No matter the size, every company (and person!) needs an easy form of digital communication. The internet is now the greatest and most popular platform to advertise and share your business. Social media isn’t just for teenagers sharing photos with their friends anymore; it can be a great platform for your company to advertise and share information while staying up to date with news and ideas from all over the world. Emails allow for seamless communication inside and outside your company. Websites are an easy approach for people across the world to view and learn about your product. No matter the form, these sharing and communication tools can help your company advertise and share ideas internationally. Here are the top 13 sharing and communication tools that most people are using so you can maximize your brand reach:
With over 2 billion users, your company could advertise on the biggest social media networking site in the world. Facebook can help you create a page specifically for your business. With this page, you’ll be able to advertise and share updates and insights of your company. Facebook also has a Facebook Messenger app so you can connect and contact individual customers. With this direct messaging features, you can answer any questions and concerns from your pages’ viewers. Facebook users are from across the world with different ages and interests, making it a great platform to expand your brand.
Twitter is the perfect social networking app to get your point across fast. Each “tweet” is only allowed a limited amount of characters so you can advertise your ideas easily and quickly. Twitter is used to socialize, stay up-to-date on news, and promote brands. Users can even shop and buy your products directly through your tweets. With Twitter, you can popularize your brand and product while keeping your ads fun and simple!
LinkedIn is a unique social networking app as it is used specifically for professional purposes. Sharing your resume is easy, as each user can make their own page to show off their work experiences. With this site, you can connect with other professionals as well as find your perfect employees. LinkedIn is an effortless way to expand and grow your business network.
Lithium
Unlike most social networking sites, Lithium allows your company to see exactly how successful your marketing campaigns are. It is able to gather the data from your brand promotions on each social media site you use — from Facebook to Twitter to Youtube. The site can advise you as to when is the best place and time to publish your ads in order to make your advertisements as effective as possible.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is a site that combines every tool you need in marketing to promote your brand in an effective manner. It gives insight to your audience so you can know how to communicate and connect best with the people viewing your advertisements. With easy-to-use design tools, you can create your ads within the site. Mailchimp analyzes data from a wide variety of sources such as emails, social media sites and ads so you can see easily view how successful your marketing campaigns are. This site is a great way to gather all your marketing needs and tools in one place!
Outlook
Microsoft Outlook is a perfect communication tool for both personal and business needs. Not only is it an easy way to communicate via email, but it keeps your contacts and calendars all in one place. By sharing your schedule with your coworkers through Outlook, you can find a perfect time for your meeting. Outlook even allows you to book conference rooms and track RSVPs directly through the app. Outlook is the best app to stay organized and on top of your schedule.
CampaignMonitor
CampaignMonitor helps you create remarkable emails so you can share your message while keeping your customers engaged. With convenient templates and design tools, it’s easy to make your emails look stunning yet still keep them unique by adding your own pictures and videos. The site also ensures that your website will be usable and still look great on any device. The site also allows you to view and analyze the responses and success of your email campaign. CampaignMonitor is an effective way to advertise your brand and product to customers by keeping your emails personal and customized.
Sharepoint
Sharepoint is a tool from Microsoft that allows easy communication within your company. Transform your business with a new and convenient way to collaborate. Your company can create sites for each department and project so you can track your team’s progress and share ideas, files and resources efficiently and effectively. Each site can be customized in order to fit each team’s needs best. Sharepoint encourages and empowers teamwork so your company can reach its full potential.
Wordpress
Wordpress is a great site that helps you create beautiful websites unique to your needs. You can create a website, blog, online store as simple or complex as you like. The site comes with already designed templates, professional themes. Customization is easy as you can add your own designs, photos, videos and audio. Wordpress has different plans so you can find the best features for your budget and company size.
Medium
Medium is a site that allows people to read and write about a wide range of topics. The categories include technology, mental health, design, food, economy, and cryptocurrency, just to name a few. Each writer is passionate about their own article and the site includes thousands of opinions on hundreds of different subjects. Not only does the site allow you to stay up-to-date on the news but it encourages you to learn about a variety of subjects from experts. By sharing your company’s purpose and stories, Medium will help people take an interest in your brand.
Snapchat
Originally created just to send photo messages, Snapchat is now a social networking site that has a wide variety of uses. Users can communicate with individuals and groups, explore an assortment of news sources and see live stories of what people are doing in locations and events across the world. With over 200 million users a month, Snapchat can be used to promote your brand and event. By encouraging users to “snap” photos of your company or event, your message can be shared with hundreds or thousands of people at a time depending on their followers. Snapchat is easy to use and will highlight the best aspects and photos of your product.
With over 400 million users per month, Instagram has become one of the most popular social networking applications to share your favorite photos and moments. Your company can make its own account in order to show and promote your product with your best photos. Viewers can click links directly on your post and be sent to your site in seconds. Instagram can also be used to publish ads and be shown to an audience that fits your customers best by analyzing their age, interests, current followers and more. The messaging aspect of Instagram makes it easy for customers and other businesses to communicate and ask questions. The popularity and convenience of Instagram makes it a great platform to show the world your product.
Pinterest is a visual social media site where people can share creative ideas to help inspire you and your fashion, cooking, wedding planning, costumes and more. Users can “pin” a post when they see an interesting idea or project. Unlike most social media apps, Pinterest users use the site to search for a specific idea or product. Users are thrilled when they see a business promotion related to their search. Research shows that 93% of users use the site in order to plan purchases and ⅔ of users have discovered a new product when using Pinterest.
With all of these communications tools out there, it’s much easier to build an innovation communications plan than it ever has been before. Just invite the crowd in from any of these channels, showcase promising ideas to the audiences that you’re interacting with here, and when you implement a successful idea — you can let everyone that you’re connected to know! Use all of these tools (or at least some of them) the next time you’re launching a crowdsourced innovation campaign. Utilizing these tools to announce your program is how you’re going to get the crowd involved in sharing their ideas.
This article was originally published on the IdeaScale blog here.
