Marketing Communication

921 Words2 Pages

Marketing communications (marcom) include customer-facing materials such as brochures, press releases, Web sites, and trade show presentations. The proximity of marcom planning to the customer makes it one of the most important activities that a company undertakes. Thoughtfully written marcom plans:

* Keep your company speaking with one voice across a vast number of products, regions, and customer interactions.

* Enable diverse teams of people to create integrated communications vehicles.

* Help your messages rise above the din of the marketplace and consistently resonate with their target audiences.

* Give you better results for your expenditures of time and money.

First you study, then you decide

Marcom plans are the confluence of substantial research and shrewd decision-making. Build effectiveness by thoroughly understanding your:

* Target audience profiles Who are your existing and potential customers? What is the best way to communicate with them?

* Buying, selling, and communications processes How do your customers prefer to buy? How are you set up to sell? What communications best facilitate buying and selling?

Armed with a solid understanding of the terrain, you then need to make a number of decisions:

* Objectives What do you want to happen as a result of your marcom activities? What customer behaviors do you hope to inspire?

* Messages What do you want customers to know?

* Vehicles Which communication vehicles best convey your messages?

* Budget and schedule How much do these vehicles cost to develop? What is your budget? When should the vehicles be released?

You also need to decide the scope of the plan. Marcom plans can be focused at the product level, the product line level, or the company level (for example, company or brand image) — or any combination of the three. The higher the focus, the less specific the elements of the plan. See the following table for more detail.

Focus of the marcom plan

Target audience profiling

Know your customer applies to virtually every marketing activity, and it's doubly true for marcom planning. First, learn about your target audience's specific demographics and psychographics, and then take the time to understand:

* How customers prefer to receive information about your type of offerings.

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