Bring Harmony to Your Business with Marketing Communications
By Dawn Newsome

When it comes to implementing marketing communications into your business model, think of your favorite song.

Is it a concerto that relaxes you after a stressful day, a tune that motivates you when you are exercising, or perhaps a song that makes you want to jump up and dance whenever you hear it?

Just like a song includes many musical components ranging from various instruments and tones to vocals and lyrics that can affect your mood or feelings, marketing communications are composed of all of the different ways a company touches their customers. Just like there are a wide variety of songs, marketing communications are different ways to inform, educate, and sell to the customer. Just like in composing music or writing a song, in marketing communications all the components should all work together. In other words, you cannot have one without the other in order to create a masterpiece.

So, why do you need the mix of these different marketing communication elements working together? Because it ensures a consistent message that helps build brand equity—the value associated with the brand by the consumer. Branding is who you are and what you stand for. A brand is not just a promise, but a promise kept. It is what makes your company and product memorable.

Therefore, marketing communications should do the following: show your customer what your company stands for; what you sell; how you produce what you sell; how you deliver what you sell; and how they benefit from all of this.

The following are key elements of marketing communications. While they require a financial investment, they can be music to your ears by helping keep your business in successful harmony.

Communicate with Masses
In order to help get your company and product in front of a wide audience, consider advertising which is a paid form of promotion including: print—magazines, newspapers and brochures; online; broadcast such as radio and television; and outdoor advertising, such as billboards and transit systems. With a wide variety of advertising options, it is important to pick medium(s) that best maximize your outreach and budget goals.

Connect with Customers
One of the best ways to communicate directly with your customers is through direct marketing, which can range from mailings—postcards, brochures—and catalogs, to telemarketing and e-mails.

Sponsor an Event
Consider company-sponsored events to help link your brand to your product in your customer’s mind. Maybe it is sponsoring an event of your favorite charity or one that matches well with the mission of your company, hosting a workshop, or providing site tours of your business. Or perhaps, it is just a general entertainment event that you hold for your clients, potential customers, and key industry and business leaders.

Make Personal Contacts
Even with the advancements in and convenience of technology, face-to-face interaction with customers is essential. Opportunities include giving and attending sales presentations and meetings, exhibiting at trade shows, and performing product demonstrations. Always follow up with contacts you made by sending a note with a brochure or making a phone call. Make sure you leave the door open for further communication to build and maintain a relationship.

Promote Your Image
Implement a public relations plan to help promote your company’s image to the community and current and potential customers. Public speaking, sponsorships, community relations, and being mentioned in the media all help drive public relations.

Be Creative
Another way to uphold your brand and make a lasting impression with your customers is to promote your business by giving away specialty items and gifts with your business name and logo; holding contests, games, or sweepstakes; or offering coupons and rebates for your products and services.