2020 was anything but normal, but learning and growth happen when we rise to meet challenges. One lesson from the past year is that some things need special attention now more than ever, such as your business communication and overall community awareness. Check out our tips on the best ways to communicate in business right now:

Don’t Mention It
The pandemic has and continues to dominate headlines, so it continues to be a sensitive and hefty issue to say the least. When you bring it up in unrelated business content and communication — or worse yet, use cliché and overused terms like ‘tough times’ or ‘unprecedented times’ or ‘challenging times,’ etc., — you’re likely to turn, if not tick, off your audience. Business professionals are ready to move on… at least to their next call, email, post, or other task. Time is of the essence when you’re trying to get your message across; you want to hook the target audience, not hook yourself off the stage with stale or extraneous information.

A Whole New World
2020 saw a great deal of change to people’s personal and professional lives all at once. One real estate executive called the work-from-home movement “the largest social experiment of all time.” With so much being different, maybe your customers and employees have changed their views, too. Whether it’s diversity, flexibility in the workplace or corporate responsibility, sticking to the old way of doing things might not get you very far. Conduct social polls, distribute a survey and talk to your employees. Get to know your team and customers in this new and very different environment

Business Casual
It’s important to stay professional, but you should be open to a more casual tone in your writing. That will boost the relatability of your blog content, internal communications with employees and other forms of communication – and that helps company engagement. Talk to your employees and customers/clients like real people going through what you’ve been through. Use language they can relate to and imbedding humor is a great way to boost your engagement.

The Time Is Now

One thing that shouldn’t be casual is your engagement efforts. While many things shut down during the past year, you shouldn’t stay quiet waiting for the perfect time to get back out there with your communications. Many companies have stopped putting out news releases, sending out pitches and reaching out for new business while waiting for things to normalize. While its important to read the room when distributing fluff news and pitching journalists on a new consumer product during a time when breaking news is happening, you still have to still run a business. So, striking the right balance is key.

Remember, many content and communication seeds take time to grow. Now is the time to get back on social media, showcase your accomplishments, start prospecting, update that blog and reconnect with friendly journalists.

That Added Little Touch

Leadership is always important, but more so when the road ahead looks hopeless. Hearing from leaders at times like these is so important. Be sure your employees hear from you often. It could simply be a quick video or hand-written letter or social media post. The heartfelt inspiration of the music teacher performing a song every Friday morning in the early months of the pandemic went beyond his students to so many parents and then countless others on social media. The point is, don’t stay quiet when times get hard. You don’t need all the answers to reach out.

Get Social Now
Get visual in your communication, whether a video to accompany your blog or a personal note from you to your staff. Video will continue to dominate in 2021 and beyond. Get on board so people get to know you and your brand. Also, you should continue to network virtually and look for new groups to join and new connections to make on LinkedIn. Be a regular commenter on posts in your news feed, share others posts and have a voice on topics relevant to your business. With social media, you only get what you put into it.
 

For more information about strengthening your company’s communication efforts and other LTPR services, please visit: https://laceytrejopr.com/.