Methods of Marketing Communication
Marketing communications exist to sell a product or service. There are only a few marketing communication types -- advertising, public relations, sales promotion -- but applied to an individual product they produce unique, memorable and successful marketing campaigns. Marketing professionals use marketing communications tools to produce "selling" messages that motivate, change attitudes and change behaviors.
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Advertising
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Advertising is by far the biggest hammer in the marketer's toolbox. Advertising provides both audience reach and frequency of message delivery. Advertising media can be costly and the marketer must decide how to divide the ad. dollars among the various media forms available. He must also have funds to produce the advertising creative itself, whether it's for TV or radio commercials or print ads for newspapers or magazines. He may turn to professionals in an advertising agency to develop a plan that helps chart advertising's role in the overall marketing mix as well as produce advertising materials.
Public Relations
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Public Relations or PR is another tool that may play a role in a marketing campaign. PR creates awareness of the marketer's product or service but not as obviously commercially as advertising. Unlike advertising, PR mentions are non-paid advertisements. Unlike advertising which is unashamedly self-serving, PR is more objective communication and a softer sell. PR provides engaging information in a feature story,for example, while delivering a subtle marketing message. The selling message might be hard to ascertain in a truly good PR campaign. A PR firm is in the best position to develop such messages and then get them placed in media for free.
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Sales Promotion
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Discount cents-off coupons are a huge part of sales promotion. Many consumer decisions to purchase an item occur spontaneously, at the point of sale. Knowing this, marketers often develop materials called "sales collateral" that will be used in-store or on a sales call. In-store these collateral materials may take the form of shelf-talkers, window signs, dangling overhead signs, static clings on a cold-storage glass door, trial size products -- all last minute reminders to a consumer to "buy me".
On a sales call, materials might include product samples, and other leave-behinds such as logoed pens, pads, mugs and other promotional items all emblazoned with the logo of the product as a reminder. Sales promotion also includes the whole class of exciting incentives of contests, sweepstakes, and giveaways. Again, sales promotion agencies exist to help.
Online Media
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Increasingly, marketers look to establish a brand's online presence by purchasing Internet advertising on websites that attract their specific audience. They may opt to deliver Internet ads and run them on a content-based website like Huffington Post or the New York Times online, or on popular social media websites like Facebook. They may also court the thousands of personal blogs in existence to favorably mention the brand.
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