Marketing as Communication and What It Means for Your Business

Marketing, as a general rule, is a vast discipline.

Is it research, design, and production?

Is it advertising and promotion?

Is it pricing, sales, and support?

As you indeed guessed, the answers are yes, yes, and yes.

Most of all, though, marketing is communication.

Understanding how to communicate your message is a critical factor in your success, from what you develop to how you promote it.

Although it sounds simple, knowing where to start and how to move your marketing initiatives forward is daunting. Further, if you are unable to convey these ambitions, it will prove disastrous to your bottom line,

Let's simplify the process and examine some basic tenets of marketing, which are how to effectively communicate before, during, and after the lifecycle of any product or service.

What is Marketing as Communication?

First, let's better understand marketing itself.

The commonly accepted definition of marketing includes developing and creating a product or service and the subsequent conveyance of its attributes and benefits to the general public.

No, marketing is not solely advertising or sales – common misconceptions. While it does encompass both promotion and purchase, it extends much further.

Everything from before development to actual conversion and beyond involves some form of marketing.

As such, marketing defies any singular definition and instead carries with it plenty of variation.

Mention marketing to ten different people, and you're just as likely to get ten different answers.

It can be relatively straightforward or multi-layered and complex. You can market with words or images and in both sound and silence.

Marketing's unifying factor, however, is its a flexible enterprise that lends itself to application across practically any industry. Every business utilizes it in one capacity or another.

Are you renting heavy machinery to construction companies or industrial firms?

Are you selling office products to small businesses?

Are you signing up individuals for a webinar on how to get the most out of their smartphones?

A marketing plan is necessary for each of those companies to be effective.

Now, what about the communication side of things?

Webster’s definition posits that communication is an exchange of information or a technique for expressing ideas. From that, it’s easy to see how marketing and communication intersect.

So, let’s revisit our three examples of heavy machinery, office products, and the smartphone webinar. They are vastly different endeavors, to be sure, and each requires a keen approach to marketing techniques to prove successful.

While the product, the audience, and the strategy might all vary, the underlying principle remains the same:

You want to communicate your company’s solution as the answer to your customer's problem in the most compelling and informative way possible.

So how do you use marketing to effectively communicate the benefits of what you're offering? It comes down to four principles: know your audience, develop your message, understand the market, and keep in touch.

Know Your Audience

In practically every case, the lifecycle of a successful product or service starts with research-market and consumer research, to be specific.

You don't necessarily need a physical representation of your idea at this stage, but you must discover if it's viable enough to take the next step. Alternatively, if you do have an established business or service line, you need to learn ways to improve it.

In either situation, you might conduct consumer surveys or undertake broader market research to establish the baseline of your goals.

Ultimately, you're figuring out who your audience is and if there is a demand for what you offer.

Communication is essential at this stage because if you don't ask the right questions or understand the feedback you receive, not only will your product be off the mark, but so will the message you build around it.

For example, you might have a great piece of merchandise, but misunderstanding why people want it can lead to poor outreach and low sales.

Conversely, you might market your service well, but it is lacking. Individuals will eventually figure out it misses the mark and proves inadequate to the solution they seek. The disconnect can result in a substantial long-term loss.

Detailed and focused research will not only ensure you develop a winning product or idea, but it also provides you with the foundation for who will buy it and how you should promote it.

Develop Your Message

From there, we take the next step in marketing – messaging.

While each is vital, developing the message requires the most focus of the four principles we list. It's also the one that links marketing directly with communication.

Here, you'll establish how to make a case for your solution and grow your target audience beyond the first phase of promotion.

Your pitch also serves a secondary purpose, pulling double duty to build your brand into a trustworthy name and convince consumers of other brands to transition to yours.

Ultimately, your messaging is rooted in establishing value. You have the solution, but in your marketing, you must communicate the benefits and value of the offer.

Value in your product.

Value in your brand. And the value that you provide for others.

Understand the Market

You're ready to take your message to the masses, but how and what does this look like?

Depending on your product or industry, market knowledge is often the broadest category in the marketing lifecycle.

Not only do you need to know how to reach your ideal audience and through which channels, but you also need to understand price and competition and retain the ability to make adjustments based on market changes.

As you refine your approach, you'll rely heavily on the initial research you performed to determine your audience.

For example, you should grasp not only the demands of your ideal client but also their preferred method of communication.

Yes, traditional versus modern forms of advertising are a factor, but also consider whether dedicated sales reps are a more viable way to initiate sales with your ideal audience.

Perhaps you should take an integrated approach. To raise awareness for your product, focus on a unified story about your brand’s identity across several marketing channels-both old school and new.

Understanding the market also requires knowledge about other firms in your segment and their strategies. Are they successful? Are you competing with them for the same clients? Are they leaving a gap in the marketplace you can fill?

What about pricing? Is your segment over-saturated with second-rate options? Can you market to the crowd willing to pay a premium for something better? Or is it the opposite? Can you gain market share with equal quality but at a lower price point?

Understanding the market and everything that goes into it will ensure that your ideas and information are more focused and convincing than anyone else's.

RELATED – Is a Master's in PR or Master's in Marketing Right for You?

Keep in Touch

Finally, we come to what happens – or what should happen – after the sale.

If you think marketing stops after a consumer makes a purchase, think again. Many businesses are built on repeat customers or word of mouth from satisfied clients.

The most successful organizations appreciate post-sales marketing and develop specific plans to help ensure customer retention and repeat business. Initiatives such as:

Customer service and tech support.

Knowledge centers.

Upgrades or product add-ons.

Anything to help support a client after they've invested in your organization's solution is not only good marketing; it’s good business.

The communication aspect at this point might even be more critical. First, it strengthens your brand with a customer. Additionally, their feedback helps improve multiple aspects of your promotion and sales process or the product itself.

This information is invaluable as you work to widen your customer base and increase revenues.

It’s by no means unreasonable to say that marketing is a form of communication.

From the infancy of an idea to the final sale and the support that follows, effective marketing at each step is often the difference between the success and failure of your product and your brand.

To avoid falling short of your goals, don’t just market your solution; communicate your benefit and value. Research and fully develop your message and expertly convey it.

Consider some of society’s most widely known and popular brands for further proof.

Apple.

Coca-Cola.

Disney.

Sure, those are three established, legacy brands. But they achieved that success largely through understanding what their audiences wanted, crafting messages that not only appealed to that core group but also enticed others to the fold, and repeatedly delivering on their promises to keep their consumers engaged.

In other words, they don't just market; they communicate.

The same is achievable for your organization.

Maybe you’re not pushing computers, selling soft drinks, or trying to score at the box office, but there is a market for what you offer. They’re just waiting for you to communicate it.

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