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What is Marketing Communication (MarCom)?
Marketing Communication is the process where a business firm conveys its offerings information to the potential customers either directly or indirectly with the expectation to persuade them to make a real purchase.
Marketing communication is also called in short form as MarCom. It includes all the possible efforts a business firm ever takes to make inform its consumers about its products and services. While making them informed the business firm or marketer can use various tools such as advertising, personal selling, websites, press release, emails, and so on, and the blend of these tools is called the marketing communication mix.
In other words, marketing communication is the process of transmitting thoughts, ideas, instructions, information, etc., and then receiving its response from the target audience or market. The response may be either negative or positive.
In the marketing communication system, the marketer, producer, or seller usually is a message sender and all the potential customers or target market is the receiver. If the response of the customers to the message of the marketer is positive, the goal of the marketer is likely to be achieved. On the contrary, if the customers give a negative response to the marketer’s message, then the marketer’s goal may not be achieved or there is a fewer chance.
MarCom is the continuos process. The success of the marketer largely depends on his ability to influence and communicate to the customers with clarity and adequacy of the information. As such, the marketer needs to accept that communication is an integral part of the overall marketing system.
Process of Marketing Communication
As we already discussed, in the marketing communication system, the marketer or firm plays the role of sender and the target market as a receiver. Usually, the MarCom system consists of like,
- Marketing firm or markter (sender)
- Target market (receiver)
- Channel (transmission of the message)
- The communication process binds sender, receiver, and channel.
- Noise – exogenous variable that impacts the communication process.
The steps or components of the marketing communication process are mentioned as below,
Sender
The marketer is the sender and the source of information in the MarCom System. He is the initiator of the process of communication. He formulates messages through his idea, needs, intention, and source that he wants to communicate with his target customers.
Message
The message is the background step of the process of marketing communication. The message is the content that the marketer wants to convey to his target market. The message may consist of information, ideas, facts, opinions, requests, suggestions, etc. of the marketer.
This message primarily includes a request of the markter to the consumers to purchase his products, or just information reminds, or make aware of the product.
Encoding of Message
Once the desired information has been accumulated, it should be designed in a suitable form to make the message more efficient and attractive. For such a suitable message, the markter can use appropriate words, symbols, music, songs, sentences, or a combination of these all. Designing a suitable message is called encoding.
Channel
Once the suitable message has been designed, it should be delivered to the target market through the appropriate channel or media.
There are several media or channels of communication are available such as advertising, personal selling, packaging, wholesalers, retailers, etc. A marketer can choose one or two of these channels as per the scenario to rightly convey his message to the target market.
Receiver
The target market or customer is the receiver in the marketing communication system. In general, a receiver understands the message conveyed by the marketer and takes necessary actions. The completion of the communication process depends on when the message is received and a response is made by the receiver.
Decoding
The meaning and use of the message are of no use unless the receiver understands the message conveyed by the sender. When a receiver received a message he tries to understand the meaning of the delivered message through several channels. This process is called decoding.
Decoding is the process of undertaking and interpreting the message by the receiver i.e. customer. It is essential for the success of marketing communication to understand the message by the customer as per the intention of the marketer i.e. sender.
In simple words, decoding is the transmission of understanding between the sender and receiver. The effectiveness of the communication can be realized only when the receiver is able to decode the message in accordance with the sender’s intention.
Feedback (Response)
Once the customers receive the message, they will react or respond to it. The response of the customers to the message will be negative or positive.
If the response is positive, the customers are supposed to act as per the marketer’s message and they will buy the marketer’s offerings. And, if the response is negative, customers are not supposed to accept the offer of the marketer, or they will move towards another markter or the marketer’s goal will not be achieved.
A marketer must know the response made by the customers towards his message. Customers’ response is the key to knowing the effectiveness of the communication. Such a response is channeled through a feedback system.
Here, feedback is the receiver’s response to the message. On the basis of this response, the marketer adapts, adjusts, or recasts subsequent messages. Thus, feedback may be used as a corrective mechanism that tells communicators how successful they have been.
Noise As A Communication Barrier
Noise as an exogenous variable has a significant influence on the communication process. At various stages of the communication process, messages may be disrupted or interfered with by noise from a competitor’s messages, errors in transmission, or distractions.
As a result target market may not be able to get the intended message accurately. Because of noise, messages are encoded or decoded incorrectly or weak responses are made.
The noise may not only affect the flow of message from the sender to the receiver but also affect the flow of response from the target audience to the communicator in the same way as mentioned above.
As a result, the markter may be communicated wrongly and will be directed towards the formulation of inappropriate or wrong promotional plans and strategies.
What Are the Tools of Marketing Communication Mix?
In a simple sense, marketing communication is the combination of marketing and communication. Where marketing means informing new customers about the companies goods and services with the intention to make customers a purchase. And, communication is the means of transferring quality messages between two or more parties to influence or make them informed.
Marketing communication mix is the blend of various tools such as advertising, personal selling, event and experiences, direct marketing, and so forth. MarCom usually means the use of all tools to promote the firm’s goods and services.
To be more clear, the tools and components of the marketing communication mix can be listed as follows,
- Advertising
- Personal Selling
- Direct Marketing
- Interactive Marketing
- Public Relation
- Sales Promotion
- Word of Mouth Marketing
- Events and Experiences
- Branding
- Packaging
- Sponsorships
- Trade Shows
- Pamphlets
- Brochures
- Websites
- Digital Marketing
- Social Media
- Radio, Television
- Exhibitions
- Press Release
Simply, the marketing communication mix is the combination of all these above tools. By adopting these tools MarCom aims at informing and persuading the target customers about the business firm’s offering with the expectation to really persuade the target market to purchase its offerings.
Importance of Marketing Communication
It is obvious that the ultimate goal of the marketing term is to make real sales after conveying messages. Day by day organizations have to compete with competitors to promote their products and services.
Buyers are flooded with thousands of information from all directions. In this case, it is difficult for the customers to remember all the messages. It is thus crucial that an effective communication system is developed that is able to make buyers notice, perceive, and remember the products and services for a long time.
Because the success and failure of every promotional activity depend on an effective communication system.
Thus, a good marketing communication system is essential for business firms to accurately deliver the desired messages to the target market to make them informed and remember as the respective marketer’s products are still ready to satisfy their need. And, Marketing communication has also a very significant role in the success and failure of the realization of an organization’s marketing objectives and goals.