By Manoshi Banerjee, PR manager, Entourage, Marketing & Events
I chose comms as a profession not despite being an introvert but because of it. Being an introvert taught me to communicate only when necessary, to be concise and effective, layout the facts and use logic behind reasoning. As an introvert, I seldom go on ranting about my point of view without having the audience for it or making sense. Growing up, it never made sense to me why people spoke so much. I always wondered: How do they string all their thoughts together? Now, as a professional, I use everything that being an introvert has taught me and channel it into my work.
In the past decade, the channels of communications have diversified extensively, there are too many brand touchpoints, audience segmentation and preferences are hard to keep track of, constant and consistent dialogue is important, and you have to be on top of all this while staying true to brand values. There are so many interlinked and complex factors that need to be considered before putting out a single piece of content. The lines have blurred between content channels, PR, social media, digital and influencer marketing, SEO… the list goes on. There are overlaps and overlays to reach the relevant audience in the right place at the right time, and with the right message to capture their attention. We have built journeys through experience to convert potential customers to actual customers, right down to publishing time and platform. In the hullabaloo of all this, one thing still stands out to me: the role of effective communication.
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Irrespective of the channel and audience, the message you drive makes all the difference. Know your audience, understand the language they speak, find out what resonates with them and how they consume content, then build a relationship. It’s quite simple: From the relevance of the narrative to the people you are talking to, to the channels you use to communicate, everything needs to be mapped out to actually make an impact and for the brand to find its own space in the minds of customers.
Today, most content is consumed digitally, whether it is an article, a social media post or a digital ad. People use multiple channels simultaneously and follow their interests. Channels are not shy of each other anymore, and what we say in a long-format content piece can very well be expressed in short-format content pieces. It all depends on how you make your content stand out. Solution: ask the right questions to get the right answers, and be the means to the end. Are you talking about something people need? Is your product or service making things more streamlined for the customer? How is it bringing value?
In simple economics of demand and supply, there is supply because there is demand, there is a product because customers want it. If there isn’t, then we need to create the demand by communicating the value and the need. For example, marketplaces and social channels have become a haven for small businesses. Showcasing products, finding relevant audiences and selling directly on the platforms have been made easy. This has given a major boost to young entrepreneurs and side-business owners to diversify revenue streams and pursue their passions. But what they may not be aware of is that there are solution providers like WizShops.com that will create a fully functional e-commerce website for them, integrating all requirements. There is a clear need and a simple solution available, and communications will play the role of connecting the dots between the two. Showing the features relevant to the need of the customer, tapping into the benefits and values, creating demand for the managed e-commerce solutions provider.
Marketing and communications professionals have found a way to optimise everything with keywords, rankings, user experience, best practices, benchmarking and the works. Each blog, article, press release, interview, post, tweet, video or piece of sponsored content is published with the intent of attracting and engaging the audience. But consumption and readership and impressions are all still influenced by what the user wants. We can tick all the boxes on our checklist and still not see results, maybe because we did not ask the right questions. We are not what they are looking for or, more often than not, the content is not direct. Building a story and beating around the bush are completely different from one and other. Circling back to my main argument, that is the need for and importance of effective communications.
