The promotion of goods and services requires an integrated approach, which is implemented in the development of a communication strategy. Today, marketing is becoming an essential element of the activities of any organization, no matter whether it sells bread or provides intellectual services. Thoughtful competent marketing communications company policy is a prerequisite for its success.
The concept
Any process of communication pursues a specific goal, the achievement of which is associated with the development of a strategy. In marketing, the main way to implement plans and goals is to build a relationship between the buyer and the manufacturer. The communication strategy in the broadest sense is a comprehensive, global program to achieve the company's marketing goals. In a narrower sense, it is synonymous with the concept of marketing strategy. In practice, a communication strategy includes marketing, creative, and media strategy. Thus, this concept is a general program of actions of the company to establish communication with the market, external and internal environment.
Benefits
The development of a communication strategy allows the organization to create a sound plan of action to achieve its goals. A strategic approach has a number of advantages. It allows you to optimize costs and distribute all types of resources as economically as possible: temporary, human, financial. Strategy is a way to see the whole picture and find the shortest and most profitable paths to the goal. It helps to build a hierarchy of goals, and move towards global achievements without wasting resources in vain. The strategy also allows you to find hidden reserves and new opportunities for business development. An integrated approach is based on a thorough study of market realities, understanding the advantages and disadvantages of the product and this helps to find innovative solutions in the modernization of the production and promotion process.
Types of strategies
Since strategy is a term from the military environment, its name can also be borrowed from there. Defensive and offensive strategies are traditionally distinguished. Defense and attack can be flank and frontal. That is, they can be sent only to one or more opponents or the properties of the goods - to hit the flanks. Or be conducted on all fronts: competitors, markets, etc. There are also partisan strategies, that is, hidden from the eyes of the enemy. Not in vain the well-known marketer Jack Trout likened the process of communication to war and called his epoch-making work “Marketing wars”.
There is also an approach in which the strategies of presentation, manipulation and convention are highlighted. In this view, all strategies are classified according to the main method of establishing contact with target audiences. A presentation is an open passive communication, within the framework of which the goal is not to influence the communicant. Its opposite is manipulation, i.e., a latent effect. And the convention is built on establishing the interaction of the parties.
Structure
Communication strategy combines three areas of action planning: marketing, creative and media strategies. The marketing strategy includes researching the company's position in the market, identifying the advantages of the brand, and choosing target audiences. Creative strategy is the formulation of a key message and the development of visual embodiments of the main idea of communication. The media strategy is the choice of channels of contact with the audience, planning ways to communicate with consumers through the media and other points of contact.
Development technology
Any strategy is developed based on rigorous analysis. And the marketing communication strategy begins with an important stage - the study of the situation. For a high-quality solution, it is necessary to understand the features of the product being promoted, to have information about the company's position on the market, about competitors, their advantages and disadvantages. Often enterprises order such marketing services from specialized agencies. Based on the information received, the brand platform is formulated, and product positioning is being developed. The next stage is the identification of market segments and the audience with which communications will be established. After all the research has been completed, it’s the turn to create a key message. The creative solution is based on the advantages of the product and consumer insights. It should cause the recipient a given emotion and association. The next step is the selection of message distribution channels. To choose the right media, you should understand the media preferences of the target audience and analyze its way of life and lifestyle. The key message should be visualized, i.e. convey in the material: word, music, television clip. The stage of development of an advertising product includes the search for the most striking and attractive advertising images. The last stage in the formation of a communication strategy is the development of a media plan. It is necessary to determine the frequency and coverage of communications, with the time of contact with the consumer.
Strategy platform
Developing a communication strategy is unthinkable without a brand platform. The company must well understand its mission and product benefits. They are laid at the foundation of the concept of positioning, which is understood as the desired image of the product in the perception of the consumer. The manufacturer must formulate a unique selling proposition (USP), which will “settle” in the minds of consumers. It can be natural: when the product has real distinctive quality, for example, the operating system in Apple phones. Or artificial, i.e., invented. For example, in “Good” juice, this is UTP - “juice created with kindness”. The brand platform is not developed for each advertising campaign, but is an element of the strategy. On its basis slogans and messages for advertising products are formulated: packaging, radio and television spots, outdoor advertising, etc.
Stage of setting goals and objectives
Communication strategy includes two types of goals. Long-term goals must comply with the company's development plans for a long period of time, for example, gaining a position in the market, capturing new markets and segments, etc. tactical short-term goals are associated with the stages of brand promotion and development. Setting goals can be done in many ways. The most popular is the SMART model, according to which the goal should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and limited in time. That is, the team must understand what and at what stage should be achieved. Employees should also share their goals, to understand their benefits for themselves personally.
The target audience
For the competent development of a communication strategy, you need to understand who it is addressed to. Target audience is the most important parameter in research. Most often, agencies offer marketing services to assess the socio-demographic parameters of the audience: gender, age, marital status, education, income, etc. However, to formulate messages and positioning concepts, you need to understand the needs and characteristics of consumer behavior. This allows you to find insights that are relevant to people, to pick up words and topics that are close to them. The set of consumer behavioral characteristics is called psychographics and is described by the concept of lifestyle. Each consumer, depending on his type, stage of the family's life cycle, spends resources in his own way and makes purchases based on certain reasons. To identify such information, it is not enough to conduct a survey or survey, they can be obtained only with the help of qualitative research: interviews, projective techniques.
Implementation Tools
Traditionally, a communication strategy is based on the use of specific tools. It includes such means as: personal sales, PR-tools, advertising, BTL. The communication strategy of the company involves the selection of media in which advertising will be placed, planning actions and events. Media planning comes from the analysis of data on media preferences of the audience. It also takes into account a large number of objective characteristics of the media: ratings, circulations, passenger flows, etc.