An Effective Communication Strategy that Works

Now, more than ever, businesses are taking their work online to create a new normal as stay-at-home orders take place around the world. The increase in remote work calls for more virtual communication than we have ever seen.  Sure, phone, email, and video meetings have been around for some time, but as more employees are moving to remote work, digital communication has never been so important. 

Phone, email, even video conferencing are nothing new.  What is new is the way we use these forms of communication to keep business operating in these changing times.  While some companies may have been completely remote already, others are still learning the ropes, finding out how to navigate this new world of virtual communication.  Yet with all of the communication tools, services, and technology that are buzzing, a recent study by SocketLabs shows that email is actually becoming the preferred form of communication in many newly remote industries. So with all of the buzzing technology and communication tools coming to market, why is email still so relevant? Let’s find out. 

Efficiency in Email 

Why Email is so Effective for Internal Communication

When it comes to communicating efficiently, email is and always has been an extremely powerful medium.  Unlike phone calls, emails are typically to-the-point and offer recipients the ability to respond how and when they choose.  Meetings and phone calls typically eat up valuable time with greetings, small talk, and can interrupt employee workflows.  An email allows the recipient to continue working and address tasks or communications as they choose to prioritize them.  Email can be answered at any time of the day/night and offer remote employees the ability to manage their time and productivity to maximize their efficiency. 

Of course, email falls short for things like team collaboration or brainstorming but still allows for clear follow-up communication to these virtual meetings/calls that can help attendees understand clearly what was discussed in the meeting and how tasks are being prioritized.  Which brings me to my next point on email, organization. 

Emails are always saved and stored on your work computer, giving you a clear paper trail of what is currently going on in your company and what your tasks are.  Even if something is forgotten, you can always go through your inbox for a perfect refresher of your tasks and communications. 

Mark Cuban recently spoke in a productivity article on inc.com where he sums up the effectiveness of email in three points, saying “One, I can do it any time of the night. Two, it gives me a tickler file of all the things I’m doing, what’s undone, or unread. I try to keep those to under 30. And three, if someone emailed me 10, 15, 20 years ago, I still have it … I can go back and look it up and figure out what we talked about. That makes me even more productive. In a  work-at-home environment, with everyone using email and the cloud … I try to encourage people to do it the same way.”

Transactional and Marketing Email 

Aside from internal business, email is becoming increasingly essential in B2C and B2B communication as well.  Whether its marketing or transactional, email is more important now more than ever as businesses need a way to communicate critical information directly to their customers and stakeholders.  With some businesses closed, some open, and some figuring out a new way to operate, customers and stakeholders are looking for updates.  Email has been and will continue to be one of the best ways for businesses to communicate with their customers directly. 

Some eCommerce businesses are seeing a surge in demand through their online platforms.  This makes emails receipts and confirmation orders that much more important.  A bad email platform could lead to highly delayed emails and missed opportunities/lack of customer confidence especially when it comes to order confirmations and receipts. 

Optimizing Email Communication

Transactional and marketing email can be hard for businesses especially as some see surges in activity with online orders. What’s important is that businesses work with the right email services to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of their email.  Whether it’s communicating to your co workers, or sending important marketing and transactional emails to your customers, email is more important now than ever before as remote work and communication become a new norm.  Finding the right email partner now will help avoid communication delays and help provide an easier transition to the remote work life that so many across the world are experiencing. 

If you want a partner in email that provides the technology and the expert support to get your email system running at peak performance, visit our website to learn more about who we are or check out some of our email best practices content here.