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Public Relations Strategies | Communication & Your Customers
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Communicating properly is vital to the success of your PR efforts. Having successful two-way communication is even more important; talking with your customers instead of simply to them makes a world of difference.

Even though the Internet has made this two-way communication easier, it is still a struggle to send the right message, respond properly, and to actively listen to what you are being told. The goal of the PR professional is to ultimately change the beliefs of a customer (or to further enhance them) so that their actions reflect those of your current customers.




In order to achieve that goal, we must do the following:

• Convey information and share knowledge
• Increase understanding
• Gain acceptance
• Provide action
  
  (pg. 221 The Public Relations Practitioner's Handbook by Larry Litwin)
  

Here are a few ways to improve your two-way communication skills:

• Establish the needs of your company and your audience. This is perhaps the most important step to follow. What do your customers come to you for? What do the media, other bloggers, or others in your industry ask of you? This can help for you to define and determine where your efforts need to be spent. Establishing your needs can also help for you to better understand what you are capable of and where your resources can be used.
  
  
• Write well. Since most of your conversing will take place through written copy, ensure that your writing skills are up-to-par. There is really no faster way (than through aesthetics) to deter a reader to finish reading than to misspell words and to misuse grammar and punctuation. Often times, a poorly written copy, pitch, or press release will not even be read due to poor writing skills. Take the time to reread what you write and to have someone else check your work.
  
  
• Listen. Not listening is another great way to alienate customers, the media, and others in your industry. Customers will often tell you what they think (and for free) if you would only listen. Moreover, they would give you that information if it were simple enough for them to do so.
  
  
• Respond. Once you make it available to them to give feedback and voice opinions, please remember to reply. This is a key part of the two-way communication process that many companies forget to do. This is a dangerous game to play if you do not intend to be responsive, and your company's reputation and image are on the line. Don't underestimate the power of the customer and the word of mouth (WOM) they can create.
  
  
• Encourage interaction. Make it easy for customers to communicate with you. This can include newsletters, emails, comments on a blog or website, forums, wikis, social networking site accounts (such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.), and surveys. Try to monitor these tools to see if they are getting used. If they are not, try advertising them more on your blog or website, try moving links around on your blog's homepage, or try making links and next steps more visible and apparent. Use these tools to see how the audience you're reaching feels and what they think about you and your company. Again, be sure to respond.
  
  
• Vehicles and methods of communication. Consider where and how you are reaching your audience. This can tie back into the first step of evaluating needs; determine how your audience likes to be reached. Is it through the web, TV, or the radio? Do they prefer print? Knowing this can save you time and resources and increase your chances of having a successful campaign.
  

Overall, know that any communication may not be better than none at all. Your communication efforts need to be well planned and they need to be maintained. Customers come to expect a certain level of responsiveness from all companies. Remember, too, that this all takes time, trial and error, and preparation. The only way to figure out if this new plan will work is to really try it out. To better your chances of that plan working, ensure that you research properly, budget well, and exhaust any possible analysis that ought to take place before implementing a new PR plan.

What are some ways you communicate with your customers? Do you have any tips for improving the two-way conversations that need to occur to better relationships with your audiences?