8 ways to communicate your message to an online audience for maximum effect
May 2, 2008
The typical way that businesses communicate with their audience online leaves much to be desired. Its generally a lot of formulaic sales messages or bland corporate rhetoric. In fact it makes people feel like employees. And since they aren’t on the payroll, they can just turn you off and they do so with great pleasure. Online audiences can engage more deeply than traditional audiences, but they can also disengage at the click of a mouse.To reach a receptive audience, you need to communicate with them in a way that makes the most sense to their reason for being online. Online audiences are searching for information to answer their questions and new forms of entertainment. Knowing that, we can tailor our messages to give them the direct benefits that they are looking for.
At Expertisement.com we have have broken content creation down into 8 main templates. They are as follows:
1) Story telling- Audiences love a good story with its twists and turns, anticipation and resolution. Stories play heavily on metaphor and mental imagery. Stories allow each viewer to add to the imagery with their own thoughts and interpretations, thus making it their own.
2) Public service- Companies are always doing something good for their communities. Public service shows the audience that you share their same concerns. You can use public service to organize around ideas in the online world and in the offline world. Public service features build a positive brand relationship and pave the way for future communications.
3) How to- One of the most common searches online is for information on “how to” do something. Showing someone “how to” do something gives them a direct benefit and opens the doorway to future business. Make your “how to” features complimentary to your business, so the information that you give moves them closer to needing your products or services.
4) Presentations- Convert your powerpoint presentations and public speaking engagements into online media that you can share with the rest of the industry. Presentations are great for positioning yourself as an expert.
5) Interview- Bring in a reporter or show host to ask you questions. The two person dialog is interesting to watch and can make it easier for first-time or less experienced communicators.
6) Infotainment- Make your blatant marketing message fun and exciting to watch. A blender company called Blendtec producers a show called Will it Blend? that showcases their blenders standing up to the challenge of blending iphones, marbles, and even picket signs. What is really smart about what they do is they create a question that people are dying to know the answer to. Everyone wants to see the blender fail, but when it doesn’t, they are awed by it. Its a powerful testimonial to the strength of the equipment. Another brilliant thing they do is tie their shows into current news stories, so they also get picked up in search. The iphone & writers strike episode are great examples of this.
7) Episodic shows- Create a weekly show that people become used to searching out. Or better yet deliver it by RSS. This is a powerful way to build large audiences. You build familiarity to your audience that can segue nicely into sales and other promotions.
Interactive classes- Teach a complex subject that will in turn lower the barrier to future sales. This strategy is great if you have a new concept that your audience isn’t completely familiar with and that lack of knowledge keeps them from buying. You can further enhance your class with interactive elements like comments, forums, phone call-ins and even more advanced means like membership sites. Membership sites can even become a new revenue source, creating continuity income.
However you decide to reach your audience, be sure to offer immediate benefits to them and they will return the favor with sales and word of mouth marketing.
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