“Communication, communication, communication.” – similar to the classic phrase “location, location, location,” repeating a word three times has power, and the power of communication can’t be emphasized enough. Whether it’s communication in your personal relationships, or in business, doing it right can only have a positive impact on your life. So, if you’re an entrepreneur, business owner, or even an employee, these are the top five communication trends you need to know about.
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5 Communication Trends You Need to Know About
1. Using AI for customer service
If you didn’t know, Artificial Intelligence was the top communication trend back in 2020. The pandemic and strict lockdown regulations most certainly played a role in shaping this trend, and it has given way to (a lot of) companies making use of this technology. Listen to this fascinating statistic: “By 2024, chatbots are expected to facilitate $142 billion in consumer retail spend, up more than 400% from $2.8 billion in 2019.” Remember when we thought ‘robots’ will replace the work of humans? Well that has changed. AI and chatbots, with the help of humans, will enhance customer service experience by being available to customers 24 hours of the day, and having a phenomenal response rate.
2. Personalization
Personalization comes back to customer experience and it’s another trend you need to know about, and start utilising in your business. Did you know that consumers who connect with a brand emotionally have a 306% higher lifetime value? To connect emotionally, the experience has to be personalized. Personalized marketing, also known as one-to-one marketing, can be implemented by using data, analytics and CRM to really engage with your customers and communicate with them as an individual. Not only will you drive more revenue, you will improve customer experience and most importantly increase brand loyalty.
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3. Using social media to create authentic content
According to Andrew Caravella from Sprout Social, if you want to create authentic content that is relevant to your customers’ interests, you need to take the time to get to know and understand your community. Why is social media so popular? Because it’s all about interacting and connecting with other people. In other words, it’s human and that’s why it works. Engaging with your audience is the key to getting people interested in your content. How? By being thoughtful, playful, personal, authentic and using all the weird and wonderful tools on offer (i.e. emojis, GIFS, hashtags, video, etc.) In other words: have fun and show your audience that you actually care.
4. Video: From live to prerecorded
Take video conferencing to a new level – from live to prerecorded. While we desperately want to bid COVID-19 farewell, the pandemic is still a reality and there are still uncertainties around it. Therefore it is important to leverage the use of video conferencing well into the future. Everything, from Zoom to Google Meet and Microsoft Teams has changed the way we communicate and work. You can keep (and hire) the best employees available – regardless of where they are located – and you can meet your customers by answering their questions in real-time (have you thought about that?), hosting online events (which they can watch later if they aren’t available to attend “live”) and of course make use of video advertising.
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5. Collaborating with Influencers
You’ve heard this before – influencers are the celebrities of our generation. And this trend isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The truth is, many audiences tend to trust influencers more than they trust the actual brand. So, instead of seeing this in a negative light, rather tap into the emotional state of your consumers and meet them where they want to be met. By utilising the power of influencers, you will not only build trust with your audience but also increase brand loyalty. Find influencers who really understand your brand (don’t forget about Gen Z!) and start working to make the relationship with your customer rock solid.