The field of marketing communications is constantly evolving.
No longer the simple task of advertising and selling your product, marketing communications is a field that helps companies develop strategies to effectively communicate with customers about their products and services.
Marketing communications is a broad discipline, including activities such as advertising, public relations, marketing analysis, and social media.
The main difference between traditional marketing and modern marketing communications is that the latter focuses on developing strategies and implementing plans to achieve specific goals.
What Is Marketing Communications Strategy?
A marketing communications strategy is a formal plan that integrates marketing activities, including advertising, into a cohesive whole.
The objective of a strategy is to achieve specific business objectives and goals, such as increasing sales or brand awareness. Marketing Communications Strategy can also include the use of different media to achieve these goals. For example, a company might want to increase brand awareness among millennials, so it decides to run digital advertisements on social media platforms such as Instagram or Facebook, or opt for paid advertising on search engines like Google or Bing.
The strategy phase of a marketing campaign is one of the most critical. During this phase, you’ll create an action plan, determine metrics to track the campaign’s success, and identify key contacts within the marketing community, such as journalists, bloggers, or other thought leaders.
Why Is Online Marketing Communications Different?
With the rise of online marketing, companies can spread their message to a large audience without having to pay for a television commercial or magazine spread. This type of marketing is often referred to as ‘native advertising’ and comes in many different forms, such as paying for social media posts, YouTube videos, or Google Ads.
In addition to having a larger reach, online marketing allows companies to target the right audience. Creating a profile on social media, for example, allows businesses to connect with customers who are already interested in their product or service.
Depending on your company’s marketing objectives, you may decide that online marketing is the right choice. If brand awareness and sales are your main goals, then using social media to promote your product are a fantastic option, as they’re free and easy to use.
Importance Of Strategy In Marketing
Aside from being a smart choice for branding and marketing, using an online marketing strategy requires you to develop a clear plan for the success of your campaign. Just because you have an action plan and are using digital marketing doesn’t mean that your goals will be easily measurable. This is where the importance of strategy comes in.
You can set specific goals for your marketing campaign, such as increasing brand awareness or driving traffic to a specific webpage. There are also a variety of metrics that you can use to track the success of your plan, such as the number of people who visited a specific page or the amount of traffic that a specific ad or social media campaign generated.
Setting and monitoring goals is a critical part of the strategy phase. Without clear metrics, it’s difficult to know whether or not you’ve reached your objectives. This is why it’s important to work with a professional, who can help you set realistic goals and provide objective analysis of the progress of your plan.
Marketing Communications Goals And Objectives
As a marketer, you’ll want to work with a partner who is experienced and has the data to prove it. A good marketing communicators should be able to help you attain realistic goals and provide objective analysis of your progress. They should also be accessible for questions and provide advice and guidance to help you develop and grow your business.
Strategic Marketing Communications: Different Strokes For Different Folios
When developing a marketing plan or strategizing a marketing campaign, it’s important to keep in mind that not all marketing tactics or mediums are created equal.
Each one has its perks and its pitfalls. For example, paid advertising on search engines, like Google Ads or Bing Ads, can be effective but costly. When planning a PPC (Pay Per Click) campaign, you need to make sure that you’re bidding high enough so that you’re not wasting your money. If you’re unfamiliar with PPC, it’s a type of online advertising that doesn’t require you to pay upfront for impressions or clicks. With PPC, you only pay when someone clicks on your ad or visits your website. Your ad shows up when someone is searching for products or services related to your brand, and you only pay when someone clicks on your ad or performs an action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form.
As a marketer, you’ll want to choose your tactics and mediums wisely, considering your resources, the nature of your product, and the demographics you’re trying to reach. At the end of the day, your choice in advertising and marketing materials should match your business’ target audience.