Marketing Communication is a fundamental part of a company’s marketing efforts. MarCom can be described as all the messages and media you deploy to communicate with the market. Marketing communication includes advertising, direct marketing, branding, packaging, your online presence, printed materials, PR activities, sales presentations, sponsorships, trade show appearances, and more.
The complexity of the MarCom topic makes it too broad to cover in one article. This article is one in a series of six that covers the field of marketing communication. The full list of the titles in this series includes:
What is marketing communication (MarCom)?
- Positioning—discusses the ins and outs and importance of claiming the most attractive position in your customer’s mind.
- Your marketing message—provides the framework for planning your marketing message throughout the technology adoption lifecycle (TALC).
- Marketing communication for tech startups—describes the process and methods to develop word-of-mouth marketing in the marketplace.
- Marketing communications: Reaching early adopters of technology products—focuses on how (and why) you should tailor your message for technology enthusiasts and visionaries.
- Successful market communication across the Chasm and in the Bowling Alley—explains the tactics that will help you cross the Chasm.
Marketing communication has two objectives. One is to create and sustain demand and preference for the product. The other is to shorten the sales cycle.
Creating preference
- Creating preference is often a longer-term effort that aims at using communication tools to help position your product or company in the minds of the target customer.
- Positioning and building a brand takes time and requires a certain consistency (not just in the communication efforts themselves, but also in regards to the core elements of the product, pricing, and distribution) and therefore represents a significant commitment for the company.
Shortening the sales cycle
Shortening the sales cycle means assisting your sales and channel partners in their efforts to identify, engage and deliver a customer. Understanding the customer’s buying process brings critical insight into how one can shorten the sales cycle.
In general, the communication techniques employed to shorten the sales cycle are by nature more tactical than those used in building a brand. Nevertheless, your strategy to achieve the two MarCom objectives must be balanced, or the legitimacy of your plan will be questioned if one objective takes priority over the other. You must have close collaboration with sales and customer-facing channel partners in order to get this balance right.
