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The Profit

What your small business needs to know about communicating with customers

What your small business needs to know about communicating with customers

Sweet Pete's, Chase Ink Cardmember

Jacksonville, Florida

All small business owners know that communicating with customers is crucial in the digital age. But just building a webpage and responding to email isn't enough anymore.

In a new survey of 2,030 small businesses conducted for Chase by CNBC and SurveyMonkey, 40 percent reported that they share new products and announcements on social media, 36 percent promote them on their website and 26 percent communicate via a newsletter or email. SBO's amplify their communications via advertising on social media (20 percent) or on the internet, in general (19 percent).

If you aren't as active in communicating with your customers as the survey respondents, you may be missing a great opportunity to grow your customer base. Many of the small businesses featured on The Profit make communicating with their customers a priority. Here are 10 tips from them that can help you up your communication game.

1. Share your process on your site or on social media

Sweet Pete's candy emporium in Jacksonville, Florida, delights their followers by posting videos of various kinds of candy being made, while Flex Watches in Los Angeles shares its design process on its website. SJC Drums in Chicago makes videos of people's drum sets in production, and upon completion posts to the customer, "Here's your kit going out the door." Customers like getting a peek behind the scenes.

2. Make timely connections via social media

When a blizzard hit New York City, Inkkas Global Footwear pushed its winter clearance via social media by posting product shots of shoes in the snow. When staff at Chicago's Windward Boardshop engages in sports they love, they post pictures to inspire others to get out there too (and perhaps pick up some gear before they go).

3. Make it a relationship, rather than just a transaction

"If you're local, we'll go to your show," says Mike Ciprari, co-founder of SJC Drums. "It's more than a business transaction; we become friends [with our customers]. Such interest in your customers can build their loyalty."

4. Leverage your customers' enthusiasm

According to the survey responses, 58 percent of small business owners communicate via word of mouth. To be effective at this, leverage your enthusiastic customers. "We have started a program of Brand Ambassadors," says SJC's Ciprari. "They post about us on social media; they become salespeople," he continues. "We go live on social media every Friday night so that people can ask questions, see demos of our products. We write back personally to most comments on social media."

5. Promote others in your community

"We try to participate in every charity event that asks us to participate," says Allison Behringer, co-owner of Sweet Pete's candy shop in Jacksonville, Florida. "We set up a table and give away free samples." Windward Boardshop tries to promote all board sport events in its area and SJC Drums promotes the shows and new releases of its customers. By being an active part of the larger community, word-of-mouth about your business increases.

SJC Drums
SJC Drums

6. Utilize casual, of-the-moment posts rather than too-slick produced content

Inkkas sometimes skips a formal studio and snaps pictures of its products on the roof of its New York City office, and retweets when customers share pics of their products. Recent tweets feature high-tops at a baseball game, and a horse holding Inkkas by the laces on Derby Day. Flex Watches uses photos and videos taken on mobile phones in its communications. The company posted a rough video of the staff picking a contest winner, then made that winner's social media handle a coupon code for the day. "The more stupid simple it is, the more entertaining, the better it does," says Flex Watches' CEO, Trevor Jones.

7. Increase engagement through video

"Video outperforms every other thing we do to communicate with customers," says Flex Watches' Jones. On National Chocolate Day, Sweet Pete's demonstrated how to dip chocolate apples via livestream on social media. SJC Drums posts a regular vlog on its social media page, including "Shout Out Sunday," in which they update their community on the "SJC Family," where bands that use SJC products are playing, who's released new songs or albums, and where to find more interesting video.

8. Pick a social cause and align your company with it

Flex Watches picks 10 causes, links 10 watch colors and styles to each, and then commits to donating 10 percent of each watch sale to the corresponding cause. Inkkas Global Footwear promises to plant a tree for every pair of shoes it sells, and SJC Drums has donated drum sets to music schools. Tell your customers about what's important to you and their affinity for your brand increases.

9. Use incentives to reel customers back in

SJC Drums often sends out incentives when it releases a new product or makes an announcement. Sweet Pete's tracks when users come to its site; if a customer visits but doesn't purchase anything, the company may send a discount offer to that customer.

10. If a customer is unhappy, use online tools to go the extra mile and turn it around

"If a customer has a bad experience, even if they love their drums, we'll go on Instagram to see what they like," says Ciprari of SJC Drums. "Say we figure out that the customer likes coffee, we'll get them a gift certificate for a pound of coffee, and send it out of the blue. Those things don't always go viral, but $50 spent that way usually turns over five to ten times" [in customer loyalty and word of mouth].

Bonus tip: Use reward points to extend your communications reach

Paying monthly fees for internet service, a newsletter provider, mobile service and more with a Chase Ink® Business PreferredSM card allows you to earn reward points that can pay for extra customer experiences later. Visit Chase.com/Ink to learn more.

This page was paid for by Chase Ink®. The editorial staff of CNBC had no role in the creation of this page.