There’s a fine line between professionalism in today’s social media frenzy and trendiness. When businesses use words or symbols to promote their brand or latest products, as we seen during this past Small Business Saturday, there are still certain marketing tactics that companies should use in order to get their message across without offending their customers. Recently, Sage One‘s Global Head of Marketing, Fabiola Stein, wrote a piece discussing tips on how companies can communicate with their target audience, but stay up-to-date on the lingo. She suggests that businesses should take a look at their current communication practices and, if need be, revise them accordingly. So, if you’re a small business owner and need a few tips on how to make these adjustments, check out Fabiola’s tips below: ●Be relatable In today’s competitive business landscape, consumers looking for a particular product or service have multiple options and access to product reviews that might sway their purchase decision. With so many choices out there, brands need to stand out and make an impact, and what better way to achieve flair than by being a brand customers can relate to and support. Relating to customers and building loyalty can be as simple as speaking their language. Because, let’s be honest—no one enjoys feeling sold to, and the language you use when speaking to a friend is often different than how you might speak to a customer. Changing up your messaging is a way to express how your brand values a customer’s relationship rather than their money. In some cases, that language can look like a GIF, meme, hashtag, or—you got it—even an emoji. ●Keep it simple Research has shown us that the average number of brands or advertisements a person sees per day is over5,000! That’s a lot—in fact, more than a lot. With so much brand clutter out there, businesses need to keep messaging simple, short, and to the point. This goes across the board of external messaging from marketing, sales and social, all the way to PR. The tears of joy emoji uses one image to display a whole range of emotions. It doesn’t get more straight the point than that. Businesses who use too many words to get their message across struggle to make an impression. It’s not easy to convey every message with an emoji, but if it can be done in one word or image, go for it. ●Have a little fun! Life’s too short for boring, “corporate” customer transactions and stale engagement. Throw out the stiff, cold e-newsletters and have a little fun with photos, videos, and fun phrases. If a business doesn’t have the resources to create authentic video or graphic content, the Internet is crawling with usable content. Which leads us to… ●Maintain professionalism With the well-respected Oxford Dictionaries choosing an image for their “word” of the year, it can leave some businesses wondering how to walk the fine line between casual messaging and professionalism. Companies have been facing this issue for years as they assess how to position their social media pages. But while messaging may be getting less “sales-y” or “corporate” and more casual, it’s imperative for businesses to not lose sight of professionalism. They must ensure messaging is still on brand and in line with their product and service. Add a little flair, simplicity, and relatability into your message, but don’t get too caught up in being trendy and lose sight of your brand. Sage One is a cloud accounting and invoicing app company based out of England.
