E is for everything

The “e” in e-PR stands for electronic but it could also stand for “everything”.

While most people in the world of business has accepted the significance of a digital presence, many still do not understand its terms.

To survive and sucess online, businesses need to relate to their audiences, and build trustful relations with their publics. In order for that to happen the traditional one-way hard sell and communication mentality must therefore be resisted in favour of a whole new approch more tuned up with the real needs of our customers.

Not only this approach needs to be based on a real understandement of your audience, but seeking for sucessful relations and interacting with your different audiences. Why? Because only sucessful relations are long-term and mutually beneficial, and that´s what e-PR (Electronic Public Relations) is based on.

I often say that Internet platafforms & Social Media enable people to customize information to their own specific needs. For instance, one thousand cybernauts can visit the exact same company´s FB page and come away with completly different information from it, and use it on their own terms. To other purposes that you can not control. But that´s not all: offline experiences can be maximized by the power of social media — for better or worse.

That´s why it´s so important to actually talk with them. So how can we do it?

The way relations between you and your public are built up online is exactly the same way as offline: via information: they want it, you provide it. Once you have figured out which audiences you are going to target you need to think about the information you want them to receive, and to figure out which platform they are in. But (and this is crucial), to make sure your online information is relevant to your audiences you also need to think about the message your audiences WANT to receive. You must remember that Social Media users “pull” information towards them and you can only push so far in their direction.

Bear in mind, that your audience only volunteers to take part of online relationship with your business based on the quality and veridical information you provide.

Whether is Twitter, LinkedIN, or any other social media, as well as on any other offline events, keep in mind, that the information about your products / services needs to be :

• Accurate  — Once again, relationships are built on trust. You therefore need to assure your audience that all the information you give them is accurate by supporting claims with facts.

• Relevant  — What relevant solutions can you provide? This is the question you need to answer as an “on-field” entrepreneur — users go online to find solutions to problems and answers to questions.

• True  — information on websites, newsletters, emails, social media posts, digital press-releases, blog entries, group discussions, etc. need to be true and clear, to understand and serve a specific identified purpose.

• Exclusive  — which significant difference on your product/service you can offer over your competitors? Is that so unique that they won´t find it elsewhere? If not, how can you overcome that?

• Dynamic— Provide good content. Build communities. Engage. Promote discussions. Listen. Generate word-of-mouth. Relate to the real world level. Handle complaints. Answer questions. Hang around. Always.

As an young entrepreneur I have much to learn but I know this for sure: I want to be able to know each customer that I have and learn from them — at the end of the day, it´s for them that our work is for and they deserve the very best of it.

Nevertheless, the paradox of social media is to massively potenciate relations with your publics but most of all level-up the one-to-one communication with them: targeting your customers, conquer them by establishing a trustworthy relationship and constantly adapting your offer to their needs.

Remember you only get what you give — so give it all!