By Dan Pecchia

The more an organization grows, the harder it is for top managers to stay in touch personally with all of its key customers, prospects, influencers and other stakeholders.

That’s why thoughtful use of digital communication tools can be extremely valuable in sustaining the flow of information that drives business.

Here are three powerful tools that not only support effective communication but can act like magnets to a company’s website:

• Email blasts
• Social media
• Search engine optimization

Email Keeps You in Front of Key Audiences

A good-looking email with catchy headlines, excerpts and links to relevant content can be welcomed, appreciated and acted on when it’s delivered to the right audience at a logical cadence.

Email can convey expertise, reinforce positioning, sustain relationships and provide regular touchpoints with individuals who want to hear from you – or will want to hear from you when you have something relevant to convey.

The magnetism of a quality email is in the links a reader needs to click to finish an interesting read that starts in the inbox. The links bring the reader to your website, which provides opportunities for deeper engagement, especially if the site has additional good content and tools that support reader engagement.

Don’t believe the myth that spam filters and over-use have killed the value of email. There are indeed downsides of being too ubiquitous, too pushy and not relevant enough – just as there are with any form of communication. But when properly developed and managed, email content is excellent for maintaining relationships and inspiring action.

Keys to email: Right content, with the right look, to the right list, at the right cadence.

Social Media Enables Clients and Prospects to Get to Know You

The explosion of social media has its downsides, but one of its benefits is a greater opportunity to network with key stakeholders in online spaces where they’re already spending time.

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Unlike email, which is essentially an interruption and so best used sparingly, LinkedIn, Facebook and other social platforms are destinations where users go – frequently. So individuals and organizations can build regular and effective visibility if they can contribute content that’s right for the specific platform and valuable to their stakeholders.

Another element of growing a social media presence is to be an engaged reader as well as an engaging author. Liking, retweeting, sharing and commenting on the work of authors makes it easier to amass followers of your work online.

Growing social media networks are excellent distribution channels for introducing new people, new products, new ideas, new pricing and other business priorities and drawing traffic, via links, to a website.

Keys to social media: Right content, in the context established by the specific platform, at a regular cadence, to a growing network.

SEO Gets You Found by People Looking for Your Expertise

Considerable snake oil is sold in the name of search engine optimization, but following some basic rules can make it easier for users to find your website when they’re doing searches that relate to your business.

It’s amazing that, this far into the online age, there are still websites with home page titles that include nothing but the company name. (Effective page titles lead our list of the easiest SEO boosters.) But it’s under-developed sites like these, often built in years past by highly successful companies with other fish to fry, that are likely to gain the most from basic SEO tweaks.

Keys to SEO: Knowing what your customers search for; having robust content about those topics on your site; establishing links to your site on other sites (including social media platforms); using effective titles, descriptions and keywords; and basic website hygiene.

The Role of Good Content

For digital tools to work most effectively, they need to be supported by content that’s developed thoughtfully and distributed regularly.

Although this may seem challenging to those without a history of generating content, it’s really not difficult. The expertise and success that drive blogs, testimonials, videos, graphics and other prime content already reside in every successful organization.

The challenge is in identifying the best sources and building a consensus around the best ways to capitalize on the tremendous opportunities digital tools have opened up for everyone.

Dan Pecchia is president of Pecchia Communications, which leverages powerful tools to help its clients communicate more effectively. To learn more, contact Dan at dan@pecchiacomm.com.