14 Essential Business Communication Channels to Boost Collaboration
In order to work successfully in an agency setting, you need to know everything about business communication channels. In reality, many agency owners prefer to focus on other things they consider more important.
Not a great choice, that’s for sure. According to a study from Fierce, 86% of employees and executives consider the lack of effective communication one of the main reasons for workplace failures. This isn’t just a statistic—it’s a wakeup call.
Think about your own business. How many times have projects derailed because of misunderstandings? How often have you felt the frustration of information silos? The cost isn’t just in dollars, it’s in morale, innovation, and lost opportunities.
The solution isn’t about communicating more, but communicating smarter. Let me introduce you to different communication channels in business, and how to make the most out of them.
Understanding business communication channels
Understanding the various types of business communication channels is essential if you want your business to run lean. There are two primary categories: external (customer-facing) and internal (team-focused).
External channels include social media, email marketing, customer support forums, and public relations websites.
Internal channels encompass company intranet platforms, team collaboration tools, instant messaging apps, and video conferencing software.
Communication methods also vary between synchronous (real-time interaction) and asynchronous (pre-recorded or delayed response).
Synchronous communication enables immediate feedback and discussion via phone calls, video meetings, or live chats.
Asynchronous communication allows for recorded responses through emails, messages, or written notes, ideal for documentation and knowledge sharing.
By understanding the strengths of each channel and method, businesses can tailor their communication strategies to meet specific needs and goals.
Types of communication channels
There are many different types of communication channels. We could categorize these into four groups:
Verbal channels: these are face-to-face channels such as video conferencing or telephone-based.
Non-verbal channels: includes visual aids such as graphs in presentations, but also facial expressions and gestures.
Written channels: emails are probably the most popular written channel, but client reports are gaining traction.
Digital channels: instant messaging and live chat provide fast communication, both in a formal and informal way.
Let’s look at all communication channels in more detail below.
Collaboration tools
There are a handful of software platforms that have been specifically designed for team collaboration and project management. They are trumping old-school communication channels such as email and phone because all data is in a single place.
The benefit of that is that it’s easier for your agency team to look at customer data, be it invoices, or past conversations, and answer their support requests.
Spotlight
Service Provider Pro allows you to handle all communication (internal and external) in a single tool.
Stay on top of your projects and get your tasks done on time.
Add your agency team members and collaborators to handle internal communication in projects and tickets. Your clients are able to message you through the client portal, or reply to email notifications—whatever they prefer.
Newsletters
Newsletters are definitely gaining traction among companies as they discover that this communication method has a lot of potential. The great thing about these emails is that anyone can read them at their own time. It’s also easy to track engagement by looking at the click rate of links inside the email.
Besides promoting your own company, you can also use newsletters to highlight your partners, opening the opportunity to grow together.
Spotlight
MailChimp is one of the most popular email marketing tools that makes it easy to build newsletters thanks to powerful automations.
MailChimp has added a few AI features over the years in order to make it easier to set up email marketing campaigns. Generative AI helps you create emails faster, and can even build automations and help launch your campaigns on auto-pilot.
No, emails aren’t dead yet—far from it. A lot of agencies still rely heavily on emails. The problem is that they are hard to use in a business environment unless you make use of dedicated tools. The biggest issue is how hard it is to find anything in an ongoing email thread, especially once multiple people are cc’d in it.
If you just want to reach out to a client, emails are still a great way to keep it personal. It creates a direct chain with them that most people really appreciate.
Social media
Social media has become an important part of most businesses communication channels. Companies like Victoria Lee’s 100 Pound Social are running social channels for many small companies who don’t have the time to do it themselves. Obviously, they still want to be available on a handful of social media platforms, namely, those that their customers use.
One major hurdle for many companies is indeed the lack of resources. They cannot be online on X, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok at the same time. These channels favor different content, and creating it individually is not doable unless you have a dedicated team.
Spotlight
Planable allows you to replace your messy spreadsheets with a dedicated content planning tool.
Planning social media campaigns in spreadsheets quickly gets old, hence why this tool exists. Choose from four different styles to view your planned content (feed, grid, list, calendar), and get an overview of your upcoming campaigns. Clients can log into their portal and easily give feedback on your campaigns.
Phone calls
Yes, there’s definitely still a place for phone calls, even in 2024. In countries like the U.S., people are still very much in love with the good old way of ringing someone quickly. It creates a personal connection and gives customers the certainty that there’s a real human on the other side.
