Sometimes the benefits are crystal clear.   

In the autumn my host disappeared off the planet for a week and all my sites went down. The host phone number was dead and they weren’t answering emails. 

I’d been with them eight years but their communication was so crap throughout the crisis that my loyalty flew right out of the window. I jumped ship as soon as I could transfer my url.     

This week my new hosts’s server went down for a couple of hours. In contrast they kept their customers up to date with what was happening – and why – via Twitter. 

• they sidestepped a load of irate telephone calls and emails, giving themselves time and space to get on with solving the problem
• they managed the situation effectively and avoided a potential PR disaster
• customers knew exactly what was happening in real time

By using Twitter intelligently they’ve probably:

• reinforced existing customer loyalty by resolving the issue quickly
• boosted their brand by being brave enough to acknowledge and solve a difficult issue in a very public arena
• attracted valuable positive attention from potential new prospects

In this context spending a few moments breaking crucial news via Twitter is worth its weight in marketing gold. In other contexts the business benefits of social media marketing are less clear cut. 

It’s no mystery.

‘Brand’ describes the way the outside world experiences your organisation. The concept is easier to understand if you ditch the word ‘brand’ and think ‘personality’ instead.

An organisation’s personality, like yours, is made up of:

• The way it looks – design, colours, logos, text sizes, fonts and images
• The way it sounds – the tone of voice and style of communications
• The way it behaves – the quality of customers’ emotional and physical experience when interacting with your
  business
• The things it believes in and expresses – interests, focus, mission, ideals, aims and ambitions

If you’re starting a new business, the first step is to decide how you want the outside world to experience it. Next, you create a suitably evocative personality via your literature and website design, communications, systems, marketing, advertising and PR.

To turn this fledgling personality into an effective brand, be consistent. If you’re true to brand, your brand equity (ie. the financial benefits you reap from having a brand) will grow organically.

A word of warning: it’s dangerous to act in defiance of your brand! If you sincerely promise next day delivery but don’t hit target, you’re damaged. If your website insists your telesales agents are friendly but they actually terrify people, sales will take a hit. If your sales literature’s in plain language but your quotes look like ancient Greek, people will lose faith.

Then write as though you’ve never seen your product or service before!

I gave up on buying a piece of anti virus software last week because the online buying and payment instructions were so frustrating. Which goes to show that instructions aren’t just instructions. They’re a part of your brand, often critical to a good customer experience. Get in wrong and they’ll leave a lasting negative impression.

So how do you make sure your instructions instruct rather than infuriate?

Instructions get confusing when the writer is intimately familiar with the process and sees each step as blindingly obvious. The big thing to remember is: whatever the medium, create your instructions from the perspective of someone who knows nothing about the product or service. While a percentage of people will be familiar with your stuff, many won’t be.

Writing to the lowest common denominator isn’t always easy. Nor is being objective, which is where these tips might come in handy. If you can’t be fully objective, hire a good copywriter!

• use strong, clear calls to action
• order the information logically and intuitively
• use plain language
• if you can’t avoid using jargon, explain what you mean
• provide help for people who get lost or confused -  an email adrdeess or, best of all, a helpline

Then, before you pres the button, get your mate, mum, granny or neighbour to test your draft instructions for sanity!