COVID-19 threw us into a completely digital workplace, and the world is slowly moving toward a post-COVID workplace. But not everything is going back to the pre-pandemic status quo. As many employees began to work from home, how businesses communicate changed. Some of those communication trends were best left in 2021 and 2022, but a few are here to stay as we move into 2023. Keep reading to learn the top business communication trends of 2023.
Perfecting communication in a business environment requires active listening, interpersonal skills, and keeping up with the current communication trends that work for your team. Improve your company's internal communication with these four trends:
Team collaboration is crucial to a productive business. Whether your team is in-person or not, you’ll likely use at least one communication platform to communicate and collaborate.
Software like Slack, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams have become communication staples for many teams. These platforms have allowed teams to communicate via a singular channel and avoid common barriers to communication.
When choosing the right communication platform for your team, keep it simple and be careful to offer only a few applications.
Many companies held private servers on-site pre-pandemic. But, as employees work from home, these servers cause blocks for many teams. This caused a shift towards cloud platforms that could maintain the safety and security of the company information without any of the slow-downs that come with on-premises servers.
Now, as many companies are bringing their employees back into the office, there are questions about whether or not on-site servers should return. But if we’ve learned anything over the past few years, it’s that flexibility is essential, and cloud-based platforms are the key to being flexible.
The privacy of data has become a hot topic. Everyone wants to ensure that their data is not being sold or used without their permission. And so, the privacy of your team should be a top priority in 2023.
This means choosing secure messaging platforms and keeping private information out of unsecured chats or storage locations to keep the privacy of everyone as a top priority.
Podcasts have long been growing in popularity, but this year, a new way of using podcasts appeared: internal podcasts. More companies are using podcasts inside their organizations as a more engaging way to communicate. They offer the perfect medium to share information that would have otherwise meant long emails or meetings.
From onboarding to company-wide updates, an internal podcast is a trend we’ve seen a lot of this year, and we don’t expect it to go anywhere anytime soon.
Business success hinges upon external stakeholders. From customers to investors, maintaining good external communication is essential, no matter your industry. Improve your company's external communication with these four trends:
If you tried to reach a customer service representative for most companies at the beginning of the pandemic, you likely heard, “due to high call volume, wait times are longer than expected.” While many companies struggled to manage the influx of calls and support requests, using AI to boost customer service efficiency became a top trend, and it’s here to stay.
From automated chatbots on websites to automated phone answering systems and conversation transcriptions, AI has shaped how companies can assist customers. Not only do these systems help answer customer questions faster, but they also help take the load off of your support team.
Quick messaging platforms have seen a rise in popularity for both brands and consumers. Text messaging has become the top communication tool for Americans younger than 50, and businesses have quickly started taking advantage of this. With a 98% open rate and a 45% response rate, text messaging is outranking email as a marketing tool. This is a trend that will only continue to grow.
Customers are also choosing to DM brands on social media as a preferred point of contact. Social media DM’s offer a quick and more personal way to chat with a brand. That’s why more and more companies are putting resources into social media DMs. This communication trend is here to stay, so if your business has social media profiles, ensure you keep up with messages.
With the rise of TikTok and the popularity of short-form videos on social media channels, companies can easily share their brand through video. Creating these short videos offers a chance to make simple, authentic videos right from a cell phone that has the opportunity to reach millions of people.
The social media landscape changes quickly, and preferred platforms can change often, but short-form video likely isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
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Privacy and trust aren’t just internal communication trends. The privacy of data is top of mind for many consumers. Many customers are now choosing not to do business with companies that do not offer the privacy of their personal information. As many as 34% of people are willing to switch service providers over data-sharing policies.
This means choosing secure messaging platforms, keeping private information out of unsecured chats or storage locations, and making your company's privacy policies easy to find and read.
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Main photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash
