Not much has thrived in 2020 but online business tools are an exception. With all of the platforms out there, which ones are fit for your clients and your business?
We investigate some popular alternatives to face-to-face contact and simple phone calls:
Users in Australia (Approx): 15 million
Broker Points:
Audio Calls: YES
Video Calls: YES
Group Chats: YES
Recipient Notifications: YES
File-Sharing: YES
Out of Hours Auto Replies: YES
Average Age Demographics: 25 – 39
Business Ability: Facebook in general offers a strong suite of business options. With an optimised Facebook Business Page, you can also increase your brand’s awareness and credibility. Posting regularly and strategically also increases trustworthiness as you’re able to offer readers insights on your finance expertise.
Users in Australia (Approx): 7 million
Broker Points:
Audio Calls: YES
Video Calls: YES
Group Chats: YES
Recipient Notifications: YES
File-Sharing: YES
Out of Hours Auto Replies: YES
Average Age Demographics: 25 – 34
Business Ability: Whatsapp has a business app which is a free download. It allows users to showcase products and services as well as automate, sort and quickly respond to messages. The platform also has a simple and solid auto-messaging service which allows users to send a pre-written text. This might include a link to a required document or other instructions.
Users in Australia (Approx): 1.5 million
Broker Points:
Audio Calls: YES
Video Calls: YES
Group Chats: YES
Recipient Notifications: YES
File-Sharing: YES
Out of Hours Auto Replies: YES
Average Age Demographics: 25 – 30
Business Ability: Wechat offers a solid platform for businesses as it allows for three different business accounts types: Subscription Account – aimed at drawing attention to your brand through posts and articles, Service Account – for selling and direct sales and an Enterprise Account – internal communications and office efficiency.
Users in Australia (Approx): 9 million
Broker Points:
Audio Calls: YES
Video Calls: YES
Group Chats: YES
Recipient Notifications: YES
File-Sharing: YES
Out of Hours Auto Replies: YES
Average Age Demographics: 25 – 34
Business Ability: Ig has positioned (or is positioning) itself as a ‘new home of brands’. 90% of Instagram users follow at least one business. Naturally, options allow business owners to focus on particular demographics and direct message users. Setting up a business profile on Ig and regularly posting will allow you to connect and share your business’s story with large numbers of people.
Other Online Business Communication Platforms
Basecamp
Business Ability: Basecamp aims to bridge gaps between staff and clients by taking the confusion out of emails. It allows users to easily flip specific conversations and files from internal to external – in other words; private or shared. Basecamp is the solution to complex and over-complicated email chains and is perfect for document chasing, especially when there are multiple people involved. Basecamp works with most email clients so there’s no need to learn new systems.
Pricing: $99 / month. Has a free trial version.
Wrike
Business Ability: Wrike allows you to visualise deadlines and dependencies and adjust them as needed. Put simply, Wrike is a project management app, with built-in communication tools. The advantage for brokers is calendar connection and deadlines when it comes to individual clients and lenders with regards to documents. Furthermore, data is visually appealing and easy to access and collate. It integrates with Google Calendar, Mailchimp, Salesforce and more.
Pricing: Free for 5 users or less. There are paid options for up to 200 users for USD$24.80 / month
To Sum Up
Around 22.31 million of Australia’s 25 million-strong population are accessing the internet in 2020. Elevate your online presence and increase your ability to be contacted and communicate with your team and clients.
