Tools for Business Communication

Business communication is the foundation of any successful business. Promoting products, customer support, and business announcements – effective business communication can improve customer retention and increase revenue. This article will explain the various business tools, their pros and cons, and general business communication tips to consider.

External communication concerns how you communicate with your customers. Social media ads, telephone calls, websites and anything that connects your business to customers are considered external business communication. You can utilize the same tools to communicate with your staff and team as well.

Types of Business Communication Tools

From offline to online tools, there are a wide variety of communication tools you can use. For effective business communication, you want to ensure that the tools you use are beneficial for your business. Below are different basic communication tools to consider for your business communication.

Email

We all have a personal email we use to communicate with friends and family. However, a business email can help keep your business affairs in order. You can utilize emails for effective business communication by sending out advertisement campaigns, updates on your business, monthly newsletters and more. There are other features that emails allow you to schedule the time your emails are sent and set up automatic email responses. Nowadays, whatever email platform your use (Gmail, Outlook, Mailchimp) offers these basic features. If you pay for a subscription, more features will be available to you as well.

Pros

• Great to communicate with many people; sending emails on masse.
• Simple to use and understand.
• Accessible from anywhere as long as an internet connection is available.

Cons

• Emails can often go unread especially if there’s a lot of information associated with it.
• Email messages may contain viruses which could make recipients wary of opening unfamiliar emails
• Emails should be answered or looked at in a short period. If not, these emails may be easily forgotten.

Offline advertisements

Business communication that exists offline includes paper pamphlets, magazines, billboard ads, and more. This is often a traditional way of advertising, especially during times when the internet was not popular. Besides physical advertisements, door-to-door communication and even in-person store representatives all serve to connect with customers. While offline communication may seem outdated, it can still be a good business communication solution for those who intend on building a face-to-face connection with their consumers.

Pros

• Great tool to use if attempting to connect with a particular demographic. For example, if you want to advertise your business in a particular city, you can place a physical billboard advertisement in a busy area.
• Tangible marketing materials are always a good way to connect and draw attention from your customers. People always glance at flyers, brochures and more.
• Nothing can beat face-to-face interaction with customers. You can read different facial cues and body language and better connect with customers through your words and expressions.

Cons

• Offline marketing can be expensive to create and advertise. Whether you’re printing or renting a billboard, this all comes with additional costs that can be difficult to manage for some businesses.
• Traditional advertising can be difficult to track. Since it’s almost impossible to gauge accurate numbers, it’ll be difficult to see whether or not your ads or effective.
• Door-to-door, billboards, flyers – they don’t receive the same amount of exposure as online ads do. As such, your ads won’t reach enough people.

Social Media

The internet has exploded in popularity in recent years. For its convenience, popularity and wide usage, businesses enjoy using social media to communicate with customers. That’s why social media can be a great business communication solution for those who wish to spend less money but still have an expansive reach to potential customers. Another reason social media is a great business communication tool is that nearly 97% of Americans own phones. As such, business communication is more effective with everyone.

With sites like Instagram and Tik Tok, you can build a reputable brand and connect with current and future customers. When your posts get more views, more popular your business will become.

Pros

• Social media is a very cost-effective business communication solution. It’s free to create an Instagram or YouTube account and post content online.
• Business content posted on social media has an expansive reach. You could not only reach your local community but also people all across the world. This encourages others to give your brand more business.
• One of the best features of social media is that it allows you to track how many people view your content, how many people click your links, and more. The information you gather from social media sites can help you improve your business communications.

Cons

• Since DMs can be sent at any time to your business, social media needs constant active monitoring to touch base with customers.
• Unwanted behaviour can often happen on social media sites. As such, more social media strategies must be in place to handle inappropriate behaviour.
• When there are negative comments about your brand or product, you must address them online. This can be difficult to navigate but is essential to be transparent with your customers.

SMS Messaging and Texting

Business texting is an effective business communication method that’s been popularized in recent years. More businesses are opting for business texting software to conveniently send business updates, discounts and personalized services right to their customer’s phones. With 85% of consumers preferring text messaging over any other form of communication and 6 billion messages send and received every day, it’s an effective and simple way to communicate with customers. Top-quality business texting software includes features such as auto-sending messages, survey texting, and stellar customer service for clients.

Pros

• Business texting is extremely cost-effective. For a few dollars a month you can send and receive thousands of text messages a day.
• You can easily reach your customers through text messaging. Additionally, you can send out the same text to thousands of customers at the same time.
• Text messages have a higher open rate than other business communication tools. That way, you can rest assured that consumers are seeing your messages!

Cons

• There are many business texting software out there in the market. As such, it will take time to choose software suited to your business.
• It can take some time to learn how to use the software. It’s important to inform and teach your team how to use it well.

Top 3 Business Communication Tips

1. Always try out software and platforms before you commit to purchasing one or implementing it in your business communication strategy.
2. Invest your resources into what customers want from you. Since the internet and online modes of communication are popular among consumers, invest your time and energy there.
3. Ensure that great communication tools are in place between your business and customers as well as communication between yourself and your team.