How to Develop A 5 Step Customer Communication Strategy
Communication is the key to create great customer relationships. You must know what to say and when to say it. Use this customer communication strategy!
Hi Trish Davies here and today I want to focus on how you communicate with your customers. The relationship you have with your customers is no different to any relationship. Every hinges on clear and concise communication.
That task is somewhat harder when you are doing it virtually through your content marketing. There are many different mediums and formats that you can use but you must know what to use and when to use it.
What you must understand is that your customer starts a journey with you. Initially they are cold when they come into contact with you. You must raise their temperature so that they progress on their journey, so they become warm, then piping hot.
Therefore, you must create a customer communication strategy to act as that thermometer. You must get that mercury rising through the messaging that you put out there.
My objective for today is to give you some insights on how to create your customer communication strategy. In reality there are 5 steps that you must take your customer through so that they become a loyal and raving fan.
What I will do today is lay out the 5 steps and the context for each one. Then I will give you some ideas on what formats and mediums you should be using to gain maximum effect.
The 5 Steps To A Customer Communication Strategy
As I have mentioned there are 5 steps to this customer communication strategy. On each step your messaging will change and is designed to make them take that next step on the journey.
Call it encouragement, call it persuasion but your objective is to get them to make the next commitment. Here are the 5 stages, or states, that your customer is in.
- Unaware
- Unengaged
- Lead/Prospect
- Customer
- Raving Fan
Unaware
At this stage your target markets are totally unare of who you are, what you do and how you can help. Usually, they are aware of the problems they are facing and are looking for solutions. Sometimes they are not even aware they have a problem; I know that sounds hard to believe but in realty this happens.
Therefore, your communications with them must address this unawareness state of mind. Share your story, your experiences and the obstacles that you have overcome. This helps to start creating connection with your target market. You become real in their eyes and someone they want to find out more about.
Now in this step the content formats you use are as follows.
- Blog Posts
- Videos
- Social Updates
- Images & Photographs
Unengaged
In this step you must leverage the fact you have created awareness in your target market. This means you message must instil the desire for your target market to engage with you.
Engagement encompasses responding to comments and questions that your target makes. Encourage them with a call to action to get in touch which then starts a conversation and nudges them to make their first concrete commitment. That commitment is becoming a lead or prospect.
To generate that commitment, you must have within your content a strong call to action. That call to action, or CTA, is where you instruct them to check out an offer you have. To receive that offer they must leave their contact details such as name and email address.
The awareness and engagement steps are very closely linked. Therefore, you will use the same formats and mediums as previously mentioned.
Lead/Prospect
Your goal and objective from this point is to convert your lead/prospect into a paying customer. Therefore, your messaging changes to showcase what your products and services can do to help your lead/prospect.
Here you want to highlight your products and services through previous customer stories. Show how your products and services have transformed their lives. Maybe offer a product demo say through a video.
You can also show how your products and services compare to others on the market. Emphasise why your products and services are superior and why your lead/prospect should buy from you.
Here the content formats change. You have a captive audience now because they are on your data base within different platforms as the following illustrates.
- Email Marketing
- Instant Messaging
- Private Groups & Communities
Your sole objective ion this stage is to activate new buyers. You want them to hit the buy now button and register their payment details.
Customer
The shift from lead/prospect to customer is huge, even if it is only initially a low ticket product. When you achieve this, you have shifted the mindset of the person who initially became in contact with you.
You have developed that relationship. Your customer now knows who your are, they like you, they trust you. It is far easier to sell to existing customers than what happens in the first two stages.
Your objectives here are quite simple. You want to ascend your customers to other products and services that you have. Customer retention is key here because you want to instil loyalty within your customers mind to you.
This stage is very similar to the previous one where you are trying to convert your leads and prospects. You will be using similar language; the difference is your will be promoting higher ticket products and services.
Use the same strategies by showcasing previous customer transformations. Use product demos, product comparisons, you could even offer loyalty discounts. Always have the customers needs forefront in your mind, you are there to serve them and to help them transition.
The content formats are the same as the previous step.
Raving Fan
This is the ultimate step you want to take your customer on in their journey with you. Word of mouth marketing is still one of the most powerful ways to grow your business. Whether it is in person or virtually online you want your customers endorsement and for that endorsement to be made public.
Ask your customers for a testimonial that you can place on your online platforms. Encourage them to leave their reviews on your social platforms and independent review platforms.
There is nothing wrong with incentivising your customers if you do it the correct way. Maybe offer special deals or loyalty bonuses when they expose you to their circle of influence. Their family, friends and associates.
You can also invite them into a referral program, sometimes referred to as an affiliate program. Here you offer monetary incentives in the form of commissions when they promote your products.
If you have done the previous 4 stages correctly then this stage will be easy. Happy and satisfied customers will endorse you to help you grow your business. There is nothing wrong with offering something back in some shape or form.
Improve Your Customer Communication With Build Your AU
Customer communication is something that I have always prided myself on. I have customers all over the world and I have achieved that through nurturing my target market audience.
Audience is the third pillar to my Build Your AU training program. I can help you define your target audience and attract that audience to your business. Then I help you create a content marketing plan to create your own customer communication strategy.
If this is something that interests you then check out my 9 step program here. That program helps you establish your authenticity and authority through the content you create. That content then follows your customer throughout their whole journey with you and your business. For more details about the program click here.
Helping you build your authenticity, authority and audience.
Trish Davies
Build Your AU
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