What is a communication platform in marketing?

Marketing communications (Marcom) are channels and tools a company uses to communicate the necessary message to the target group. They encompass PR, branding, advertising, packaging, social media, etc. Marcom allows customers to understand a company and product it offers and a brand to reduce the sales cycle.

Table of Contents Show

Objectives of Marketing Communications
Types of Marketing Communications
How to create a marketing communications strategy?
References:

In this article, we’ll unveil the objectives and types of marketing communications and figure out how to develop a Marcom strategy.

Objectives of Marketing Communications

In a market full of competitors, companies leverage different unique techniques and tactics to reach their audiences. They combine marketing channels and tools to convey the necessary message and make sure that prospects understand it. These communications include advertising, PR, sponsorships, promotion, social media, etc. They help fulfill different objectives, to name a few:

You can reach even more goals with marketing communications; keep exploring to find out more. Now let’s delve into the types of communications.

Types of Marketing Communications

Marcom implies different ways of reaching customers. We’ve prepared the main types businesses use most often to drive the attention of their target audience.

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. SendPulse enables you to create effective marketing campaigns and reach leads and customers in no time. You can communicate the necessary message to your target groups with our chatbots, web push notifications, and SMS.
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.
Advertising. Entrepreneurs spend millions of dollars 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.
Social media. According to Asset Digital Communications, 71% of small and mid-sized startups consider social media platforms to promote their goods. Since 4.48 billion people worldwide use social media, it’s the most popular channel for promotion. At a low cost, brands can reach the international public. 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.
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.
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.

Now that you are aware of the types, it’s time to jump into creating a marketing communications strategy.

How to create a marketing communications strategy?

You can build your long-term plan in 6 simple steps. Our step-by-step guide will help you create a strategy and make your business grow.

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. Develop a buyer persona to name the characteristics of your consumer. It’ll help you select people you should target. To develop an accurate buyer persona, you need to mention the customer’s job title, pain points, challenges, and goals.
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. You can start with developing your website and publishing quality content on your blog. SendPulse’s landing page builder empowers you to create a landing page within 15 minutes. Apply multi-channel services like SendPulse to send email campaigns, set up web push notifications, and support clients via chatbots.
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.

Congrats, now you know all the important facts about marketing communications. Hope our guide will come in handy when you are ready to develop a successful strategy for your company.

References:

This article defines the term and unveils elements of the marketing communications mix.
In this article, you’ll find marketing communications methods.
This article provides readers with information about a marketing communications strategy.

Last Updated: 01.12.2022

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Marketing communication is a process in which we use numerous integrated tools to communicate with the target audience. simply put, marketing communication is a combination of diversified programs and various communication tools to increase the sales cycle.

However, it is difficult to chase the perfect mix of marketing and communication. Only 28% of marketers(1) are satisfied with their results. The rest still try to find new ways to get in touch with the target audience.

Simply put, the tools that help your marketing team to support sales and generate awareness about your product or brand are known as marketing communication tools. The main purpose of marketing communication tools is to connect with the target audience effectively, regardless of the mode of communication.

Following are the best 18 marketing communication tools to reinforce your brand message and promote sales:

This is one of the biggest communication tools that marketing teams have. The greatest advantage of this mode is that it can be paid and unpaid, both. Advertising has a wide reach and great for small-scale companies or start-ups that are going low on the marketing budget.

Advertising is based on above the line marketing. So, it is ideal for brands that do not have much exposure or a target audience.
The sales promotion tool is all about promoting your product. It is a great communication tool, particularly because of direct interaction with the customers. One of the benefits of sales promotion is that you can promote the product directly to the consumer effectively and promptly. It builds brand loyalty and helps your brand to flourish.

Sales promotion comes in all forms such as free samples, gift vouchers, discounts, deals, etc.
In today’s world, we regard online marketing as direct marketing. Direct mails to get prospects and lead have more benefits than conventional marketing.

Thanks to personalization tools, consumers find direct mails and catalogs easier to process. Moreover, direct online marketing yields a high response rate as compared to traditional marketing. Commercials do not catch much attention but giving access to consumers in receiving messages can definitely change the game.
Email marketing is another great tactic for marketing communication. Overall, it enables a brand to generate more leads and prospects while driving traffic to their official website. Moreover, this marketing tool is a self-lead-qualifying process.
Likewise, newsletters are a great way to nurture prospects and leads. If you have a strong list of recipients, you can send personalized content straight to their inboxes. This tactic enables you to drag them to sales funnel pages. Consequently, keeping them engaged with your brand.
Think of it as a great communication tool in which the salesperson goes to the potential customers himself and promote the product through its benefits and features.

While doing so, a salesperson must follow the dynamics of AIDAS. This is a mandatory cycle to follow if you are looking to increase the sales.

Even though personal selling requires a lot of hard work, the results are usually positive. So, you can say it’s a long shot but its worth it.
With this tool, you can improve your brand’s image and place in the market. Maintaining public relations with influential people across the industry is a great tool to grow your business.

Using this tool at the right time and in front of the right people can help you increase sales dramatically. One of the greatest advantages of this tool is that you do not have to spend much on public PR campaigns as publicity is not a significant part of public relations.
Social media allows the brands to reach a wide base of the target audience while promoting their products and company values through videos, ads, photos, videos, and great content.

For example, Tiktok has become a broad platform for brands to reach consumers through video makers.

Potential customers, nowadays, love to connect to the brands using social media platforms. Other than that, you can even put up testimonials on these platforms to attract more customers in the long run.
The primary use of catalogs is to announce the launch of a new product. However, the key to success lies in holding a true value proposition. Catalogs, when combined with email marketing are a great way to convey information to your potential and existing customers.
Trade shows are becoming more and more popular. With the pandemic going on, online trade shows are becoming a thing now. Many brands are adopting and hosting trade shows to introduce a new product/service.

A trade show is a great chance for the customers to meet the brand representative and give valuable feedback.
Seminars can make or break your brand in the industry. It is a great tool for you to engage with customers. but how? Well, you can invite a lot of customers so that they can learn about your brand or service. However, seminars are not hosted for product promotion. The main purpose is to give valuable knowledge to improve the brand’s loyalty.
Webinars have the potential to establish your brand/company as a thought and successful leader in the industry. In fact, it is an outlet where consumers can learn more about your brand’s values, beliefs, and objectives.
Forums hold great importance when it comes to communication with the consumers. The main benefit of forums is that you can use it to address various on-going issues and topics. Moreover, you can relate the current world affairs to your product and even use them to increase your sales.
Surveys are great for getting valuable feedback and improving your business.
Creating a mobile app for your brand to shop online is a great way to reach a wide base of consumers.
With podcasts, you can discuss a new topic or a Fashion trend with the visitors. It helps to keep your customers engaged.
Sponsorship can help you reach customers on a global basis. Moreover, it can place you above your competitors in the market.
Event-based marketing is a great tool to increase conversions, ultimately leading to more sales. It tends to bring a lot of audience engagement and feedback from valuable customers. Other than that, a successful interactive marketing plan can make you go viral on social media.

By utilizing and combining some of the above marketing communication tools, you will be able to deliver your brand’s message clearly, loudly, and with more transparency. Communicating with your audience will help you build your brand in the future. Therefore, streamlined marketing communication campaigns and solutions can definitely improve your sales and brand image.