If your company is like most, you know that communicating with your customer groups is crucial but doing it regularly is a challenge. You may have large gaps between blog posts and newsletters — or maybe it’s just not getting done at all.
You’re not alone. Sixty-two percent of businesses have a blog or want one but only 9% employ a full-time blogger. And just 36% of B2B marketers say they are effective at content marketing.
Start-and-stop communication is not only slowing your business’ growth, it’s also actively hurting your bottom line. To turn the pattern around, it’s important to understand the root cause of the issue.
Consequences of start-stop communications
Chris Garrett suggests that “raising and dashing expectations” is simply bad for business and can look like you are actually avoiding your prospects.
That start-stop communication also causes
- missed sales opportunities. In B2B marketing, sales cycles are typically months or years long. Regularly touching base with your prospects shows that you’re paying attention to them and that you’re available to them no matter where they are in the sales funnel.
- customers to seek out your competitors. When you go silent, your customers will go elsewhere. Even if they’ve done business with you before, if you’re not staying top of mind, they may forget that you are an expert in your field and lose touch with what you can offer them. This leaves room for your talkative competitor to come in and steal the show.
- a loss of trust in you as a thought leader. Your silence undermines your thought leadership and can make you seem unpredictable. Since you are creating content to establish your credibility and your role as a thought leader, lack of trust in that leadership can turn prospects away.
Schedule a quick, 15-minute phone consultation with Marketing Expert Marc Dube at your convenience.
You will meet with an actual person who will personally analyze your current communications and offer suggestions on how to fix them.
Diagnosis of irregular communication
Before we can start talking about how to fix irregular communication, we’ve got to understand why it’s been happening in the first place. To get an idea of where the problem area is, ask yourself these three simple questions:
- Do I have a written communication plan and editorial calendar?
- Do I have willing hands but lack tools and software to actually get the job done?
- Do I have ideas but not the time and resources to actually create communications and blog posts?
Treatment
After identifying what is preventing you from getting your communications off the ground, you can start to plug the holes and make your content work for you. Here are some suggestions:
- Make sure that you have a working communication plan. According to the Content Marketing Institute, only 32% of businesses have a documented content strategy. An editorial calendar is a great starting point. Don’t know how to create one? Find a template here.
- Seek technology that will help you automate posts and sends. There are many available tools for streamlining this process. (We’ve noted a few great places to start here.)
- If resources just aren’t there, consider outsourcing to a trusted partner. If you know you have things to say but you just can’t seem to set the time aside to do it, an outside eye can help you capture your story and delight your prospects without burdening your team.
The number-one rule in relationships is communication. That’s how trust, respect, and reputations are built. Knowing that you need to engage your current and prospective clients is part of the battle. Actually getting it done is how you win the war.
At Active Blogs, we know how important your story is to your prospects. If you’re ready to ditch the stop-and-go posting, we’re ready to take the reins and reconnect you with your prospects — consistently.
