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How We Communicate Matters – It Really Does!
Posted by Becky Carroll on March 19, 2008
I spent today with an auditorium full of non-profit marketers as I co-chaired the American Marketing Association’s 10th Annual Cause Conference. There were many smart speakers who shared ideas about branding, marketing, and even social media marketing that Not For Profit organizations can take back and use immediately in their jobs. The day’s most amusing speaker had to be Elaine Fogel. Elaine is a senior contributor for MarketingProfs Daily Fix, and today she previewed her lunchtime keynote speech on marketing mistakes. See her post for two examples of copy-writing gaffes.
How you communicate with your customers/clients/donors is critical to how they view your organization. Whether the communication is written or verbal, brand impressions are made at each interaction. So – take a few minutes to review that email you are sending to multiple clients. Have someone else read over your copy for that newsletter article. Check those call center scripts for plain English!
Make each interaction count. Your customers will thank you for it.
Fun detour: If you enjoy reading other people’s English errors or just like word play, you should grab a copy of one of Richard Lederer’s books. His book Anguished English is a riot! That said, in some ways it is kind of disturbing as well…
Customers Rock! 
Aaron said
Agreed. it’s all about the 2 way communication in online marketing these days.
Becky Carroll said
Aaron, thanks for chiming in (Aaron was another great speaker at the conference), and glad to see you on Customers Rock!
If we can strive to make all of our marketing communications 2-way, we can then create a conversation which may actually engage customers. A great goal, indeed!
Toby said
Congrats! on your successful conference. Wish I could have been there to hear Elaine.
Sometimes no matter how many eyes have viewed and reviewed a report or email something slips through the cracks. My most embarrassing moment was a wrong client name on a significant marketing strategy project. The client politely sat through the entire presentation and at the very end pointed out our error. Total red face. Lucky for us that our credibility had been established over several months.
Becky Carroll said
Hey Toby, thanks for sharing your story. It really illustrates the importance of building strong relationships with clients and customers! Good personal relationships create trust and credibility, and those two items can help weather client storms.
Have fun at Blogger Social in a few weeks, and give all a warm “hello” from me!
Elaine Fogel said
Hi, Becky. Thanks for referring to my presentation at the Cause Conference and my post on MarketingProfs:Daily Fix. I enjoyed meeting you and the wonderful group of San Diego nonprofit marketers!