Marketing communication, or Marcomm, is made of two terms marketing and communication. Before we learn about what marketing communication is, let us first learn about marketing and communication separately.
“Marketing” consists of activities which a company takes to increase the sales of the products. To do this, they opt for various methods such as advertising, market research, catching up with old customers, writing them emails, using celebrity endorsements, attention-grabbing graphic designs, catchy slogans or phrases, etc. The main propose of marketing is to grab the attention of potential customers using various promotional techniques.
And the dictionary meaning of our second term “communication” is an act of sharing or exchanging information from one entity to another using some kind of medium like writing, speaking, etc. communication can place between two parties, communication is incomplete in the absence of one party.
Thus, “Marketing Communication” can be defined as the use of various communication channels like print media, radio, television, emails, events, brochures, etc. to fulfill the goals of marketing. The communication is either direct or indirect in nature with an intention to persuade the customers to indulge in the purchase of the products and services.
Types of Marketing Communications
The most popular types of Marcomm are as follows:
Advertising
Businesses spend millions to promote their products on TV, radio, social media, YouTube, and other channels. They seek help from advertising agencies or develop ads by themselves to hook a wide audience and encourage prospects to purchase. The method is expensive yet effective. By running ads on various platforms, companies can receive a high ROI that exceeds expenses.
Direct Marketing
This form of communication implies companies preparing content and tailoring messages for pre-selected customers. A brand already knows its consumers and the offers they need at a certain period. Companies send coupons, items on discount, special offers, etc.
Sales Promotion
The majority of people opt-in to receive updates on the brand’s news, especially sales, discounts, coupons, giveaways, loyalty programs, referral programs, and free delivery. With this approach, companies that just start can hook attention and increase product sales. More people will discover a new brand and get involved. Sales promotion is also a good idea for well-established companies. It helps sell old collections and make room for new products.
Public Relations
This approach is considered one of the most effective and credible ones. This is because the information about a certain brand or product comes from the third uninterested party that genuinely recommends a specific company or discourages people from buying its products. Business owners don’t control the content parties disseminate about their companies. PR works best for brands that offer an excellent product, consistent user experience, and smooth customer support. These factors positively influence brand reputation.
Customer Recommendations
Customers can become brand promoters for free. Word-of-mouth marketing is an effective tool since most people trust the recommendations of close people. Happy customers who like a product can promote it better than any quality ads. You can encourage more satisfied clients to promote your brand. For example, you can develop referral programs, provide consumers with discounts and special offers, and invite them to join a loyalty program. As a result, you’ll gain trust, credibility, and awareness.
Social Media
Social media is the most preferred type of marketing communication nowadays. There are two reasons for this. One is nowadays, almost 90% of the total population spends their most time online. Therefore, it has the maximum reach, and the second is that this method of marketing communication is quite cheap as compared to other methods of marketing communication. There are various channels you can use to market your product like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, place ads on sites and blogs, and ask influencers for promotion.
Digital Marketing
In this type, brands use the internet to market and promote products, connect with customers and encourage them to purchase. You can approach prospects and customers through email marketing, messengers, social media, web push notifications, etc. Create desktop and mobile versions of your website to enable users to feel comfortable when using your service. You can communicate the necessary message to your target groups with our chatbots, web push notifications, and SMS.
Brand
Building a brand name is one of the effective types of marketing communication. You have observed that many people call products using their “Brand names” rather than calling them with their product name or probably you also have been doing the same unconsciously. For example, rather than saying “my shoes or my sports shoes,” people referred to them saying “my Nike” or “my Puma.”
Market Research
Marketing research is a method to learn about the market and to learn about the requirements, expectations, motivations, and interests of their target customers before they introduce their product in the market. There are several methods to conduct market research such as focus group, test studies, surveys, one on one interviews, test studies, and recognition studies, etc. This type of marketing communication is important as you learn about the needs of your customers and also learn about the current situation of the market, using that information you can prepare for an effective marketing strategy to persuade your potential customers into buying your product.