For businesses, setting up calling systems isn’t that straightforward though. Most of them don’t want to get a classic phone line. Instead, they rely on companies that provide them with calling systems that tie into their existing tech stack.
Spotlight
Cloudtalk is the modern call center tool that gives businesses the ability to make calls efficiently.
Besides calling features you’d expect, such as call transfers and notes, there’s also the possibility to automate. You’re able to route callers based on voice responses, or assign specific team members. Automated workflows also save time by removing eliminating repetitive tasks.
Video conferencing
One of the most personal ways to communicate with clients or colleagues is to do a video call. Tools like Google Meet and Zoom have quickly become the go-to tool when it comes to chatting with people from around the globe, especially those working remotely.
As with some other channels, you can use this one for both internally and externally. For external communication, Zoom has become very popular, albeit installing its software is a drawback. Other solutions, such as Google Meet, run in the browser.
Text messaging
Similar to email, text messaging is an old technology that is still very much in use. In some countries, such as the U.S., text messages are still popular. If you want to easily (and instantly) message your clients, you’ll have to ask them for their phone number.
The biggest drawback of using text messaging is that it enquires costs, and integrating it with your existing tools isn’t easy. In most countries, SMS hasn’t been in use for years because instant messaging apps such as WhatsApp have taken over.
Spotlight
Textmagic is an all-in-one solution for businesses with texting needs.
Marketing campaigns, surveys, or SMS chat, with this tool, you are able to send any kind of text message to your customers, contractors, or your internal team. You can even schedule messages so they arrive at the perfect time.
Instant messaging apps
Instant messaging apps can be split into two groups, those for external use with clients, and those for internal purposes. For the former, apps like WhatsApp have spread around the world, and are popular in most countries. They allow you to set up a business profile and build automations to make talking to your clients easier.
For internal purposes, there are many different tools you can use, for instance Slack or Microsoft Teams. These tools allow everything from instant private messaging to posting in threads and even having audio or video calls.
Spotlight
Chanty is an internal communication tool that increases employee engagement by over 80%.
Compared to other communication tools, Chanty focuses on bringing all relevant information to employees. Not only does it support common chat features, messages can be easily turned into tasks. Employers can also create a newsfeed to highlight important information.
Customer support forums
Some companies allow their clients to freely discuss their opinion about them in public or private forums/communities. Until a few years ago, they would’ve used one of the popular forum management softwares to set it up. Anyone who creates an account can leave messages in dedicated channels.
These days, most companies prefer to handle their communities in apps such as Slack or Discord. They offer the same concept, but the biggest difference is that the latter allow for instant communication. This can be a negative point because it will be difficult to facilitate moderation, leading to negative reviews being spread.
Live chats
Live chats have become really popular in the past years, especially since they’ve been enhanced with AI features. You can use them in two ways: add them to your website and allow leads to talk to your team. Answering their questions quickly warms up leads, increasing the chance that they’ll make a purchase.
The other option is to add a chat tool to your client portal. You could only allow clients to access the chat feature in order to help them quickly with any issues or questions they have.
Spotlight
Intercom Chat is one of the most popular chat solutions on the market.
The tool focuses on customer-frist communication, which initially started with their chat function. Embed the chat bubble on your website or app, and let customers talk to you via a live chat. One added benefit is that you can also show them help center articles, reducing the amount of time your agents have to spend answering common questions.
Podcasting
Podcasts have taken the world by storm, and businesses were quick to see their potential. Not surprising, because three out of four podcast listeners take action on an ad, according to an NPR study. A whole new industry was created that evolves around studio equipment for home-use, podcast editing services to publish the content.
One thing that is difficult about this communication channel is the amount of effort it takes. You have to come up with topics, you need decent equipment to sound professional, and above all, someone needs to edit the podcast. You also need to be in it for the long run, because listeners might not jump on the ad from the first moment they listen to your episodes; they first need to become avid listeners.
Intranet platforms
Larger companies still rely on something called the intranet. Think of it as the internet, but on a smaller scale that only that specific business has access to. It is often used for company-wide announcements, policy updates, training materials, and shared knowledge bases. The intranet enables seamless collaboration among teams, facilitating the exchange of ideas and best practices.
The biggest drawback of this communication platform is the amount of effort required to keep it running and maintained. It only makes sense for large enterprises with thousands of employees.
