UNIT 3: Brief business messages

Crafting messages for digital

channels
PHD (C) VALERIA PUGA ÁLVAREZ
Media choices
for brief
messages
• Social networks
• Content-sharing sites
• Email
• Messaging
• Blogging and microblogging
• Podcasting
 When you want to make a formal
impression

When When you are legally required to provide

information in printed form
we migh not
need of digital When you want to stand out from the flood
channels of digital messages

When you need a permanent, unchangeable,

or secure record
Compositional modes for digital and social
media

Conversations. Although they take place via writing, some forms of digital communication function
more like real-time conversations than the sharing of written documents.

Comments and critiques. One of the most powerful aspects of social media is the opportunity for
interested parties to express opinions and provide feedback, whether it’s leaving comments on a blog
post or reviewing products on an e-commerce site.
 Orientations. The ability to help people find their way through an unfamiliar system or subject is a valuable writing skill
and a talent that readers greatly appreciate.

Summaries. At the beginning of an article or webpage, a summary functions as a miniature version of the document, giving
readers all the key points while skipping over details. At the end of an article or webpage, a summary functions as a review,
reminding readers of the key points they’ve just read.

Reference materials. One of the greatest benefits of the Internet is providing vast quantities of reference materials—
numerical or textual information that people typically don’t read in a linear way but rather search through to find particular
data points, trends, or other details.

Compositional modes for digital and social media

Compositional modes for digital and
social media
Teasers. Teasers intentionally withhold key pieces of information as a way to pull readers or listeners into a
story or other document. Teasers are widely used in marketing and sales messages, such as a short message on
the outside of an envelope that promises important information on the inside.

Status updates and announcements. If you use social media frequently, much of your writing will involve
status updates and announcements. However, don’t post trivial information that only you are likely to find
interesting. Post updates that readers will find useful, and include only the information they need.

Tutorials. Given the community nature of social media, the purpose of many messages is to share how-to
advice. Becoming known as a reliable expert is a great way to build customer loyalty to your company while
enhancing your own personal value.
Social networks
Online services that help people and
organizations form connections and
share information, have become a
major force in both internal and
external business communication in
recent years. In addition to
Facebook, a variety of public and
private social networks are used by
businesses and professionals.
Categories of social
networks

Public, general-purpose networks. Facebook is the largest and best-known of these

networks.

Public, specialized networks. In contrast to Facebook’s universal approach, many public

networks focus on the needs and interests of one specific audience, such as entrepreneurs,
small-business owners, professionals in a particular industry, product enthusiasts, or music
fans. The most widely known of these is LinkedIn, with its emphasis on career- and sales-
related networking.

Private networks. Some companies have built private social networks for internal use. The
Mexican building materials company Cemex keeps its 40,000-plus global employees connected
through a private collaboration and networking system called Cemex Shift, for example.
Business communication
uses for social networks
Integrating company workforces.- Ex: Finding experts, mentors, and other important
contacts.

Fostering collaboration. Networks can play a major role in collaboration by identifying

the best people, both inside the company and at other companies, to collaborate on
projects.

Building communities. Social networks are a natural tool for bringing together
communities of practice (people who engage in similar work) and communities of
interest (people who share enthusiasm for a particular product or activity).

Socializing brands and companies. According to one survey of company executives,

socialization now accounts for more than half of a company’s or brand’s global
reputation.
Business communication uses for social networks

Understanding target markets. With hundreds of millions of people

expressing themselves via social media, you can be sure that smart companies
are listening.

Recruiting employees and business partners. Companies use social

networks to find potential employees, short-term contractors, subject matter
experts, product and service suppliers, and business partners

Connecting with sales prospects. Salespeople on networks such as

LinkedIn can use their network connections to identify potential buyers and
then to ask for introductions through those shared connections.

Supporting customers.

Extending the organization

Crowdspeaking. Companies, nonprofits, musicians, authors, and others can

use crowdspeaking to “boost a signal” by taking advantage of the social reach
of their supporters
 Generated-content sites: YouTube, Flickr, Yelp, and other user-generated
content (UGC) sites, in which users rather than website owners contribute
most or all of the content, have become serious business tools. On YouTube,
for example, companies post everything from product demonstrations and TV
commercials to company profiles and technical support explanations. A
branded channel on YouTube lets a company organize all its videos in one
place, making it easy for visitors to browse the selection or subscribe to get
automatic updates of future videos.
Content sharing
sites
Content-curation sites: In many fields of business, so much original content
is already available that sometimes the biggest value a communicator can offer
audiences is guiding them to the best of what’s out there, rather than creating
new content. Similar to what museum curators do when they decide which
pieces in their collection to display, business communicators can find and
share valuable material with the audiences through content curation.
Ex:Pinterest.
Writing effective emails
 Messaging

Messaging is a diverse category, and various systems offer

a variety of capabilities.

They range from semipublic systems such as standard

text messaging on mobile phones, in which anyone with
your phone number can send you a message, to private
systems that are closed to anyone outside of invited
members.

The popular Slack and other enterprise or workgroup

messaging systems are catching on with many businesses
because they do a better job of enabling and capturing the
communication flows that teams, departments, and other
groups need in order to work together successfully.

Auto-mated messaging bots can participate in simple

conversational exchanges and assist users with various
business tasks
Advantages of messaging
It mimics voice conversation to a high degree.

With closed, private systems, administrators can choose

who is allowed to participate.

Spare users from many of the overload problems and

security threats that plague mail.

It's the best choice when senders want messages to be

seen and acted on immediately.
 Disadvantages
of messaging

Users of all systems are at the mercy of other

users’ typing speed and accuracy.

Messaging systems vary widely in their

levels of security and privacy, and public
systems aren’t as secure as private,
enterprise-level systems.

Like email, messaging is a lean medium

with less ability to convey nuances and
nonverbal signals, which increases the
chances of misinterpretation.
 Unless a messaging conversation or meeting is scheduled, make yourself
unavailable when you need to focus on other work.

If you’re not on a secure system, don’t send confidential information.

Guidelines Be extremely careful about sending personal messages.

for succesful Don’t use messaging for lengthy, complex messages; email and other formats are

messages better for those.

Try to avoid carrying on multiple conversations at once in order to minimize the

chance of sending messages to the wrong people or making one person wait while
you tend to another conversation.

Follow all security guidelines designed to keep your company’s information and
systems safe from attack.
 Advantages and disadvantages of What's up
Discussion groups
Blogging and
microblogging
Communicating with personal
Communicating style and an authentic voice. No
“corporate voice.

Delivering new information

Delivering quickly.

Choosing topics of peak interest

Choosing to audiences.

Encouraging audiences to join

Encouraging the conversation.
 Business applications of
blogs
• Anchoring the social media presence.
• Project management and team communication.
• Internal news and employee engagement.
• Customer support
• Public relations and media relations.
• Recruiting
• Policy and issue discussions.
• Crisis communication.
• Market research.
• Brainstorming.
• Word-of-mouth marketing.
Community building
Microblogging
A microblog is a variation on
blogging in which messages are
restricted to specific character
counts. Twitter is the best known
of these systems, but many others
exist. Some companies have
private microblogging systems
for internal use only.
Tips for effective blogging
Tips for effective blogging
Podcasting