The secret to creating cut-through comms people will actually read

How many messages, emails and notifications do you get every day alerting you to sales, offers and new products or services? The answer is probably “too many to read”. 

In fact, we’ve become so desensitised to an endless stream of B2C marketing alerts, “nine out of 10 people don’t even look at them”, says Joshua Ephraums, client executive at Whispir, a cloud-based communications platform.

Big corporations have a massive budget to spend on engaging their customers via social media, email and SMS. So how can those on a small business budget compete? 

Creating streamlined communication that cuts through

It’s not just B2C marketing communications that often go unread. Busy employees can all too easily overlook important or time-sensitive work-related emails and notifications, with frustrating results. 

Instead of wasting resources bombarding customers and staff with messages they’re going to ignore, SMEs looking to take a more strategic approach can turn to tools like Whispir. 

Using Whispir, you can easily automate and digitise business communications — everything from marketing messages to shift notifications, appointment confirmations and compliance forms. That includes setting up automated replies based on how your customers or employees respond. 

Whispir’s intelligent tone of voice tool helps you craft communications with an authentic and human tone, promoting connection and cut-through. And its backend reporting allows you to track which messages are being read and which aren’t, so you can keep tweaking your recipe. 

MET Recycling is an excellent example of the software in action. Before working with Whispir, MET relied on pen and paper for visitor sign-ins, incident reporting and pre-start safety checklists. Now, these processes are streamlined and paperless. You can imagine what a difference that makes to their ability to keep and review records.

To discover how the right communication tools can help you cut-through the digital noise and truly connect with your audience, visit the Whispir website. You can request a free demo to see the platform in action.

Using data and analytics for super-precise targeting

Not only does Whispir help businesses automate their B2C communications, it also provides the data and analytics they need to tailor them with pinpoint accuracy. By modifying the content, time and channel, and/or by personalising messages to suit individual customer preferences, you’ve got a much better chance of being heard in a noisy market. 

“Whispir has all this tracking in the backend, which says: ‘Customers A, B and C were sent an email — Customer A never opened it, Customer B opened it two minutes after it was sent, and Customer C opened it two hours later’,” Ephraums says. 

Armed with data like this, “businesses can work out when customers are most likely to engage with them, and what types of content they’re engaging with.”

In this way, Ephraums says, “you’re adding value to the recipient, rather than bombarding them with comms and hoping something sticks. So you’re getting that traction or cut through. And it can be so nuanced in terms of what time you want to send it, what individual content you want to include, and what channel you want to use.”

Driving personalisation with rich messages

One very nifty bonus feature of Whispir is what Ephraums and his team call “rich messaging”. 

It works like this: Your customer or staff member receives a personalised link via email, text message or social media. When they click the link, it opens a uniquely-created web page. This web page can host many different interactive elements, including a map showing how to get to their appointment, a video, or a survey to fill out with various drop-down menus and checkboxes.

“Basically, you go into the platform and use a drag-and-drop template creator to build an engaging message that will load up in the recipient’s web browser on whatever device they’re using,” Ephraums says. “So, think of something like a survey — you can receive feedback from your customers or your staff in real time.”

Tools like Whispir are yet another example of how digitising processes can take your business to the next level. They’re a game-changer in terms of marketing, customer service, employee experience and strategic decision-making. 

And, with more engaging messaging that’s also automated, frictionless, trackable and measurable, you and your employees will have more time to spend on the parts of your job you really love. That boost in satisfaction will in turn improve productivity, engagement and innovation — and that’s when the real magic happens.