Report On The Influence Of Online Factors On Young People Who Do Self-Harm
March 16, 2022
SIM336 – STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT SAMPLE
March 16, 2022
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Why do you think Marketing Communications play a significant role in the success of an organization’s overall marketing strategy? Discuss. Provide justification and examples to support your arguments.
Marketing communication is an integrated marketing effort
Marketing communication can be defined as a management process that a business organization uses in order to engage with the market audience. In recent years, the significance of marketing communication tools has increased manifold due to the high intensity of the competition that prevails in the market setting. In the technology-driven era, all businesses irrespective of the industry in which they operate try to establish an interactive relationship with the target customers so that their brand awareness can be strengthened and the customer can get an idea about the latest offerings of the marketer (MaRS, 2018). In fact, it can be said that a robust and effective marketing communication model can help businesses to convert into brands as it helps the firm to share its business message with the key stakeholders i.e. the customers. In layman’s language, marketing communication is said to encompass all kinds of messages and media that a marketer deploys to communicate in the market. It includes advertising, packaging, branding, direct marketing, PR approaches, trade shows, social media marketing and various other techniques that a business concern uses for the purpose of communicating with the target market (Repository.up.ac.za, 2018, p – 2).
Role of marketing communications
The marketing communication models that are used are indispensable for a business in the competitive era as these tools help the business to create and sustain the demand of an offering which ultimately helps to increase the awareness level of the offering. The marketing communication has a direct implication on the customer buying behaviour and the buying decision that is ultimately made by them (Brindha, 2014, p 70). The marketing tools basically share the business message with the customers which help them to make the purchase decision. An effective market communication model can positively influence the organization’s performance and its overall marketing strategy. The market strategy of any business revolves around the customer the business corporation and the competitive setting. In order to make an impact on the customers and create value, an effective and interactive marketing communication model is a must. It makes sure that the other elements of the marketing strategy such as the offering of the firm, the segmentation, targeting and positioning function, and the overall marketing plan create value for the business (MaRS, 2018). The promotional tactics that are implemented by a marketer make sure that the value that is created by the business is conveyed to the market audience and they prefer the offerings in the market.
In the current times, the business concerns that are known to have implemented effective communication strategies include Coca-Cola, Starbucks and Apple Inc. These business entities follow an integrated marketing combination model and incorporate a wide variety of communication tools to share their business message in the broad market setting. These firms make it a point to use both the online platform and the offline platform to interact with the market audience and take their feedback. They also use marketing communication tools to highlight the new offerings that are being introduced in the market for the customers. For example, whenever Apple Inc.’s firm has introduced a new smartphone, the management has used various marketing communication techniques such as attractive television commercials, magazine ads, YouTube videos, social media marketing, including attractive product features and PR activities. One of the core features of the marketing communication model of Apple is its close attention to minute details that create value for the customers and help the business to thrive in the highly competitive market setting (Stephen Zoeller’s Marketing Blog, 2018).
A successful marketing communication model means a successful marketing strategy
It can be said that if a business concern has a successful and efficacious marketing communication strategy, its overall marketing strategy gets boosted in the process. The marketing communication model is an important element of the marketing mix. The other elements of the marketing mix include the product or offering, place and price. The marketing communication approach that is implemented by a business undertaking has a direct link with the entire marketing strategic framework. As presented in the image below, the marketing communication activities influence various stages of the marketing process so that they can reach the customers and share with them the value that they create for them in the dynamic and uncertain market setting. The communication that a business undertaking is able to establish with the existing customers or the potential customers has a direct impact on the brand name, the brand position, the demand of the brand offerings and the loyal set of customers that it is able to have in the process.
A successful marketing communication model is able to effectively communicate and interact with the market audience relating to the value that it offers in the dynamic market environment. In the case of Apple concern, the technical teams use the most innovative forms of technology to design and manufacture innovative offerings. Then the business uses its marketing communication tools to share the details of the new product. This naturally creates curiosity in the minds of the customers and the customers feel attracted to purchase the products that can be valuable and useful for them (Villarreal, 2010). The use of different kinds of marketing communication tools helps the business concerns to provide information about the brand and its offerings to the existing and potential customers. In the past few years, the popular jargon “integrated marketing communication” has come into the limelight as it integrates a wide range of communication channels that a business can use to deliver a consistent, clear and compelling message in the market that is synced with the overall marketing strategy and the business objective (Villarreal, 2010, p 3).
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How important is establishing an appropriate budget in a marketing communication strategy? Discuss the relevance of the communication budget in a marketing communication strategy. Provide examples to elaborate.
Marketing communication budget
The marketing communication budget involves the formal process of planning, recording and measuring the overall impact of the business expenditure on the marketing communication operations such as social media marketing, content marketing, direct marketing, sponsorships and other forms of marketing communications. It is an integral process that helps the business undertaking to set out the financial requirements in order to meet the communication objectives of the business concern and offer a means of managing the expenses relating to the communication model of the business (Bizfluent, 2018).
The budget of the marketing communication strategy of a business undertaking has a direct impact on the reach of the communication tool in the market. Even if a business might create something valuable in the dynamic market but if it is not able to share the message with the market audience, the customers would be unaware of it. Establishing an appropriate budget for a marketing communication strategy can help a concern to reach far and wide corners of the market and thus promote the brand. Since a major chunk of an organization’s financial resources is spent on marketing communication, the proper allocation of the resources is necessary as it affects the other activities of the business concern. Determining the suitable marketing communication strategy budget is important to maintain the health of the business entity and ensure that the business can make its unique position in the market and have an edge against its industry rivals (Bizfluent, 2018).
