Artemia Blog

Marketing communications have been challenging business owners, startup founders, entrepreneurs and marketing directors alike since the term was dreamed up decades ago. Who to target, how to do so as well as when and where to do it are all critical questions that must be answered before beginning any outreach campaign.

While the goals of every company and campaign are different, there are many overlapping ways to reach and engage your audience effectively.

So what should you do to make the most of your marketing budget? Here are 3 must-use strategies to employ across campaigns and channels.

1.      Content marketing drives mindshare

If you are not already leveraging content marketing in your campaigns, now is the time hop on the train. According to a recent survey conducted by eMarketer, content marketing is a top priority for a full 39% of corporate marketers in 2013. Content marketing takes many forms: news, videos, ebooks, white papers, case studies, infographics, photo galleries, webinars and even blog posts.

The basic idea behind it is to provide useful information to potential customers even though they may not be ready to buy your product or hire your services just yet. Every day people thoroughly research most purchases online before making a decision and by providing entertaining or educational content for them to use and enjoy, your brand can gain recognition and mindshare as a go-to source of valuable information. And that recognition as an expert and thought leader goes a long way the next time a potential customer needs to make a purchase.

2.     Use video to drive engagement

With the enormous popularity of YouTube and other video sites, this may seem obvious but if you have the means, developing video for your company is an excellent way to increase leads and grow sales. Video puts a human face on your brand and offerings. A one or two minute video can explain your product’s advantages and benefits faster than a visitor can read about it on your website.

TV ads have long been recognized as more effective than print or radio simply by virtue of offering both audio and visual stimulation. A video on your homepage or posted via social media has another critical component going for it as well: interaction. Videos can be easily shared and linked to through external pages and can even ‘go viral’ if they strike the right chord among viewers, generating enormous return on investment.

3.     Mobile is (still) critical

Talking heads have been banging on the mobile drum for a few years now but that doesn’t mean its importance is waning yet. Spending on mobile marketing hit $6.7 billion last year and the industry as a whole is projected to employ 1.4 million people by 2015.

People are on their smartphones and tablets constantly and having mobile-optimized content is a must for every enterprise. Whether through a branded app that delivers useful data or services to your customers, the ability to accept payment via mobile device at your point of sale or even just a simpler version of your website that displays well on small screens, being able to cater your content to smartphones means your prospects can access information on your business anytime, anywhere.

Once you’ve decided on a marketing communication strategy to pursue, the next step is to plan out your messaging. Check out our step by step guide and template below to get started.

In the news:

Content Vaults to No. 1 Marketing Priority for 2013

Mobile Marketing Spend Hits $6.7B In 2012, Forecasts Soar

Study: Mobile Marketing Industry to Employ 1.4 Million In 2015

Strategic Communications Plans are designed to serve as unified platform on how your brand represents itself internally, externally and around the world. They can be used for both entire organizations and for specific campaigns (such as product launches or informational outreach).

Should your small business, startup or larger enterprise not have one, it’s high time to sit down with the management team and other key stakeholders to develop one.

Why you need it

Communication plans are essential to every business. They:

• Provide consistency to messaging and creative
• Keep everyone on the same page – both employees and audiences
• Save time and money in the long term
• Help identify key milestones, deadlines and deliverables

Without a communications plan, different departments can and will generate different messages. Uniformity is absolutely critical for younger startups or if you are an established enterprise going after a new market. Audiences can get easily confused by conflicting messages, which can guide potential customers straight towards competitors.

Key components

The most important pieces of any communications plan are:

• Research– Good research is essential to every business. For your communications plan, spend some time doing in-depth analysis of your industry trends, top competitors and even new regulations in the works that could affect your company or your customers.
  • Ask yourself: What is the problem or opportunity for your company? What trends are occurring in the industry? What are competitors doing?
• Key Messages – The core of every marketing communications plan is messaging. Defining your key message points will take some time and creativity, but it is all worth it when can pin down exactly what you want to say.
  • Ask yourself: What information do you want to convey? Limit it to no more than 4 points.
• Goals & Objectives– There is, of course, a reason for developing your plan. This is where you can specifically define what is it you want to achieve.
  • Ask yourself: What is meant to be accomplished? Use SMART goals (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-bound).
• Audiences– There are many factors that can determine a company’s ideal target audience and just as many ways to segment them. General demographics play a large part, but so do culture, economics and sometimes beliefs.
  • Ask yourself: Who are you trying to reach? What motivates them? What interests them? Make sure to segment and prioritize specific audiences.
• Channels – Where you place your message is just as important as the content that’s in it. Take time to think about all your options for placement, great locations for your messaging may not be where you’ve advertisedin the past.
  • Ask yourself: Where do your audiences go for information? Consider the type of information you’re sharing. What is the best way to deliver it? TV, radio, print, online, outdoor and social media are all channels to keep in mind.
• Evaluation–Begin evaluating your communication plan as soon as possible. This will allow you to pivot as necessary to ensure audiences are reached and the message(s) are understood.
  • Ask yourself: How well is your plan working? What can be adjusted so that we meet our goals?

Pitfalls

There are many places where a communications plan can go astray and lose effectiveness, resulting in wasted time, effort and money. Some danger areas when creating communication plans include:

• Developing the plan alone – No matter how well you might think you know the subject matter, multiple perspectives help refine key points and generate more ideas to consider. Buy-in from internal stakeholders is essential to a successful communication plan.
• Viewing communication as one-way – Build in feedback loops for both employees and external audiences. They will help catch any flaws in the plan and can aid in the evaluation process as well.
• Confusing business objectives with communication plan goals – Don’t tie company revenue targets to the goals for a strategic communications plan. Yes, a good plan can help you increase your profits, but that isn’t the primary reason for its existence.
• Keeping some or all of it secret – Unless there is a very strong reason to keep it under wraps, restricting internal access to a plan not only limits the time and monetary savings it provides, it can also alienate employees and lead to inconsistent messaging.
• Resisting change – Yes, it may have been a lot of work to put together, but communication plans should be living documents that adapt as new situations arise. Don’t enshrine it on a pedestal; keep it ready for upgrades as needs arise.