Blogs
Blogging took off in the early 2000s when the internet mass-adoption began. Many early users were fascinated by the fact that they could put their thoughts online for everyone to read. Today, businesses are running their own blogs for similar reasons: they often publish thought leadership content in order to increase their brand awareness.
Blogs can also be used as a means of communication, for instance with product-led content. You can show leads how they can solve specific problems with the use of your product. For instance, someone looking for agency specific insights can be introduced to a range of analytics tools.
Video platforms
Before podcasts were a thing, everyone was in love with YouTube, Vimeo, and similar channels. Instead of watching TV, you could find videos about all kinds of topics, from gaming to news and lifestyle. Businesses are still making use of video platforms. Heck, even we at SPP do it with our YouTube channel.
YouTube is a great way for companies to create content that can be consumed on the go, while doing something else, or to follow a visual tutorial. Compared to blog posts or podcasts, viewers do enjoy the visual stimulant a video brings them. They don’t want to read a lengthy blog post, or listen to a two-hour podcast. Instead, they’d like to get their content from a 10-minute video.
Communication channels pros & cons
With all those communication channels in your mind, which one will you choose? Let me make your choice a bit easier by listing the pros and cons of each channel.
Channel | Pros | Cons |
Collaboration tools | Bring all information into one single tool | Challenging to find software that does everything you need |
Newsletters | Async communication with readers, easy to set up and manage | Hard to track results these days due to open rate not being reliable |
Very easy to set up and directly communicate with people | Time-consuming for complex discussions, may lead to spam filters | |
Social media | Builds brand awareness, fosters customer engagement, flexible in terms of content and audience size | Can be noisy or distracting; requires consistent posting schedule |
Phone calls | Good for urgent matters, personal interaction, builds trust through conversation | Limited reach due to geographical constraints, time-consuming for routine discussions |
Video conferencing | Enhances face-to-face interactions, suitable for team collaboration | Requires technology infrastructure and internet connectivity |
Text messaging | Suitable for simple announcements, reminders, time-sensitive updates | May be intrusive or interruptive depending on context |
Instant messaging apps | Streamlines daily tasks, fosters teamwork, quick responses | Can lead to distractions or decreased productivity; requires strict guidelines for usage |
Customer support forums | Provides customer feedback, builds trust through transparency, improves product/service quality | May lead to negative reviews if not managed properly |
Live chats | Offers engaging customer experience, enables quick responses, provides sense of urgency | Limited scalability; may lead to distractions or decreased productivity if not managed properly |
Podcasting | Great way of building a loyal following, high engagement with ads | Requires a lot of effort and time to take off (if at all) |
Intranet platforms | Facilitates knowledge sharing, streamlines processes, enhances employee engagement | Requires significant initial investment for infrastructure setup and ongoing maintenance |
Blogs | Maintains brand reputation, shares company updates, engages stakeholders | Requires consistent content creation and maintenance efforts |
Video platforms | Great way to reach people who prefer videos, good to showcase tutorials | Requires significant resources to create content regularly |
Importance of choosing the right channel
Selecting the proper communication channel depends on the situation’s formality, but also the type of resources a company has at its disposal.
Formal settings require channels ensuring clarity and documentation, like a project management tool or written reports. For informal scenarios like brainstorming sessions, verbal or instant messaging channels are preferable. The stakes involved and the need for speed in addressing a topic also dictate the choice of communication. Live chat, which leads to a 31% increase in sign-ups, underlines the significance of matching the channel to the task.
Another thing to keep in mind is your audience’s preference. What does it help if your clients prefer to reply via email if you force them to log into your client portal? In SPP, all messages trigger email notifications that your clients can easily reply to.
It’s also important to understand different demographics. For instance, young adults often prefer live chat over phone calls for customer support. Context like urgency, content complexity, and the sender’s or receiver’s proximity should guide the channel choice. According to Peter Drucker, "The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t being said," which often means grasping context and unspoken preferences.
Harnessing the power of communication channels
The landscape of business communication is vast and varied. From the traditional email to cutting-edge collaboration software, each channel serves a unique purpose in fostering teamwork and driving success. As you’ve seen, selecting the right tools and techniques can transform how your team connects, creates, and conquers challenges.
Remember, effective communication isn’t just about the channels you use—it’s about how you use them. By applying the strategies we’ve explored, you’ll create a communication ecosystem that’s responsive, efficient, and aligned with your business goals.
