Nine communication channels and social media platforms you need to get to know
Communications are becoming more fragmented
We are seeing a huge growth of choice in communication channels. More and more options are being launched. People are becoming far more personal in the way that they choose to communicate with each other.
There is also a backlash against some of the more established social media platforms. After their takeovers, people are moving away in large numbers from Twitter and Instagram. These numbers aren’t enough to threaten the existence of the platforms, but they are enough to reduce the traction that companies may have had there. And they are enough for it to be important to know where else people are going.
This leads to a big problem for sales people
They must be aware of where their prospects hang out. It is no longer enough to assume that people want to be active on traditional channels. I always ask a prospect where the best place is to communicate with them and which social media platforms they prefer. But it’s no good if I give them a blank stare because they mention an option that I’ve never heard of!
Sales people who stay up to date with ways of messaging and new social media platforms have a much better chance of building personal relationships with their prospects and customers. By being in the right place for the prospect, they have a much better chance of controlling the dialogue and making the sale.
So which platforms should sales people be learning about?
Here’s my rundown of some of the newer channels that I see gaining traction.
Alternatives to WhatsApp
The two big messaging apps that I see gaining significant numbers of users are Telegram and Signal. Signal is owned by a not-for-profit company, whereas Telegram is a more commercial venture. Other than this, both are pretty similar to WhatsApp in terms of 1-2-1 messaging, although Telegram allows larger attachments.
Where Telegram wins out is with its groups functionality. This allows the creation of broadcasting to large groups of people. This is increasingly being adopted as a marketing tactic: some brands have an option to sign up to their Telegram channel. Sales people could send out regular updates via Telegram as well as e-mail.
Messaging groups
Many people are choosing to communicate in more closed groups. This can happen at an enterprise level where companies have adopted their own intranets. However, SMEs are often turning to apps to allow them to communicate efficiently. The best know option for this is Slack. However, Discord is also gaining a lot of traction at the moment, possibly because Slack has begun to limit the functionality of its free option. Discord has a lot more free functionality than Slack.
For more complicated projects with your clients, you may be invited to join one of their groups. Alternatively, creating your own group for a project is a powerful way to make sure that everyone is in the loop. It is a lot more efficient than endless e-mails! Finally, think about creating a discussion group for selected groups of customers or as a way of communicating as a sales team.
Social media
At the time of writing, a lot of Twitter users are worried about what the future holds under the ownership of Elon Musk. So what are the alternatives? The most common alternative is Mastodon. Mastodon is a decentralised social media app. In other words, there is no one central server: individual organisations run different servers. This means that a commercial takeover is pretty much impossible. It does make using the platform more complicated if you have contacts on many different servers. On the plus side, it is a young ecosystem and I have seen some new joiners building significant followings swiftly.
Another option for sharing news and articles is Post. This is a very new application. But it could develop into a good place to start sharing more news about your sector. If you share long-form content, you should also be looking at Medium.
Instagram has also come in for a lot of dislike recently, as Facebook (sorry, Meta) continues to change the algorithm. The favourite alternative here is Vero. Vero has been around for a few years and never really got off the ground. However, it seems to be gaining more traction at the moment. If you are sharing a lot of visual content on social media it is worth considering.
If you have an e-mail newsletter you may find Substack useful. It allows you manage your own newsletter and subscriber list and is a simpler alternative than popular e-mail marketing services. However, it’s functionality is more limited: if you want to run a simple newsletter (and even monetise it) then it works fine. If you need more detailed analytics and subscriber journeys, then you will need to stay with the more established providers.
Will I find lots more customers by using all these channels?
At the moment, probably not. However, sales is about staying ahead of the competition. You will find more and more of your prospects and customers joining these platforms. You will have a huge advantage over your competitors if you are active in these spaces already. You will be the first to welcome potential customers whilst other companies are still working out how to use these news apps.
Here’s an action plan for making the most of these platforms
- Ask your customers their communication preferences and what social media they prefer
- Join any new channels they mention
- Discuss using a production and sales slack or discord group for bigger projects
It’s time to move away from traditional channels
Your prospects and customers are moving. So should you.
