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6: Crafting Message for Digital Channels
6-1
CHAPTER 6: CRAFTING MESSAGES FOR DIGITAL CHANNELS
CHAPTER SUMMARY
professionalism. Email can seem a bit “old school” in comparison to social networks and other
technologies, but it is still an important medium for business communication.
An important guideline for effectively using email and other digital channels is to engage in the
three-step process of planning, writing, and completing, even if it means taking only a few
minutes to do so prior to sending (or posting) your message. Businesses and other organizations
such as one-way teleconferences in which a speaker provides information without expecting to
engage in conversation with the listeners.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Digital Channels for Business Communication
Media Choices for Brief Messages
Compositional Modes for Digital Media
Creating Content for Social Media
Optimizing Content for Mobile Devices
Social Networks
Business Communication Uses of Social Networks
Strategies for Business Communication on Social Networks
Information and Media Sharing Sites
User-Generated Content Sites
Content Curation Sites
Community Q&A Sites
Email
Planning Email Messages
Writing Email Messages
Completing Email Messages
Instant Messaging and Text Messaging
Understanding the Benefits and Risks of IM
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Adapting the Three-Step Process for Successful IM
Blogging and Microblogging
Understanding the Business Applications of Blogging
Adapting the Three-Step Process for Successful Blogging
Microblogging
Podcasting
Chapter Review and Activities
TEACHING NOTES
Digital Channels for Business Communication
messages:
Social networking
Information and content sharing sites
Email
Instant messaging (IM)
Text messaging
Blogging and microblogging
Podcasting
When you want to make a formal impression
When you are legally required to provide information in printed form
risk of miscommunication and unnecessary conflict.
You can succeed with written communication in virtually all electronic media by using one of
nine compositional modes:
Conversations
Comments and critiques
Orientations
Summaries
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successful content for social media:
Remember that it’s a conversation, not a lecture or a sales pitch.
Write informally but not carelessly.
Create concise, specific, and informative headlines.
Get involved and stay involved.
Be transparent and honest.
Think before you post!
Location-based services
Gamification
Augmented reality
Wearable technology
Social Networks
Public, general-purpose networks
Public, specialized networks
Private networks
Social networks are most beneficial when all participants give and receive information, advice,
Social networks are a great fit for many business communication needs. Here are some of the
key applications of social networks for internal and external business communication:
Integrating company workforces
Fostering collaboration
Building communities
Socializing brands and companies
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Choose the best compositional mode for each message, purpose, and network.
Offer valuable content to members of your online communities.
Join existing conversations.
Information and Media Sharing Sites
Social networks allow members to share information and media items as part of the networking
experience, but a variety of systems have been designed specifically for sharing content. The
possibilities can be divided into three types:
User-generated content (UGC) sites
Content curation sites
Community Q&A sites
To make user-generated content effective, make sure it is:
Valuable: provide content that people want to see and to share with colleagues.
Easy: make material easy to find, consume, and share.
efforts.
Content curation is an alternative to traditional newsfeeds—someone with expertise or interest in
a particular field collects and republishes material on a particular topic and makes it easy to
assemble attractive online magazines or portfolios on specific topics.
business communication.
Community Q&A sites allow visitors to answer questions posted by other visitors. Examples in
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Email
The indiscriminate use of email has lowered its appeal in the eyes of many professionals. Some
managers are making changes to reduce or even eliminate its use for internal communication.
However, email still has compelling advantages that will keep it in steady use in many
companies. Email is:
Universal—everyone has it
Read at the recipient’s leisure
Since sending an email is so easy, it is often overused and misused. Make sure every email you
send is absolutely necessary.
you’re writing about.
The casual style used for personal email is inappropriate for most business communication. The
expectations of writing quality for business email are higher than for personal email, and the
Make sure your subject line is informative and compelling.
Do more than just describe or classify your message—build interest with key words,
quotations, directions, or questions.
Email can present challenges when you need to express particular emotional nuances, whether
communication and for formal internal communication.
Take a few moments to revise and proofread your message before you send it.
Lean in favor of simplicity when it comes to producing your email messages. (A clean, easily
end of your message.
