Modern businesses may seem spoilt when it comes to communication, with a plethora of options when it comes to the various electronic methods available to them – from traditional e-mail, to text messages, WhatsApp conversations and more.
However, a recent survey undertaken in the UK and US has identified how businesspeople across the generations really choose to communicate, outlining which communications platforms they utilise as their first choice, particularly when something genuinely matters.
Laura Wilkinson, VP for Global Demand Generation and Channel Marketing at Exclaimer, points out that despite its image as ‘old’ technology, and it’s more staid reputation compared to something like WhatsApp, e-mail remains the go-to platform for critical business communications.
“While this survey was undertaken elsewhere, the key points it raises about the use of e-mail for vital business purposes and its effectiveness from a formal communications and record-keeping perspective remain pertinent for South African businesses as well,” she explains.
“The survey demonstrates that e-mail remains the communication channel of choice when it really matters. Although more casual notifications like someone running late or announcing exciting news tend to be presented via WhatsApp, text or a phone call, anything of high importance, or that they might need to prove, reference or remember in the future is communicated through e-mail.”
She notes that for formal complaints, e-mail is an overwhelming choice, while for job applications, people are choosing e-mail over every other messaging platform combined. This shows that WhatsApp and text aren't replacing e-mail. Instead, they're handling everything e-mail was never really for, such as informal chats or brief updates.
“It’s very different with e-mail, as most consumers don’t passively read business e-mails. Instead, they evaluate them, scanning for the signals that tell them whether to trust what they’re looking at – such as a professional sender domain, full contact details and a clear name. These are viewed as the visible proof that an e-mail is legitimate.
“In the survey, almost half of all respondents cited a professional e-mail address as a top trust signal. Nearly a quarter specifically look for a professional, branded e-mail signature, and those figures rise to 29% among Gen Z and millennials – the generations that are most likely to be receiving and evaluating business e-mails on behalf of their companies.”
Wilkinson suggests that it is a generally accepted rule that in business communications, you need to be careful exactly how you say things. This survey indicates that it is more than that: it’s both what you say and where you say it.
“Nearly half of all respondents believe the platform a message arrives on affects how trustworthy it feels. Almost as many say it affects how professional it feels,” she says.
“This can have real consequences for businesses. After all, sending a formal update via WhatsApp, a complaint response via social direct messaging or a contract via text doesn’t just feel more informal to the recipient. It actively undermines trust, professionalism and the likelihood the message will be taken seriously.”
The importance of the platform used is such that one could say that this vindicates Marshall McLuhan’s theory that ‘the medium is the message’ – or is at least a crucial part of it.
Wilkinson points out further that nearly half of all survey respondents claimed to have kept a message, specifically to refer back to it later, while more than a third stated they had deliberately chosen e-mail over another platform in order to create a permanent record.
“It is interesting to note that Gen Z, supposedly the generation that abandoned e-mail, chooses it for job applications at a higher rate (36%) than baby boomers (23%). Meanwhile, millennials hold the highest standards for what professional e-mail should look like, citing consistent formatting more than any other generation.”
Another key finding is that baby boomers, despite being the generation least likely to use artificial intelligence (AI) in their own communications, are also the most suspicious that the messages they receive aren’t genuine.
“More than half of businesspeople are using AI to communicate, often on the basis that it helps to improve grammar (21%) and makes writing sound more professional (20%). At the same time, nearly half also question whether what is being read is actually real,” she adds.
“When it comes to AI, business communication is facing a moment of tension: AI is being used to perform credibility at exactly the moment consumers are becoming more alert to inauthenticity.”
In such an environment, she suggests that the visible signs of a genuine sender – such as a consistent identity, a professional domain and a branded e-mail signature – matter more than they ever have.
“Ultimately, e-mail isn’t just a channel; it’s a platform that supports organisations’ most important messages. Our research shows that the signals people use to decide whether to trust a business e-mail – the sender domain, the contact details, the consistent signature – are exactly the signals your business has direct control over. Our role, as Exclaimer, is to assist enterprises to ensure that every e-mail they send looks as if it came from a brand worth trusting,” concludes Wilkinson.
If you’re interested to find out more, you can view the results of a survey on this topic here or watch a webinar here.
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