Marketing & Design: A Publication of Face To Face Marketing

Let me be clear..... ABOUT COMMUNICATION

by: Vicki Morris | Marketing Strategist

Our messaging is the first component of branding and marketing our clients or target audience will ever have from us. We need to make sure we send a clear, concise, and correct message to them each and every time we communicate. Just for argument’s sake, every communication we deliver needs to follow this pattern I’m going to explain here, but for the given purpose, we will focus on written communication.

You have to do, or say, (well write), something that captures the attention of your intended audience. Be very clear when communicating. Are you writing an article, sending an email or delivering a presentation? Each instance requires careful attention to the components of great communication we are going to lay out here today. Take a look at the following list and see how well your communication stacks up.

Make sure your intended message is CLEAR State your goals, or message without clutter and unnecessary fluff. Each sentence should have one easily identified purpose. No reading between the lines should be expected.

Be CONCISE You only have a short window of time to capture the attention of your audience. So get to the point, without wasting time. Don’t call a meeting for information that could be sent in an email. When you send the email, get to the point and make sure they understand if an action is required.

Be CONCRETE in your deliveryUse vivid facts, and passion in your word selection. Create word pictures. Spend enough time to develop your thought. Identify the problem, offer a solution and close.

Always make every effort to be CORRECT. Double check your work before you send it out. Try reading your work backwards to catch typos. Did you use technical terms correctly? Will your intended audience understand the technical terms you used? Did you use the correct spelling of your words? For example, did you write Bridges too Business when you actually meant Bridges to Business?

7 Cs of CommunicationClear Concise Concrete Correct Coherent Complete Courteous

Are your thoughts COHERENT? Is there a logical progression to your writing? Do all points flow one to another and are they all tied back to the main goal? Will people be left wondering, “what did THAT mean?”

Is your Message COMPLETE? Did you offer enough information for your audience to take the intended action? Did you establish a clear CTA (Call to Action) for your audience to follow. Don’t make them guess. Tell them exactly what you want them to know.

Be COURTEOUS. This is most relevant when writing and delivering a presentation. Nothing is more off-putting than negative communication. Expressing a negative sentiment with a positive tone is always better. For example, I really love how you take such dedicated effort to carefully measure each pizza before you cut it, unfortunately that time takes time away from the station waiting to box the pizzas and hand off to the customers, and this can cause the lobby to become congested. Trust yourself and make the cut :)”

Effective communication does not stop with this brief list, but this is an excellent place to start. These qualities are not just for the marketing and branding team to follow. Anyone representing your organization through email, by phone, by text messaging or delivering presentation, should measure their work against these 7 quick guides. Making this an everyday part of your personal and professional communication style can absolutely add to your credibility. Credibility leads to trust, and people do more business with people they trust!

Vicki Morris is the president and founder of Face To Face Marketing. A Marketing Communications & Project Management company. www.facetoface-marketing.com