EFFECTIVE CORPORATE COMMUNICATION

[Monwarul Islam Rebel]

WHAT IS CORPORATE COMMUNICATION?

Before jumping into the guide, let's first understand exactly what, and why, we are changing.

Corporate communication or business communication is the way that a company chooses to communicate both internally and externally. This communication is based on a strategy built around the company's brand, values, and how they wish to be perceived.

INTERNAL VS EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION

Internal and external communication differs and depends on who the recipient is.

Internal communication is designed to be used inside the corporation; this type of communication can be verbal, written, or sent digitally. Some examples could be - memos sent to employees, meetings, and even collaborative tools like Slack and Monday.com.

On the other hand, external communication is designed to be sent outside of the company. That refers to how the company communicates with its audience and customers; for example through marketing, advertisement, customer service, etc.

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO HAVE A GOOD COMMUNICATION STRATEGY?

A well-thought strategy can convey the business's mission, vision, and values in a clear way to key stakeholders, audiences, buyers, and even their own employees. This also builds a sense of transparency and evokes a feeling of trust in regard to the organization.

An effective communication strategy can also:

• Avoid miscommunications via clearer messaging;
• Contribute to brand awareness. A well-thought-out communication strategy becomes easily recognizable and helps your audience associate it easily with YOUR organization;
• Keep employees engaged and involved with the company;
• Attract new talent that would know exactly what to expect from the company.

HOW TO IMPROVE CORPORATE COMMUNICATION

This year has been following a trend that has been growing since the beginning of the pandemic, and it will most likely continue to grow. Communication, both internal and external, has become more personal and immediate than ever before. That means that communication strategies in 2023 will be predominantly focusing on technology, trust, honesty, and empathy.

• PRIORITIZING THE EMPLOYEE'S EXPERIENCE IS KEY

Improving the quality of your employee's work-life can have a major impact on your company. According to an IBM and Globoforce Survey, companies that are investing more in the employee's experience report nearly three times the return on assets.

As mentioned above, having effective internal communication allows employees to be more engaged and involved with the company. Paying attention to employees' well-being, making sure to give them feedback, and allowing them to have a voice and be heard are all extremely important aspects that shouldn't be taken lightly. These actions lead to empowerment and drive a more positive experience for employees, which, in turn, leads to a considerable improvement in their performance.

  2. COMMUNICATION AND ORGANIZATIONAL APPS ARE THE WAY TO GO


Having a direct and accessible communication channel can be extremely beneficial for your business and one approach is to use a client collaboration portal. A good communication app allows us to do more in a shorter time period.

Rather than doing the usual back and forth when communicating via email, an app can help boost productivity, reduce misunderstandings, build collaborations, and make problem-solving way faster. It also gives your team a chance to bond, without disrupting their work activities.

The same goes for organizational apps. Trying to maintain a work-life balance is already no easy job, therefore, having task-management apps can help you and your team stay organized and focused - maximizing productivity.

And because we, at Paperturn, love technology and efficiency, here's a quick list of apps we would recommend:

Communication apps

• Slack
• Zoom
• Microsoft Teams
• Flock

Organizational apps

• Monday.com
• AnyDo
• Trello
• ClickUp

  3. BET ON VISUAL COMMUNICATION

Visual content has been on the rise for quite some time, and now with the arrival of TikTok, visual communication has become more powerful than ever. Just a (very good) guess - it looks like visual communication is here to stay.

To reinforce our belief, here's some data:

Over 500 million Instagram accounts use Stories every day, and 4 million businesses use Story ads every month. 58% of people said that they have become more interested in a brand/product after seeing it on Instagram Stories.

Three days after people hear a piece of information, they're likely to remember only 10% of what they heard. However, if a relevant image is paired with that same information, people tend to retain 65% of the information, three days later.

Facebook posts with images see 2.3 times more engagement than those without images.

66% of consumers would prefer to watch short videos to learn about a product or service rather than read a text-based explanation. 



Photos, GIFs, illustrations, memes, and especially videos are some forms of content that attract an audience the most. Investing in visual content can improve message understanding, grow your engagement rate, considerably improve brand awareness, and of course, increase revenue and ROI.

4. FAST, DIGITAL COMMUNICATION IS TAKING OVER

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that the world changes constantly, and businesses should be able to adapt and keep up with it. Due to the lockdown, companies had to redefine their business model, and those changes are likely to stay for good. Many have already incorporated work-from-home positions, virtual selling, and online meetings, while others have completely changed their business model, and have gone 100% digital.

This fast adaptation is also reflected when referring to internal and external communication. People are online today more than ever, and even more so with the ease of finding information. Businesses should opt for personalized and targeted communication strategies that focus on technology and agility. No strategy should be final.

EFFECTIVE DIGITAL CORPORATE COMMUNICATION SOFTWARE

As mentioned above, everything is becoming digitized. With the lockdown, many companies had to adapt to a paperless, and completely connected environment, and many decided to continue that practice due to all the benefits this change had brought to their organization.

But don't just take our word for it, take a look at these numbers that the SAP Center for Business Insights and Oxford Economics, and IDC have collected:

• 80% of organizations that made a digital transformation, report increased profits, and 85% say they have increased their market share;
• 70% of leaders have seen significant or transformational value from digital transformation in customer satisfaction and engagement;
• By the end of 2023, it's expected that 53% of all investments for communication and IT will be in digital transformation.

The motto here is that it's "easy, fast, and innovative". A great way to carry out corporate communication, that involves those keywords, are flipbooks.

Flipbooks are interactive, online HTML5 publications that have the look and feel of a real, page-turning publication. They can substitute both paper-based and conventional PDFs, and have tons of engaging features.

CONCLUSION
The world has been through a lot of changes in the past two years - things no one could ever predict, and, therefore, companies should be constantly adapting. It's the age of technology, empathy, and fast-consuming information. That's why we have prepared this insightful guide on effective corporate communication with tips that, if well implemented, will help you optimize your business model in 2022.