The words you choose to use offer millions of possible alternative strategies. Your words don’t only tell the story of your business but they also tell the story of how you choose to perceive your efforts in your market
Words are powerful.
So powerful, in fact, that they can create a reality of their own. It’s only through words that you can follow the impossible love between Romeo and Juliet, or the difficult path to adulthood for the four sisters March in Little Women. Language is a tool that can be used to direct energy into form. For writers, language is the essence of the worlds they build and the stories they sell. For marketers, words have to establish a brand reputation, sell a product and maintain business growth. Undeniably, the words you choose to use, those you decide to leave untouched, offer millions of possible alternative strategies, because your words don’t only tell the story of your business, but they also tell the story of how you choose to perceive your efforts in your market.
Indeed, would Coca-Cola’s be the same brand if the slogan ‘taste the feeling’ was replaced by ‘enjoy the emotion’? Can you imagine Apple with a catchphrase that isn’t ‘think different’? Would Holmes still be Holmes if deductions were not ‘elementary’ anymore to him? The answer is no. Of course, a brand is a lot more than a few words. But it’s precisely these carefully selected words that define its identity. And that’s why you can’t build a successful business if you don’t know which words to use.
Words to build your brand reputation
Every business faces the need for developing an effective and strategic communication process that establishes mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their audiences. In the marketing world, the communication process is referred to as public relations, or PR. Ultimately, the key to managing public relations is the ability to quickly establish a communication plan when your company faces a crisis. BP oil spill of 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico was dramatic. It caused the death of 11 workers and poured into the ocean for 87 days. Nevertheless, it’s the thoughtless comments of the CEO, Tony Hayward, that hurt the company the most. His words ‘I want my life back’ only emphasized the lack of organization and ownership of the situation. You need to work with a professional partner, such as Berbay Marketing & PR who are specialized in communication for professional services, to maximize your PR leverage and control your crisis response. A poorly chosen word can affect your brand reputation significantly.
Words to connect with your audience
In the digital world, your audience is constantly exchanging information and sharing content via their favorite social media platforms. So, if you haven’t already, it’s time to create your social media profile and make the most of the potential of this two-way communication strategy. Even if you’re not too confident with your words, an image sharing platform such as Instagram, can help you to build a loyal customer base. Indeed, you can use your profile as a way to showcase your products and your business vision, ensuring that users can be easily redirected to your store when they click on the relevant image. Additionally, a social media presence allows your customers to get in touch with product-related queries in a casual and quick manner. As a result, they also expect your social media communication to remain casual and responsive.
Words to introduce your business
How do you best describe your company? This simple question is a nightmare for copywriters who need to write your web content. Indeed, as web users have a short attention span – less than 8 seconds — there is no time to waste. You need to create a homepage that engages users and encourages trust. It’s a good idea to use your headline to share your site’s underlying value, aka what your site is about and why it’s better than others. The intro will help to clarify your statement. And finally, the rest of the homepage can be divided into helpful sections to guide the visitors to the most relevant pages for their needs.
Words to rank in search engine results
It’s fair to say that the words you decide to publish on your website need to help visitors understand your site, but they also need to help search engines rank you in the search results. The most important words online, keywords, are essential to your business performance. Nevertheless, you’ll be surprised to know that too many companies struggle to choose the right keywords. Consequently, you have to understand how to use head, body and long tail keywords in your copy, and how these affect your ranking.
Words to hook customers
But your communication can’t be defined by keywords only. You need to create an emotional hook for clients, or potential clients, to identify with your brand. For B2C brands, the emotional engagement can seem to be part of a natural marketing campaign. However, in the B2B world, the emotional perception of the brand plays a more significant role with clients. Indeed, the reason why large corporates have managed to build emotional connections with their audience is that they tell a story through their sales team, their vision and their can-do attitude.
Words to help solve your customers’ issues
The right words can also defuse angry customers, and subsequently, improve your brand reputation in times of crisis. For instance, imagine a customer gets in touch regarding an issue with your products. They’re angry. The mistake here is to ignore their feeling. You need to listen, take note of the fact. But more importantly, you need to acknowledge that you understand the feeling and are there to help. Being able to empathize with customers gives you the unique opportunity to turn a bad experience into a positive review.
Words to keep your employees onboard
Employees are people, and as such, they rely on your communication to stay motivated. The last thing you want is an employee to leave a negative review about your company because they feel taken for granted. You can make a habit of running one-to-one meetings to collect your team’s thoughts about specific business matters, for instance. This will show that you care about their opinions.
It’s only through the correct and adequate communication that businesses can build a positive reputation and meet the expectations of both their customers and employees. In conclusion, words are powerful. Use them well.