Report On The Influence Of Online Factors On Young People Who Do Self-Harm
Importance of establishing an appropriate marketing communication strategy budget
Preparing an appropriate marketing communication strategy budget can help the management of a business to identify the most important communication tools and techniques that will be used to interact with the market audience. The marketing communication budget is an important segment of the entire marketing plan that creates value for the business. It helps the business to devise the strategic model that can be used to achieve the market objective within the available financial budget (Bizfluent, 2018). Since the marketing communication strategy helps the business concern to identify and assess the various communication techniques that will be used to deliver the ultimate business message in the market, the budgeting model makes sure that all the applicable communication models are optimally used to achieve the communication goals of the organization.
The communication budget helps the business concerned to conduct the analysis and make comparisons relating to marketing communication activity. The budgeting model helps the management to have a better idea of the Return on Investment (RoI) and the money that is spent on the communication approach that is used to share the message with the customers. Since the budget encompasses all the prices that a business undertaking is expected to pay to interact with the market audience such as the print advertisement, online advertisements, website development, and SEO, it is able to have better control over the available financial resources that would be spent on the other business-related activities (Empire Creative Marketing, 2018).
An appropriate marketing communication budget helps the management team to carefully blend the unique mix of promotional tools that help the business concern to deliver a consistent and clear message in the dynamic market setting. The different stages of marketing communication can be handled smoothly due to the tentative budget. For example, over the years, Apple has promoted itself as a brand that focuses on an innovative business model. It identifies the unfulfilled needs of the customers and creates value through innovative market offerings. In the current era, when most businesses use technological settings to strengthen their communication and interaction with the customers, Apple Inc. concern promotes the brand and its offerings on the virtual platform and makes limited use of the traditional form of marketing communication. Such a marketing communication model is implemented as the business spends more funds on non-conventional marketing as compared to the traditional form of marketing. The technology-based business undertaking focuses on the message content and tries to have an emotional appeal on the customers via the online marketing platform (Mtcglobal.org, 2018, p 7).
High relevance of the marketing communication budget
The relevance of the communication budget in a marketing communication strategy is high as it highlights the different opportunities that can be exploited in order to minimize the overall business communication costs. For example, the integrated marketing communication (IMC) approach makes the optimum use of a consistent message and visual models in the communication approaches. In case a business undertaking intends to work with only one communication agency, it can reduce its administrative costs.
The utility of the marketing communication budget can help the business undertaking to track the projected expenditure against the actual costs that it incurs. It even helps the concern to measure the key factors that impact the effectiveness of brand communication in the dynamic market setting (Bizfluent, 2018). The knowledge further helps the concern to include the most effective communication tools while interacting with the market audience that is useful in the current times. For example, most of the business organizations that operate in the 21st century try to strengthen their online presence in the market (Bizfluent, 2018). In order to boost their online presence and reach a wider section in the market, the businesses prefer to allocate financial resources to online marketing activities, SEO, content marketing and social media marketing.
Setting up of the tentative marketing communication budget is a critical activity that helps businesses to integrate the promotional-mix strategic models that represent the business organization in a positive light (Mtcglobal.org, 2018). The budget acts as a major tool in the hands of the management of the business entity which guides it to carefully use effective communication tools and leave out the ineffective or redundant marketing communication approaches. The allocation of the tentative marketing communication budget has a major impact on the profitability of the business and the brand image (Mtcglobal.org, 2018).
References
Brindha, G., 2014. Integrated marketing communication strategies of apple and Samsung. International Journal of Research and Development—A Management Review, pp.68-71.
Bizfluent. 2018. What Is a Marketing Communication Budget?. [online] Available at: https://bizfluent.com/info-8119264-marketing-communication-budget.html [Accessed 7 Aug. 2018].
Empire Creative Marketing. 2018. The Importance of a Marketing Budget | Empire Creative Marketing. [online] Available at: http://empiread.com/the-importance-of-a-marketing-budget/ [Accessed 7 Aug. 2018].
MaRS. 2018. What is Marketing Communication (MarCom) | Entrepreneur’s Toolkit. [online] Available at: https://www.marsdd.com/mars-library/what-is-marketing-communication-marcom/ [Accessed 7 Aug. 2018].
Mtcglobal.org. 2018. Role of IMC in Marketing Process. [online] Available at: http://www.mtcglobal.org/uploads/4_n.pdf.pdf [Accessed 7 Aug. 2018].
Repository.up.ac.za. 2018. Marketing Communication. [online] Available at: https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/30427/03chapter3.pdf?sequence=4-Pg1%20 http://www.ftms.edu.my/images/Document/MOD001178%20-%20Marketing%20Communication/Lecture_1[1].pdf [Accessed 7 Aug. 2018].
Stephen Zoeller’s Marketing Blog. 2018. Why Use an Integrated Marketing Communications Approach? – Stephen Zoeller’s Marketing Blog. [online] Available at: https://www.stephenzoeller.com/integrated-marketing-communications/ [Accessed 7 Aug. 2018].
Villarreal, R., 2010. Integrated Marketing Communication Strategy. Wiley International Encyclopedia of Marketing.
