Welcome! I have some exciting insights to share with you today, and they offer a fascinating glimpse into the ever-changing prospect and customer communication preferences. If you’ve ever wanted to ask another fellow marketer, “How do you reach prospects and customers better?”, then stick around! I recently created a survey as an effective way to ensure that I communicate with my audience in a way that interests them. This survey garnered responses from over 1,200 individuals. The purpose? To shed light on the nuanced ways in which people prefer to engage with businesses, brands, and professionals like myself.
I have built relationships that allow for open, casual, and engaging communication with my audience. This belief has driven me to constantly seek ways to better understand the preferences, desires, and needs of those who trust me with their time and attention. On my journey for answers, I asked my audience a really simple question: “What do you want from me?” I provided a few options for communication, including an open-ended option for feedback.
Communication Options
- Email newsletter: This is a regular newsletter, that goes out two to four times a month. My newsletter is not your typical marketing email; it’s fun! It includes marketing tips, a dad joke, a picture of my fur baby, and something totally random.
- Simple Text Message: When I say text message, I mean a simple text. It doesn’t have any pictures or links, just one brief marketing tip. This text is sent at the same frequency as the newsletter two to four times a month.
- The Combo Package: Who likes to have FOMO? So, I also provided an option for both the fun newsletter and simple text.
- Something Totally Different: I left an open-ended option to allow responses from those who had unique communication preferences.
The Results
Now, let me remind you that this question was sent to an audience that already subscribes to my content. However, that doesn’t make the answers any less interesting!
· 54% prefer the email newsletter. So, the majority of my subscribers would still like to receive the newsletter as is. They enjoy the mix of marketing tips, dad jokes, and dog pictures.
· 12% prefer texts. I’m here to share my marketing knowledge with those who want it, and some people don’t need the extras!
· 22% opted for both the newsletter and text. *Queues Best of Both Worlds by Hannah Montana.*
· 12% asked for something different. These responses really ran the gamut from people who suggested varying frequencies to a rotation of newsletters and texts. This group of responses was really fascinating to me because it tells me that my peeps aren’t afraid to talk back and engage with me. They know that I’m listening, which is really cool.
What Does it All Mean?
In the past, I’ve primarily focused on my email list because it’s been a valuable communication channel. However, now that I’ve heard from the crowd, I’ve been prompted to rethink my strategy. I definitely need to revamp my text marketing because it’s clear that a large portion is welcoming of it. This is information that I have been totally unaware of and all it took was me asking a simple question. So, what’s my challenge now? Finding the right frequency and mix for those looking for both emails and texts. Should it be one newsletter and one text every week or every other week? This is something I plan to experiment with, taking into account the preferences of my audience.
The key takeaway here is that if you haven’t already asked your customers about their communication preferences, you’re essentially guessing. I recommend reaching out to both current and new customers to gather these insights. Then, based on their feedback you can help improve their experience and rethink your communication strategy. I called my survey the “26-Second Survey” and sweetened the deal by offering a dad joke as a token of my appreciation. It’s essential to integrate your communication style into everything you do to make it engaging and valuable for your customers. Doing so can only help to improve the customer experience. I can’t wait to hear what you discover!
If you’re interested in reading more about consumer behavior, check out this blog next!
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