SME communication strategy: Why is this important?

Until recently, when we spoke to a small business owner about a commercial action plan or a global communication strategy, he would give us a condescending look and kindly answer "wait, you're not in a multinational company here !!! »

 

Lack of time, a more or less controlled business model, good products, efficient customer relations, sales followed.

 

It is in times of crisis that a good communication strategy makes sense and becomes an income generator. But it is also during these periods that one prepares the return of growth and positions one's company in the starting blocks, taking care to communicate the added value that one offers. Communication actions must be relevant. It is time for you to set the objectives.

 

Asking the right questions

 

Customers are the best prescribers of a product or service offer. But if these same customers decide to reduce the canopy, the leverage effect on prospects is reduced in the same proportion. The time has come to ask the right questions in order to implement the right strategy:

• What is my company's business, culture, philosophy and positioning? This is the famous brand platform.
• In order to win back customers and attract new prospects, what products and services do I offer, what is their added value, which ones do I want to promote and through which actions?
• What are my objectives in terms of communication? Is it to develop the notoriety of my company, my brand, to boost sales, to establish a position on a market or simply to get people talking about me (there is an ego in each of us that should not be ignored)?
• To which targets will I address my message. Will I focus on my customers to reassure them and motivate them to make a purchase, on prospects that I have never taken the time to solicit, or will I take part in a community initiative to extend my spheres of influence?
• Can I afford my ambitions? What budget am I ready to allocate to the deployment of this strategy (in time and in euros)?
• Communication implies communication channels. What are the most suitable communication media to reach the targets and how to maximise the impact?
• Once most of these questions have been answered, when is the best time to get my message out and who will be the spokesperson? Is there someone in my company who is able to respond to a journalist for an interview, attend a conference or simply carry the message?

 

Develop its strategy and translate it into a communication plan

 

Asking these questions is probably 50% of the way. The next step is to set the message to music and give it momentum.

 

This is when our SME boss reminds us that his daily routine does not allow him to devote hours to developing the message and getting it out. Let's not even talk here about analyzing the spinoffs to amplify the dissemination.

 

But a communication strategy is a bit like a marathon. You start by running 20 minutes and little by little, you lengthen the circuit, for one day you'll find yourself on the Brooklyn Bridge, in a completely natural way.

 

Work on your image to reassure your customers and seduce your prospects

 

You don't have an image... you don't exist!

 

But the image, what is it? First of all, it's a visual identity. A logo for short. In the same way that you sign a letter before sending it, it is essential to make your message visible and recognizable.

 

Image is the company's capital, a reputation that is built day after day.

 

Having a brand image and knowing how to enhance it is the backbone of a good communication strategy.

Image is the quality of the documents you give to your contacts, in accordance with your graphic charter, the interviews you give to journalists, your presence at trade shows.

 

But also your presence on the net, through your website, your blog, the opinions that Internet users can leave on your brand.

 

It is on this mastery of the image that the communication plan and all its variations will be built.

 

Take your first steps in communication

 

Not all companies can afford 30 bonus seconds on TF1 on a Sunday evening. But without going so far as to invest monstrous budgets in buying space, there are obvious reflexes to develop.

 

Do you have a simple communication support to give to your contacts? Not a catalogue of your products or the history of your company since its creation, but simply a 3-part leaflet that explains who you are, what you offer and where you are going?

 

You have this famous little 3 parts... why not make it accessible on the internet by means of a simple and accessible site? You thus give yourself the opportunity to be contacted by people you might never have met... The essential thing for you is to equip yourself with communication tools that are relevant to your development needs and the uses of your target. Your prospects are in the field, give priority to the mobile. They have a profile of picky buyers, so go for the publication of white papers.

 

Make your Brand a media with Content Marketing

 

Now that you have support on the internet, why not bring it to life by integrating more content. For example, you can include a short corporate film presenting a visit to your facilities, featuring a product or service, praising the responsiveness of your customer service.

 

The interest of the video is to be accessible from your site, but also, and of course, on social networks... and thus increase your visibility on the net.

 

Using a few tools, you start to disseminate information about your business. You can simply accentuate this effect by sending your customers a regular newsletter to keep them informed about your projects. Emailing allows you to increase your visibility and for your customers, the desire to entrust you with new business.

 

At this stage, it is possible to strengthen your image through a community approach (through your blog) and to integrate social networks into your communication device. You are taking your first steps in Content Marketing. Your brand becomes media, you start producing your own content and offer added value to your readers. It is by becoming an authority in your field that you strengthen your brand image and attract new visitors to your site. Through their visit, thecustomer experience you will provide them with, you will be able to take them from suspects to prospects, then hot prospects and maybe customers.

 

But since it is essential to remember that at the end of the day, it is always "real people" we are talking to and working with, also think about organizing events from time to time.

 

Not a big mass in a congress centre, but more simply, opportunities to meet over a drink, an exhibition, a client evening or a staff seminar, in short, all these small occasions that help to create what we call... client intimacy!

 

In the end, a good communication strategy is a little time and a lot of common sense. If you don't have enough time in-house, or simply don't have the necessary resources, then consider using a communication agency. They will be able to advise you and accompany you in your development and are bound to secrecy by their confidentiality policy.