Business Advice

What's Your Story?

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...it is often best to under promise and over deliver. Whilst your story can be aspirational it is best not to let it stray into the realms of fantasy. Your customers do talk and they use the Social Media, too. Bad word of mouth travels fast and far, too.

What do we want them to DO

Every piece of communication should have a purpose and that purpose is best served by signposting it within the communication. Depending on the piece, the action you want may be to prompt the reader to

- read more

- share information...

...with others

- give you feedback

- start a conversation with you

- express an interest in your product or service

- buy

What is possible will depend on the stage you have reached with the reader. Initial communication is about engaging and informing. At a subsequent stage, you may feel able to directly sell to them. Getting this wrong can turn your prospect off. It is always jarring to read a piece of informative writing with a hard sell paragraph at the end. If what you are doing is informing, don't sell but don't make it difficult for the reader to find out how to buy if they want to. Make sure it is always clear how to do business with you.

When you know what you want to say and to whom, you can select the best ways to deliver those messages. Most messages can be delivered across multiple channels. The more the reader chooses to interact with your content, the more you are creating permission to develop your conversation. So mix and match the delivery methods but ensure that the story and the tone are delivered consistently.

Some additional factors to consider

People have different preferences for receiving information with the main preferences being... continued on page four >

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