Course Content
1. The elements of communication
2. Internal communication plan
3. Metrics
4. Conclusions
Communication 4.0 represents a challenge due to the enormous speed of digital transformation. We have reviewed external communication processes with an emphasis on the digital tools needed to effectively communicate our ideas and reach our target audience, stressing the creation of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. We have also seen the need for a digital marketing strategy that allows us to define our objectives and the subjacent principles that govern any marketing proposal. On the other hand, we have seen the creation of an internal communication plan, highlighting the most remarkable features and the need for open and fluid communication between employees. We closed our module with a brief approach to social media metrics to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of our communication strategies. In short, we focused on practical creation, promoting a step-by-step vision of development and implementation. We hope this module can contribute to achieving your goals and help you to lead your future communication strategy. Remember that adaptation is a fundamental competence of the creation process and, therefore, we want to encourage you to be updated on the trends of communication 4.0 and to make the most of your efforts.
Communication tools
Do you have any social media accounts? If the answer is yes, how much time do you spend interacting with them? Did you know that the average time spent on social media is around 6 hours and 43 minutes online each day?
If we look at the image below, we see that 3.80 billion are active social media users. That number is quite impressive, right?
In this chapter, we will dive into the common communication tools users use and how we can extract the best of them. Probably, you already know some of them as they are widely well-known. However, have you ever managed a Business Facebook page? Or have you ever thought strategically about the use of your social media?
What you want to communicate and how you want to communicate it to your potential users are essential. The use of communication tools when speaking about small enterprises or businesses should be taken into consideration as the base of your beginning. Communication 4.0 has changed the way communication works and the way you communicate can potentially increase the number of users or potential clients.
Back in the 60s, the idea of consumerism was focused on selling products to millions of people (third industry revolution). The product was homogeneous, and the importance was to make the most profit from it. Advertisement started and created a huge impact on society’s mindset. On the contrary, today the idea conceived has slightly changed. Companies don’t tend to focus only on profits, but rather on users. How will my user interact with my product? What defines me (brand)? And how do I make difference? These are questions you should have in your mind when giving your first steps into Communication 4.0.
There are some key points when approaching our users, that might help you while communicating with them. Use social media accordingly to the purpose of the channel. This might seem obvious but don’t use the same content for the same channel. Emails are commonly used for formal communication and social media is used to communicate to a large number of people. Thus, a story on Instagram might be short with keywords of what you want to communicate.
Regarding the basic communication tools within the context of Communication 4.0. We have created a summary of each type (internal and external) to help you understand the main features of each one of them. Nowadays, learning is accessible, and many courses can help you to improve your communication skills.
Those are just an example of the enormous heterogeneity of communication tools. There are many of them and each one of them has its style and features. Therefore, choose the tool you feel more confident with and master it. Once you feel confident enough with the tool you are currently using, try other ones to see if they are appropriate for you. Nevertheless, having in mind your target audience, embrace the tool your target audience is using, otherwise, you will not be able to communicate with them and most importantly receive feedback about your content and interaction.
In the image above we have shortlisted some of the most popular Social Media Platforms in 2021. In this graphic, some of the social media platforms (WeChat, DouYin, and ShniaWeibo) are mostly used in China, however, the five most popular social media platforms stressed in this graphic are widely used in Europe. As mentioned before, it is not about knowing all the existing tools, but knowing how to use them effectively. Hence, we are going to explain some tips and tricks about content creation regarding external communication strategies.
Put your User first: Always keep in mind that you are creating for your user, so try to let behind those aspects that can keep away the attention from your user. If your target audience is elder people, how would you approach them? Think about communicating strategically.
Keep it short: As we are highly connected and we receive a big amount of information, try to keep it simple and short. Having said that, a huge text on a social media platform might not be effective, if you want to share it, link to your blog or webpage where the user can easily find it. Don’t push your users to information overload.
I think this might be a mistake as you are not describing empathy in the following sentences. Maybe replace it with: Keep it short: or something like that?
What do I want to share? the publications you make should have an internal purpose behind them, otherwise, people will not feel engaged and interact with your content. Plan what are your priorities in terms of communications and post accordingly. One of the most common programs that you can design for free is CANVA (https://www.canva.com/) The program offers different elements like layouts, texts, and covers, that you can edit easily. Thus, it is recommended for beginners and intermediate users.
Explore what others do: Don’t be afraid of learning from others, absorb as much influence as possible from different profiles to construct yours. Check what others do and how they do it and feel open to showing your interest, it might be helpful and good pieces of advice are always welcome