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Before you send your message, pause and verify what you’re doing.
Instant Messages and Text Messages
Business-grade IM systems feature the following components:
Basic chat
Presence awareness (the ability to see quickly which people are at their desk and
available to IM)
Remote display of documents
Marketing
Customer service
Security
Crisis management
Process monitoring
Rapid response to urgent messages
Lower cost than phone calls and email
Potential drawbacks of using IM:
Security problems
Need for user authentication
Incompatibility between competing IM systems
Spim
Although instant messages are often conceived, written, and sent within a matter of seconds, the
principles of the three-step process still apply, particularly when communicating with customers
and other important audiences:
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Writing instant messages: As with email, the appropriate writing style for business IM is
free.
To use IM effectively, pay attention to some important behavioral issues:
Potential for constant interruptions
Ease of accidentally mixing personal and business messages
Regardless of the system you’re using, you can make IM more efficient and effective by heeding
these tips:
Be courteous; avoid interrupting someone and send an email or other type of message
instead.
Follow all security guidelines.
Blogging and Microblogging
Blogs are online journals that are much easier to personalize and update than a conventional
Communicating with personal style and an authentic voice
Delivering new information quickly
Anchoring the social media presence: a central hub that the company or individual owns
and controls make an ideal social media hub
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journalists
Recruiting: telling potential employees about the benefits of working at a firm
Crisis communication: providing up-to-the-minute information during emergencies,
correcting misinformation, or responding to rumors
contributions
Employee engagement: encouraging communication across all levels of a company
Customer education: help current and potential customers understand and use your
products and services
Word-of-mouth marketing: make a point of providing links to other blogs and websites
that interest customers
The planning step is particularly important when launching a blog:
Pay attention to your audience, your purpose, and your scope.
Carefully consider the information you are including. (Others could link to it months or
years from now.)
style.
Successful blog content also needs to be interesting, valuable to readers, and as brief as
possible.
Completing messages for blogs is quite easy:
Proofread to correct any errors.
Post using your blogging system’s tools.
A microblog is a variation on blogging in which messages are sharply restricted to specific
character counts.
information.
Like regular blogging, microblogging is a popular medium for business communication. It is
useful for the following:
Providing company updates
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Announcing headlines of new blog posts
Providing customer service
When you’re microblogging for business communication, make sure messages are part of your
Podcasting
teleconferences and training.
While not as easy as blogging, podcasting is a fairly simple process for any business with basic
computer systems.
The three-step writing process works well for podcasting:
information, and organize your material.
Be sure to include previews, transitions, and reviews.
Consider integrating your podcasting efforts with a related blog.
for a wider public audience.
The process for recording and distributing podcasts can vary depending on such factors as the
production quality you need to achieve and whether you plan to record in a studio setting or on
the go.
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OVERCOMING DIFFICULTIES STUDENTS OFTEN FACE
proper form for the situation assigned.
Most students will already be frequent email users with preconceived ideas of what is acceptable
communication. However, habits developed from writing chatty, lengthy email messages for
friends or family are unacceptable when writing business email. Overcoming existing habits will
require focused discussion of email messages that present the writer as a competent employee of
Students often don’t take the time to correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation in email
messages. In addition, many other business email issues will be new to them. They may not
know how to set up electronic signature files to be attached to outgoing messages. Plus, they may
not be familiar with providing personalization through salutations and closing lines. Stress issues
such as keeping paragraphs short, limiting email to one topic and one screen, and organizing the
Many students will not know about the cc or bcc fields in an email template. Be sure to explain
when each is used. Students often think that they should put their own name in the cc field
because they will be keeping an electronic copy.
Not all homes have Internet access; therefore, some students may not be experienced in sending
Students may have learned different formats for business letters in other classes or even in
elementary or secondary school. You may hear comments such as, “You mean that what I
learned in the fifth grade isn’t right?” or “I’ve been doing letters like this ever since high school.”
Before students write any messages related to this chapter, hold a brief class discussion. Ask
students to identify who their audience is and the form the communication should take (letter,
memo, email). Require students to analyze the purpose of the letter and probable reader reaction.
