4-Tiered Approach to Top-Notch Communication

So often we get in a groove with our communication and marketing efforts. Use these questions to rethink how you’re communicating over digital channels.

Send to the right person

• Is this message relevant to everyone on who is receiving it?
• In other words: Is this message teaching people on your list to ignore you? (If your messages are consistently irrelevant to a group of people, they will learn to ignore your communication. It’s not personal! We all do this in the 21st century as a means of navigating information overload.)

Send the right message

• What reason would someone have to not attend? Are you addressing this reason in your marketing?
• This is called an objection. Ex: An objection for attending a BIC class in the evening could be the need for childcare. Mention that childcare is provided in all of your BIC class communication.

Send through the right channel

• Determine if your message is low-stakes vs. high-stakes. Then, evaluate if you’re sending it short-notice vs. in advance. Choose a channel appropriately.
  • Low-stakes & short-notice: Text (“Hey so-and-so! We’re planning a teen night on Friday – we’d love if Timmy could come!”)
  • Low-stakes & in advance: Email (“Teen night is happening on April 26th at 6p – Dinner is provided.”)
  • High-stakes & short-notice: Phone call/voicemail (“We will need to receive your registration fee by Friday to reserve your spot.”)
  • High-stakes & in advance: Landing page on your website (See my landing page formula here)

Send at the right time

• When would someone be in the right headspace to mull over your message?
• When would someone have time to read your message – then take action?

As you can imagine, thinking through all these bullet points for every piece of communication takes so. much. time. In an ideal world, you can delegate this job to someone.

In the real world, you’re probably doing a lot of this yourself. In that case, try considering just one category at a time.

What category do you think is the most challenging to get right?