I see and hear it all the time. People complaining about voice mail or even having to communicate via the phone for business. Some prefer email. Some text messages. Yet there are still those that feel that picking up a phone is the easiest and quickest way to get something done.
I personally have unsubscribed from many email newsletters and have, instead, “liked” their Facebook page to get their messages there rather than in my overflowing inbox. I also prefer to subscribe to blogs via RSS, but others (2/3 of the subscribers to this blog) prefer to subscribe via email. There are people that hate Facebook and spend their time on Twitter. Conversely there are people that want nothing to do with Twitter and spend all their time on Facebook.
What’s my point? There are so many communication tools and delivery systems now, do you know which one(s) your audience prefers to use? You can have the best content and message in the world, but if you are sharing it on the wrong tool, it will not have the desired effect. How does your audience prefer to receive your message? How do they prefer to communicate with you?
This is not to say you need to use every communication tool available to you. This is neither feasible or advisable. Don’t be afraid to reach out to your customers and ask them what tools and sites they use. Ask them how they would prefer to communicate with you. This gives you a great baseline from which to work for your tools of choice. If you have access to your other audiences, such as media or vendors, reach out to them as well.
How are you making it easy for your audience to interact with you?