Communication strategy: goals, objectives, process of formation

Promotion of goods and services requires an integrated approach, which is implemented in the development of communication strategy. Today, marketing becomes an essential element of any organization's activity, whether it sells bread or provides intellectual services. Well-thought-out marketing communication policy of the company is a necessary condition for its success.

The concept of

Any communication process pursues a specific goal, the achievement of which is connected with the development of a strategy. In marketing, the main way to implement plans and goals is to build a relationship between the buyer and the manufacturer. Communication strategy in the broadest sense is a comprehensive, global program to achieve the company's marketing goals. In a narrower sense, it is synonymized with the notion of marketing strategy. In practice, the communication strategy includes marketing, creative and media strategy. Thus, this concept is a general program of the company's actions to establish communication with the market, external and internal environment.

Benefits

The development of communication strategy allows the organization to create a thought-out plan of action to achieve its goals. A strategic approach has a number of advantages. It allows you to optimize costs and maximally economically distribute all types of resources: temporary, human, financial. Strategy is a way to see the whole picture and find the shortest and most profitable ways to the goal. It helps to build a hierarchy of goals, and move towards global achievements without wasting resources in vain. Also, the strategy allows you to find hidden reserves and new opportunities for business development. An integrated approach is based on a deep study of market realities, an understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of the product and this helps to discover innovative solutions in the modernization of the production and promotion process.

Types of strategies

Since strategy is a term from the military environment, its name can also be borrowed from there. Traditionally, there are defensive and attacking strategies. Defense and attack can be flanking and frontal. That is, they can be sent only to one or more opponents or properties of the goods - to strike on the flanks. Or be fought on all fronts: competitors, markets, etc. There are also partisan strategies, that is, hidden from the enemy's eyes. Not in vain known marketer Jack Trout likened the process of communication to the war and called his epoch-making work "Marketing Wars".

There is also an approach within which strategies of presentation, manipulation and convention are highlighted. In this perspective, all strategies are classified according to the main way of establishing contact with target audiences. The presentation is an open passive communication, within the framework of which the aim is not to influence the communicant. Its opposite is manipulation, that is, a hidden effect. And the convention is based on the establishment of interaction between the parties.

Structure

Communication strategy includes three areas of action planning: marketing, creative and media strategies. The marketing strategy includes studies of the company's position in the market, the identification of the advantages of the brand, the choice of target audiences. A creative strategy is the formulation of a key message and the development of visual embodiments of the basic idea of communication. The media strategy is the choice of channels of contact with the audience, planning ways of communicating with consumers through the media and other points of contact.

Development technology

Any strategy is developed on the basis of scrupulous analysis. And marketing communication strategy begins with an important stage - the study of the situation. For a quality solution it is necessary to understand the features of the promoted goods, to have information about the company's position in the market, about competitors, their advantages and disadvantages. Often companies such marketing services are ordered by specialized agencies. Based on the information obtained, the brand platform is formulated, positioning of the product is developed. The next stage is the identification of market segments and the audience with which communications will be established. After all the research is done, the next step is the creation of a key message. A creative solution is built on the advantages of the product and on consumer insights. It should cause the addressee a given emotion and association. The next step is to select the distribution channels for the message. To properly select carriers, one must understand the media preferences of the target audience and analyze its image and lifestyle. A key message should be visualized, i.e. To convey in the material: the word, the music, the television clip. The stage of development of the advertising product includes the search for the most vivid and attractive advertising images. The last stage in the formation of a communication strategy is the development of a media plan. It is necessary to determine the frequency and coverage of communications, with the time of contact with the consumer.

Strategy platform

The development of a communication strategy is unthinkable without a brand platform. The company must understand its mission and the advantages of the goods. They are placed in the basis of the concept of positioning, which means the desired image of the product in the perception of the consumer. The manufacturer must formulate a unique trade proposal (UTS), which will "settle" in the minds of consumers. It can be natural: when the product has a real distinctive quality, for example, the operating system in Apple's phones. Or artificial, that is, invented. For example, the juice "Good" is USP - "juice created with kindness." The brand platform is not developed for each advertising campaign, but is an element of the strategy. On its basis, slogans and messages for promotional products are formulated: packaging, radio and TV commercials, outdoor advertising, and so on.

Stage setting goals and objectives

The communication strategy includes two types of goals. Long-term goals should correspond to the company's development plans for a long period of time, for example, gaining a position on the market, seizing new markets and segments, etc. Tactical short-term goals are related to the stages of promotion and brand development. Setting goals can be done in different ways. The most popular is the SMART model, according to which the goal should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. That is, the team must understand what and at what stage should be achieved. Employees should also share the set goals, understand their benefits for themselves.

The target audience

For the competent development of a communication strategy, one needs to understand to whom it is addressed. Target audience is the most important parameter in research. Most often, agencies offer marketing services to assess the socio-demographic parameters of the audience: gender, age, marital status, education, income, etc. However, the formulation of messages and the concept of positioning should understand the needs and characteristics of consumer behavior. This allows you to find insights that are relevant to people, pick up words and topics that are close to them. A set of behavioral characteristics of a consumer is called psychographics and is described by the concept of a lifestyle. Each consumer, depending on his type, stages of the life cycle of the family, uses his own resources to consume resources and makes purchases based on certain reasons. To identify such information it is not enough to conduct a questionnaire or a survey, they can be obtained only with the help of qualitative research: interviews, projective techniques.

Implementation Tools

Traditionally, the communication strategy is based on the use of specific tools. It includes such means as: personal sales, PR tools, advertising, BTL. The company's communication strategy presupposes the selection of media, in which advertising, planning of actions and events will be placed. Media planning is based on the data on media preferences of the audience received during the analysis. It also takes into account a large number of objective characteristics of the media: ratings, circulations, passenger flows, and so on.