The days of the faceless corporate entity is over. As a business owner, you need to make sure that your company has a platform to stand on and ways of expressing itself. In the digital world, there are so many opportunities for us to take a stance on various issues. You cannot pass up the chance to do so with your business. Here are some of the best ways to give a voice to your business.
Choose a Platform
Before we open our mouths, we should always think about what we want to say. The same can be said for speaking up as a business. It is not enough to simply say that we will just have a voice; you need to make sure that you have a platform and opinions to give credit to that voice.
This can be easier to determine than you might think. Start by considering some of the values that are closest to you and your own moral compass. There are several real-world stances that businesses should be adopting – be that equal treatment for all or a commitment to eco-friendly trading.
Choosing one of these as the platform for your business is going to be incredibly important as it can also help to dictate the way you do business. Customers respond well to authenticity, so being able to back up your claims and statements with a history of corresponding behaviour will bode well.
Get on Social Media
It is likely that social media will prove to be one of the most important tools of the 21st century. Thanks to our social media platforms, we are able to circulate information in a matter of minutes, whereas it might have taken a lot longer to do so even twenty years ago,
Every business needs to have some form of social media. Even if you think that it can’t possibly help you due to the nature of your business, you might be surprised about the impact it can make.
Another great reason to make sure that you are on social media is that it allows you to directly interact with your customers. No matter where you happen to be and no matter where your customer is located, you will be able to interact with them and potentially solve some issue that they may be having. This is another great way to power your voice, and it allows for a natural rapport to build between you and your customers. If you haven’t already, sign up for social media now and make profiles for your company.
Don’t Forget Your Other Content
In addition to your social media, you also need to think about your content across other sources. Your static and blog content on your site is going to be key in establishing a voice for your company. You need to make sure that all of this content perfectly encapsulates those core values you have already set out.
For example, many companies underutilise content such as their blog and their email newsletters. If you don’t do either, it is high time that you did. Setting up a blog section to your website is easy to do and it has many benefits beyond being able to give you that voice. If you have never set up a newsletter before then that is also more straightforward than you might think. There are plenty of high-quality newsletter examples on the internet that can let you know what to do. These might be just the tools you need to create high-quality content that you are certain your customers will respond to.
Stand Up for Your Beliefs
We are unfortunately living in a world where companies cannot afford to sit back and passively ignore any issues that may come forward. Though it may seem like the easier thing to do, it can result in a loss of business as part of your key demographic wants to look elsewhere.
This is especially true if you want to target younger generations who are more likely to be engaged in activism. If you hold back from expressing a view on certain issues, you risk alienating them. However, speaking up on such issues can also come with the risk of alienating other parts of your customer base who may not be as understanding.
You may need to decide which customer base is more important to you. However, you also need to ensure that any stance your business takes is harmonious with your own beliefs. Never be afraid to stand up for them.
Consistently Post
Once you have decided on your stances that you will take with your business, you need to make sure that you are consistently posting as much as you can. If you are doing so, you are reinforcing what has already been put out there by your company.
Whether you are offering an opinion about something in the wider world or you are just introducing something new for your business, you need to make sure your posts are easy to read, consistent, and always as authentic as possible. Authenticity is really key when trying to connect to consumers. They want to know that there is a real person on the other end of the line, and the messages you send out will bring some much-needed humanity to what otherwise might be a faceless brand.
Use Your Business’s Voice Now
Regardless of the industry you operate in, you should be able to use the voice of your business to do good. Whether you are trying to reach out to a customer who needs advice or you are just announcing a brand new product that you are certain people will love, you need to make sure that you are doing it with a voice that is loud, consistent, and proud.
It is time that you found a voice for your business. Start thinking about how you would like your company to be viewed by competitors, customers, and fellow business owners alike now.
