Being easy to contact should be one of your top priorities as a business owner. You know about the traditional means of customers contacting your business—like the good ol’ telephone. But there may be some communication channels you are missing out on. Consider these ways customers can contact your business to further open your lines of communication.
Social media button
Social media platforms like Facebook offer a call-to-action button for business pages with options like “Contact Us,” “Send Message” and more. These buttons exist to help page visitors get in contact with businesses directly from the social media platforms they are using.
Social media direct message
Speaking of directly, page visitors can always send business pages private direct messages to get in contact with them. As a business page, you should anticipate this and consider setting up an auto-reply as well as a dedicated time of the day or week to sit down and respond to direct messages on your social media channels.
Social media comment
As opposed to a direct message, social media comments are public for all to see. Customers may address you or ask you questions in public comments on your posts or others’ posts. The benefit here is that multiple social media users can see your response, allowing you to reach a larger number of people all at once. It also pays for people to see that you are responsive.
Website contact form
Shifting from ways customers can contact your business on social media, they can reach you through a contact form on your website. For our clients, we set up the contact form to forward inputted information to any email address or email addresses they choose.
Web chat
A web chat function is designed so your website visitors can find answers to questions 24/7. Typically, web chat services start by addressing a person’s issue with a series of auto replies. Then, if necessary, it may direct them to chat with a live associate or representative.
Text chat
This is similar to web chat—but instead of being located on your website, it happens via SMS (smart phone texting). Offering this among the ways customers can contact your business provides a convenient means of communication from a device people are already using throughout the day.
Let’s not discount our friend email when it comes to ways customers can contact your business. An email address that you or someone representing your business checks actively should be listed somewhere on your website. Even a general “info@” email address will do the trick if you don’t want to share your direct one.
App communications
There are many benefits to having a proprietary mobile app. One of those benefits is using your app to communicate with your customers. Communications via app can come in various forms, like push notifications, in-app notifications or links to other communication platforms (like email) within the app.
Phone
It may be old school, but we had to include it! Nothing can quite replace picking up the phone and giving someone a call. If you are going to advertise your business phone as a means of communication, make sure someone is actively on duty to answer it during business hours.
We can also include traditional texting in the phone option. A business phone number can be set up to forward texts to your cell phone, which you can then respond to “as” your business.
In-person
Taking it even farther back—pre-Alexander Graham Bell—we are noting the ability for customers to walk right through your doors and communicate with you face-to-face. We hope it’s not a, “I need to speak to the manager” type-situation, but of all the options listed here, it’s definitely the most effective at getting a point across.
Summary
Consider these ways customers can contact your business and which ones might be right for you. Not every business model will benefit from listing the same types of contact information. If you need guidance, we can help!
McNutt & Partners is a full-service advertising and digital marketing agency. Contact us today for your marketing needs! Call 334-521-1010, or visit our contact page.
