What is marketing communications and why it’s important to your business
Communications planning Copywriting Marketing communications
When people ask me what I do, I find it hard to answer in just a few words because I do so many things…
Aside from being an experienced SEO copywriter (explaining SEO copywriting in a single sentence to a layperson isn’t easy..), I call on my corporate background in marketing to offer clients a range of marketing communications services.
Explaining what marketing communications involves to a complete stranger and why it is important to their business can be equally as challenging as explaining SEO in just a few words, so I’ve written this blog post to clarify…
In its simplest form, marketing communications can be described as the messages and media used to communicate with your target market. It is typically known as the “Promotions” part of the marketing mix or the four “P”s – product, price, place and promotion and communicates your brand value to the consumer with the aim of building long-lasting customer relationships.
The messages you write need to connect with your target market and effectively highlight your product’s quality and differentiation from other brands.
The media or tools you use to deliver your messages will vary depending on your budget, resources, target audience and objectives but will typically consist of brochures, advertisements, websites, personal selling, direct mail, social media, exhibitions & conferences and publicity campaigns.
Each of the above tools has various benefits and cost implications and whilst they can be used in isolation, you’ll be more successful and create maximum impact if you mix them up.
When choosing a mix of marketing communication tools the key to success is achieving consistency in your messages, which can be challenging for big businesses where different teams are involved in the sales promotion process. This is where the concept of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) helps you integrate the various channels to deliver a uniform and compelling message about your brand to the target audience.
IMC brings together all the company’s messages under one campaign to promote a single, clear and consistent positioning statement.
There are a number of factors involved when creating a marketing communication campaign:-
1. Identify your target audience. You need to know who you are talking to so you can tailor your promotional messages to meet the needs of each segment of your audience. In business-to-business markets a more formal approach is appropriate with personal selling dominating. Business-to-consumer markets adopt a more informal approach and use advertising and sales promotion to reach their target audience which contains lots of emotions and imagery to promote their products.
2. Determine your communication objectives. Do you want to increase general awareness of your business? Are you launching a new product? Do you want to drive more traffic to your website? A successful marketing communications campaign will use a mix of promotional techniques to get key messages across to customers.
3. Deliver your message. Once you’ve decided on your objectives and selected the tools that are best to help you achieve them you need to write promotional messages that are benefit driven and will appeal to your target audience. They need to be catchy and hold your consumer’s attention but also compel them to like your product or service and be driven to take action. Remember AIDA – Attention > Interest > Desire > Action:- writing content that addresses each step will achieve the best result. Putting the message content together and choosing the appropriate communication media either through personal or non-personal channels is an important part of delivering the right message at the right time.
4. Set an appropriate promotional budget. There are many ways to attract potential customers so be realistic about how much to spend. If you are concerned about the cost of a promotion, try running a test (maybe by sending a direct mailout to just a few people) before embarking on a larger campaign.
5. Create a promotions mix. Each marketing communications tool has its advantages and costs involved and using several tools will give you the best result. Simply create your own promotions mix which could consist of some advertising, online marketing via your website, face-to-face personal selling to help establish and build trust with customers or direct marketing which is a great way to send targeted direct mail campaigns and measure results.
To find out more about our marketing communications services and how we can help your business click here. If you’d like to chat over the phone or you’re in Melbourne and would prefer to meet face-to-face, give me a call on 0411 889283 or send your details on my contact page.