A shift in comms – how the past year has reshaped communication

POSTED

27th April 2021

AUTHOR

Megan Skinner

Reading time

3 minutes

Communication is a fundamental part of our lives. It enables us to build and strengthen relationships, connections, businesses, and more. Communication doesn’t fit into just one mould – the different forms or types of communication are constantly changing as years progress.

With the rise of technology and social media, virtual communication has become more popular, and it is safe to say, widely used by the majority. People now stay in contact through messaging and social media platforms rather than letters or phone calls, even more so with the new normal as a result of the pandemic. All form of physical communication has been halted. For most people communication has become 100% virtual, with Zoom calls and remote working becoming part of our everyday vocabulary.

So, what does this mean for business?


Content Marketing:

Marketing and advertising are an ever-changing focus for businesses. Where we used to rely on printed advertising in the forms of newspapers, leaflets, banners and billboards, the majority of marketing is now done and found online.

This is often done through social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram in the form of posts or targeted ads. Companies can no longer rely on traditional forms of marketing to generate their views or revenue. Trends are so fleeting and are constantly moving on from one to the next, challenging businesses to continue to evolve in order to accommodate their audience.

Social Media:

Today, everything is at our fingertips. There is a sense of urgency in the content that is being produced and viewed, and ephemeral content – content that is only available for a limited amount of time – is taking the world by storm. Images, videos, live streaming, and ever-changing temporary content are in high demand. It plays into the FOMO (fear of missing out) that so massively impacts the majority of the public today. This forces companies to adjust their content or media strategies and begin to interact with their targeted audiences in the most effective way.

Journalism:

With the rise of social media, there is a high demand for content to be published as quickly as possible, and this has been further established throughout the pandemic. The constant changing of updates has solidified the need for fast-paced journalism to ensure the public is informed of all risks and can take precautions for their health and safety.


It has become a necessity for us to keep up with the constant changing of communication as we go about our daily lives. We can tend to resist change when we become too comfortable with the way we are accustomed to doing things, but sometimes change is necessary. To keep progressing in relationships and business success, learning to adapt and evolve in our forms of communication has become essential to the times we live in.


We have a whole range of other blogs surrounding changing communications. To find out about communication during the pandemic, read our blog post ‘communication during the coronavirus crisis‘ or Carnsight founder, Jessica Morgan’s guest post on the Sharp Thinking Marketing blog, ‘communicating your business lockdown story.’