog and may make the customer feel valued.
Blog
Create a corporate blog. Coined from the words "web log," a blog is an option for your highest-level employees to communicate with both lower-chain staffers and customers. Although it may seem like the Internet is stuffed with blogs of everyone from stay-at-home mothers writing about their toddler’s day-to-day activities to political candidates slinging mud, a well-crafted blog can be a significant addition to your corporate communications strategy. While some blogs are like diaries, your corporate blog can be a way to share information, such as new product releases, staffing changes, office expansion and future planning. A blog coming from your chief executive officer or highest-level employee would have the most credibility, but blogs may be easily ghostwritten (the words are crafted by another writer under the blog owner’s name) in a pinch. Additions to your blog may be made on a recurring basis, such as weekly or monthly, or any time something newsworthy occurs.
Tags: email newsletters, corporate blog, corporate communications, email newsletter, help create