According to a definition on Wikipedia, Communication is a process of transferring information from one entity to another.

That’s a simple and accurate definition.  What it doesn’t get across, however, are the difficulties companies face when looking to communicate their messages effectively to key audiences.  And those barriers are significant.

Companies are trying to grab your attention from everywhere

• There’s information jumping out at you from newspapers, billboards and television
• And  brands are always trying to grab your attention online:  47 million new websites were launched  in 2009
• Last year 90 trillion emails were sent
• Facebook has just topped 500 million members with over 5 billion pieces of content shared each week

Communication is everywhere. And it’s relentless.

So how can organisations ensure that their messages get through successfully?

The answer is: with difficulty. But there are techniques that can help.  And one of those is to use a microsite to lift a message, make it more engaging and ultimately to communicate it more effectively.

Microsites are able to do this because they can be independent of an organisation’s main site and, as such, are hugely flexible.  They can have a different feel – less formal, a themed design for example – they can host a range of different information and not be restricted by the main site’s strict design structure.  And your IT team don’t necessarily have to get involved.

HTML emails are used widely by businesses but they are very restrictive and almost behind the times compared to the technologies available through website design. Spam filters and mailbox size limits can all prevent your message from getting through. An email campaign can be simplified to a plain text email with basic branding, some well written introductory copy and a link to a microsite.

There are also plenty of applications – events and hospitality, seminars, new product launches, interactive press releases with embedded video, marketing campaigns and presenting business publications in a an engaging way to name just a few.

Here are a few examples: