Top Five Communication Insights for 2008

There have been many "Top 10" lists proclaiming that they know best ways to for corporations to communicate with their target markets, but very few focus how to communicate. To help solve this problem, I have pulled a little content from each list compiling my own "Top Five Communication Trends of 2008" list. Instead of listing the most popular or innovative ways to communicate with your employees, this list focuses on helping companies understand the different mediums of communication and how to utilize them effectively.

The first four trends on this list are from HumaNext's "Top Ten Communication Trends for 2008." Some great insights from this list include:

1.) "Social Media and 2.)Web 2.00: The revolution is here. The emerging technologies of web.2 are causing a transformation in the communication profession. These technologies include the use of Blogs to communicate with employees and customers; the use of platforms like social networks and wiki to achieve sharing and collaboration, and other new tools and technologies like podcasts, video-casts, and others. But beyond the technology, Social Media demands a basic shift in the way communicators see their role and approach their stake holders."


3.) "Electronic Publications: Communicators are increasingly looking at electronic publishing to supplement or replace their print publications. Because of its significant advantages in the areas of speed and cost of delivery, electronic newsletters are used more often to communicate with customers and employees."


4.) "Content is King & Conversation is Queen: With all the changes in technologies, content remains the primary focus of communicators, and it's their main tool for informing and influencing audiences. If content is king, then conversation is queen. The organization as a conversation is an emerging area of interest to many communication executives and training professionals alike."

5.) Blogging: Blogs land at number five on my Top Communication Insights for 2008 list for many different reasons, but corporations must understand corporate blog basics before the dive in to this new world of communication, or risk failure. In May of 2008, interactive Consultant Jennifer Slegg outlined why corporate blogging is so important to a company's marketing strategy. Here are a few juicy tidbits.

"It is becoming more and more important for corporations - as well as businesses of all sizes - to have a blog in today’s world where so many people own computers. But if your business has put off starting a blog for far too long, here is why you should really be blogging, and how it can be advantageous to your overall business marketing strategy.

Human face
You don’t really want people to think of your company as “big box” or “typical corporate America”. And blogging can actually put a human face to your company, since the company now has a voice it can relate to when it reads your blog. When you consider how much money companies put into creating a human face for their business, doing it with a company blog is a relatively inexpensive way to humanize your corporation.

Controlling the message
Public Relations tends to want to run far, far away from blogs. But now, more are embracing blogs as a way to control the company’s message and how they release it. You can now have a fireside chat with your company’s CEO in the format of a blog interview, where responses can be monitored. If there is a scandal or other negative publicity surrounding your company, you already have a platform ready to release information that doesn’t involve sending press releases to the media or subjecting your CEO or other employees to a press conference.

Excitement and anticipation
Companies can easily use a blog to give hints and tidbits about new product releases or services well before the actual launch so you can get people excited about what you are going to announce before you did it. Since press releases are rarely sent to announce something your company hasn’t done yet, a blog is an easy way to get the word out and build anticipation."

As companies venture out into the ever growing "new" world of Social Media, and communications, they must understand that they have only two choices: (1) adopt and grow, or (2) ignore the new wave of communication mediums and get swept away with the tide. For more information on the topics listed in this blog, check out previous posts, and our other blogs at Internet Marketing Voodoo.

Blogs as Online Life Raft

After a recent crisis, Jet Blue Airlines responded to bloggers in their own medium, according to Adweek. They acted in strong contrast to Taco Bell’s rat scandal, and have come out looking better because of it.

When a company joins in the discussion online, it become someone to talk to, instead of talked about. When people feel they can talk to companies on blogs and other online media, they feel closer to the company. It loses the faceless, corporate image and becomes like a friend.

Brands need to be as comfortable using online discussion tools as their customers. These situations can make or break a brand, so a company’s response must be tailored to the desires of consumers.