Communication is all about sending and receiving information. Without communication, there would be a deficit of awareness or enlightenment. This makes communication the foundation of any business because it makes people know about your products and services. The role of communication in marketing, therefore, cannot be overemphasized.
Communication marketing is the tool that a business or company uses to convey information or awareness about their products and services. We can define it as answering the question: “Am I Communicating”. There are various aspects of marketing, but at Afrimash, we believe that communication is the bedrock of marketing and below are some key factors that we put into consideration for effective communication in marketing:
Your Audience
You would not want to be saying the right things to the wrong set of people; this is why this first step is very important. Getting to know our target audience, their size, and age bracket, their location and their expectation from us. This helps to achieve our goal of communication.
Your Goal
Well, we do not aim at just saying something without looking forward to our words bringing rewards or a response. The reason a stranger could say hello or good day is because they want to talk to you, compliment your outfit or ask for directions, etc. This applies also to the business world, why do you want to communicate? What is your expectation from your engagement with your audience? Here are five major reasons business individuals and companies like us get involved in communication marketing:
- Awareness: Some businesses communicate for the purpose of awareness, just to let their customers and prospective customers know about new deals, promos, and discount. Awareness for us entails letting the public know about our business, what we do, its location and contact information; this is basically for referrals and future engagement.
- Sales: In the city where we are located, there was a new mode of transportation by a private company we were unaware of until we saw a sponsored advert about their services and discount. There was a call to action and since then, it has become our favorite means of transportation because of how reliable and cost-effective it has been. The point is, they tried to communicate, and that was aimed at increasing patronage, and they nailed this goal with us and many others. If your aim is to make sales through communication, then it is important to make your audience take immediate actions through your tone and presentation.
- Get New Customers: Have it in mind that those you are speaking to might not take actions now while some may. In either situation, communication is very important because without it they would not know about your offer.
- Keeping Customers: This also applies to follow-up on old clients, it gives a sense of belonging and encourages referrals which still boils down to achieving your goal of getting new customers and keeping the old ones.
- Engagement: Communication is also giving back to your previous and prospective clients. During the silent period, (the duration between the last transaction and when the next transaction takes place) communication is needed to keep you in touch with your audience/customers. This helps them look forward to hearing from you and ignite other necessary actions when the right time comes.
Your Strategy for Communication
After determining our aim for communication and our audience, we also know how important it is to build a strategy around this information. This helps us to maximize our means of communication. The strategy for communication should be built around;
A. The type of content you would be giving out. The type of content determines how you will present your content to your audience. Some major ways we present our content includes:
- Fliers/Pamphlet
- Website Sliders and Banners
- Videos
- GIFs
- Pictures
- Blog Posts
B. The means of communication: the channels through which you would like to reach your audience are also an important aspect of building a strategy for communication. Some effective means of communication we implement often include
- Social Media Platforms; Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc
- Emails
- Push Notifications
- Blogs
- Website
- Exhibition
- Campaigns/Promos
- Adverts
- Personal selling
- Press Release
- Media Advertisement
Feedback/Result
Yes feedback!!! Results you get from your previous communication is important for effective communication. This helps us at Afrimash to know how effective what we have put together is and what changes we need to make. Feedback helps you answer the question, “Am I communicating?”
In summary, for effective communication, the additional points below are also imperative:
- The persuasive message according to customers expectations and requirements.
- Enticing design requirement and presentation.
- Feedback from your audience to improve your marketing communication.