Importance of Marketing Communications
A business may have developed terrific products and put together a supremely talented management team, but ultimately success hinges on persuading significant numbers of customers to select that company’s products or services rather than buying from someone else. Growing a business comes down to the ability to sell. Innovative strategies, a comprehensive understanding of consumer behavior and aggressive communication of the company’s message combine to bring about sales success.
Developing Strategic Vision
One of marketing’s functions is to constantly look for new ways of growing the company’s revenues. Strategic vision means being on the lookout for new opportunities and creating strategies for the company to take advantage of them. The company could discover exciting, emerging markets that it could supply products or services to. Devising ways of selling additional services or products to the customers that a company already has is another way to accelerate growth.
Creating Brand Awareness
For consumers to buy from the company, they first need to know the company exists and what it is selling. Advertising and promotion strategies are formulated to reach as many potential customers as possible and tell them what the company has to offer. To be successful, the company must have a good understanding of what demographic groups are most likely to become customers, and apply marketing expenditures to the media that serve these groups. Repetition is part of creating brand awareness. If the customer sees the communication from the company a number of times, there is a higher chance of making the sale.
Expressing Competitive Advantage
Marketing and communication strategies are designed to position the company as being superior to its competitors. The marketing message must show specific reasons the customer should purchase its products or services. Many times the message presents the benefits of these products or services – how they can solve a customer problem or meet a customer need. Highlighting the shortcomings of competitors is another popular tactic.
Being a Good Corporate Citizen
Companies use communication strategies to build an image of being a good corporate citizen. Publicizing the company’s charitable activities is one way this is accomplished. The marketing department in a company also tries to find community, regional or national events the company could participate in to generate publicity. Companies purchase sponsorships to sporting events that receive national TV exposure for example. But sponsoring smaller events, such as kids’ local sports leagues, can also be effective.
Attracting and Retaining Talent
As companies grow, they need to continually attract the best talent available. Communication strategies are used to show potential employees that the company is a good place to work. Many companies have a large section of their websites devoted to presenting the reasons individuals should be interested in working there. Business publications have annual awards or lists of the best companies to work for. Marketing and communication’s role is making sure the company is under consideration for these awards.
Informing Investment Community
Companies send news releases out about milestones reached, such as sales or profits reaching a certain threshold. They also announce major events, such as joint ventures, acquisitions or introductions of new products. Besides creating general awareness about the company, the news releases alert the investment community to what the company is accomplishing. This can result in increased interest in the company’ stock, if it is a public company, or make it easier for potential equity partners to find the company, if the company is private.
Steps to creating a marketing communications strategy
Identify your target audience
Offering your product to all people doesn’t work. You need to target specific audience segments that need your product to help solve their problem. That’s why you need to identify your target group, their location, age, gender, interests, preferences, needs, occupation, etc. This will help you craft personalized messages and marketing campaigns. Besides, you’ll know which channels it’s better to choose to reach your ideal customer.
Define your unique value proposition
UVP makes your company stand out and outperform your competitors. It’s essential to have one to demonstrate it to your audience and prove that you are superior to other brands for a number of reasons. UVP is a solution your customers need. If you succeed in helping your customers, they will reward you with good revenue, word-of-mouth promotion, a bigger customer base, a good position within the market, and more. For example, Domino’s Pizza positions itself as a company that delivers the freshest and hottest pizza faster than competitors, only in 30 minutes.
Bring the solution to customers’ problems
The next thing you should do is to match customers’ pain points with the solution you offer. Create a table with customer problems and product solutions. You should mark the offerings that meet customers’ problems. Share this table with your team to create messages that address clients’ issues and provide solutions. Align messaging across all marketing channels you use for communication.
Select channels to deliver your message
The channels you use depend on the goals you want to attain and customers’ preferences. Identify the platforms and messengers your target audience prefers the most.
Measure the end result
Once you implement everything, track the results. See if your business moves towards the achievement of your goals. Metrics will provide you with a clue of your company’s performance.
