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 pre-COVID time, but a few are here to stay. Keep reading to learn the top business communication trends of 2024.
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 six 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.
Having a platform for quick and effective communication is essential in the workplace. Lark Allen, Content Marketing Specialist at Drive Research, says that “this type of communication has a long-term positive effect on employee engagement. When staff knows they can be in quick contact with anyone on their team, this promotes effective communication which enhances their overall experience.”
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.
Data privacy 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 2024.
This means choosing secure messaging platforms and keeping private information out of unsecured chats or storage locations to keep everyone's privacy a top priority.
Jason Tebeau President and CEO of Da Vinci says, “in today’s fast-paces and often anonymous digital world, ethical dilemmas like privacy, security, and misinformation can be common. By practicing ethical communication, we can navigate these challenges and promote a more positive and trustworthy online environment.”
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.
As teams continue to work in hybrid and remote environments, maintaining a positive culture for communication is essential to high-functioning teams.
Steven Ip, owner of Cleanzen Cleaning Services, says, “collaborative digital workspaces will be a trend in 2024….they are the best way to make the team feel like they are in the same room and access everything in one place.”
With more remote teams expanding globally, more teams are working across multiple time zones. While text-communication platforms are an excellent tool for asynchronous communication, video is expected to see a rise in 2024. Unlike text, video allows for higher engagement and can show more emotion.
Alexej Pikovsky CEO and Founder or Nuoptima says, “asynchronous video conferencing can offer more flexibility, convenience, and personalization for remote workers and global teams.”
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 seven 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.
Aldi Agaj, CEO and founder of Alter Learning, is investing in chatbots, “particularly for customer service. We’re ensuring they’re well-implemented, trained on real customer interactions, and regularly maintained to enhance user experience genuinely.”
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.
Dylan Young, Marketing Specialist at CareMax, anticipates “a continued surge in video content, particularly short-form and vertical videos. These engaging formats align perfectly with today’s fast-paced digital landscape.”
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When interacting with consumers, generic content doesn’t garner the same attention and engagement that personalized content does. Customers want content that resonates with them and goes beyond simply including their name in communications with the brand.
Karol Kłaczyński, Head of Product at Brand24, predicts “a greater emphasis on hyper-personalization in business communications.” at Brand24, Karol is “incorporating AI to analyze customer data and craft more targeted messages” to create stronger resonance with customers.
How we communicate with customers shouldn’t be one-way. With new ways to communicate, it’s now much easier to create content that creates resonates with customers and allows them to engage more with your brand.
Lisa Geller, Senior Content Writer Specialist at Eventify, says, “we anticipate a surge in dominance of interactive content. Businesses will increasingly leverage immersive and engaging formats such as live streaming, interactive webinars, and virtual events to enhance audience interaction and participation.”
Business is no longer local, with new technology, many companies are now interacting with customers all over the world. With that globalization comes the need to communicate in languages that your target market can understand, and in the past, that translation took time and effort that many teams weren’t able to manage.
However, with the introduction of new technology, Farah Kim, Head of Marketing at Winpure, says, “breaking down language barriers becomes even more seamless in 2024 with widespread adoption of real-time language translation tools.”
Photo by Miguel Á. Padriñán
