The fourth step in the marketing mix stands for communication, and that means a start-up communication strategy. The communication policy in marketing includes all sales-promoting and image-building measures.
A convincing start-up communication strategy and policy is based on the target group, on which each part is oriented in the marketing mix. The central question is HOW you can positively influence the purchase decision of your target customers. Advertising is an instrument, but you should also consider other image-promoting measures for your business model.
Communication policy: start with the target group!
As with the other “Parts” in the marketing mix the target group forms the basis for communication policy. The better you know your target customers, the better you can use the various tools of communication policy and positively influence the purchasing decision of your target group.
One of the essential elements of the communication policy is advertising (including online marketing), sales promotion and personal sales, trade fairs & events, sponsorship, Public relations (including corporate identity) as well as a clear brand policy.
Which communication policy tools you choose ultimately depends on the habits and characteristics of your target customers.
How do you reach your target group?
Important for determining the start-up communication strategy is the question how and why your target customers make which purchase decision and who or what can influence the decision positively or negatively.
In order to determine the influencing factors, we recommend you to proceed as an advertising agency. first create a meaningful profile of a typical audience representative and describe it as accurately as possible
- Basis: Create a profile
e.g. Erich Mayer, 32 years old, single, lives in New York, is an office clerk at a heating manufacturer, is an avid basketball fan, likes to go to trendy clubs, plays online games, reads Focus and loves to travel to distant countries… Etc..
After that, you should be able to get into this fictitious target and answer the following questions for the communication policy:
- Purchasing decision criteria
The first question for determining the start-up communication strategy is about finding out which criteria the customer chooses a product on the basis of. Is the image an important criterion, is the price decisive, does the quality have to be right or do other factors play a role (e.g. design)?
- Influencers
This is followed by the question of who may be able to influence the purchase decision positively or negatively. Do the parents have a big influence, or is it the friends or, if necessary, the local consultants, who can lead the purchase decision in the “right” direction? You need to find out for an effective communication policy.
- Connection points
The central question in communication policy is how you can communicate a message to the customer. Which media does he or she use and which channels can you best communicate an advertising message?
Especially with the connecting points, it is also clear how important an exact definition of your target group is. The more specific you are in defining the target group, the easier it will be to the right marketing tools efficient use within the framework of communication policy.
Tip
Television advertising, social media marketing, internet advertising, advertising articles, direct marketing – more information on the practical channels of communication policy can be found in the marketing concept.
Aligning start-up communication strategy
Finally, the second step of start-up communication strategy is about finding out which factors are important for your target group when making a purchase decision. For example, if you have the target group “Homeowners in New York” as a painter’s company, then you have to consider
- where your target group is informed (e.g. in the industry book or on the Internet),
- how you can reach your target group (e.g. via local daily newspapers) and
- how you can positively influence the decision for your painting business (e.g. via an autumn discount or the sponsorship of the local junior football team)
– in accordance with these findings, you must align your communication policy.
Depending on the sales channel, e.g. indirect distribution there is also an intermediary between you and the target customer. It is therefore important when defining the communication policy that you also convince the consultant or seller of your product in between.
Attention: Communication policy must fit the strategy!
Attention, stumbling block: Communication policy must in any case be your positioning to fit. If you want to position yourself as a quality leader, you have to take this into account in image building and advertising and invest more accordingly. However, if you have “cost leadership” as a corporate strategy, you may not be able to spend much on advertising in your communications policy, otherwise you might have to raise the price.
Basically, the higher you have to position yourself at price/performance curve, the more you have to spend on image building and advertising. The higher the price of a product, the more important the image is usually. The cheaper you offer products, the less you can usually spend on communication. In your business plan, therefore, make sure that the two elements of corporate strategy and start-up communication strategy are coordinated.
What advertising as in communication policy?
Advertising is one of the most important elements of communication policy. Used correctly, advertising promotes sales and thus results in higher sales. In principle, advertising has two functions:
- to inform the potential customer that your product exists
- a positive presentation is intended to create an incentive to buy
So far so good – but which advertising is particularly suitable for your target group? This needs to be found out in the communication policy chapter. For the time being, however, you should be aware of the different forms of advertising you can choose from:
Classical advertising as part of communication policy
Offline media include classic newspapers, magazines, posters, etc. For example, you could a radio commercial or win new customers on TV with your advertising. The use of offline media as part of the communication policy is still a great deal of scope. However, this is often offset by the huge costs that you have to take into account in the budget for start-up communication strategy. A cheaper but longer-term investment, is the press work.
In your business plan, consider whether your target group uses a specific medium and find out how high the respective edition is – the publishers give out information about the media data and users. Magazines are often also interesting, as they allow you to target a targeted group and have a relatively low scatter loss.
Online marketing in communication policy
Online marketing is a special form of advertising that is becoming very important. One of the great advantages of online marketing is that you can be switched exactly and the return on marketing can be measured.
But also a wide reach, high flexibility and relatively low initial investments speak for online marketing.
Advertising at the point of sale as part of the communication policy
Wherever it comes to trying, advertising at the point of sale makes sense as part of the start-up communication strategy. The direct feedback and customer contact are positive. However, as a rule, no high range is achieved.
Advertising through events in communication policy
Trade fairs are relatively well suited to present themselves to a wide audience. Organizing your own events and image-promoting measures such as sponsorship should be considered especially if the image is one of the main reasons for a purchase of your product – a very good example is Red Bull. For example, Red Bull organises numerous events within the framework of its own communication policy.
No matter what you do within the scope of your communication policy and advertising, you have to keep in mind that in addition to the actual advertising, e.g. advertising space in a magazine, you must also take into account the costs of creating it. In principle, of course, when defining the communication policy, the question of advertising efficiency arises, i.e. which measures are most appropriate and have the least scattering losses.
Efficiency as an important criterion for advertising
Especially with a young company, it is important that you inform your customers about your offer and spend a little more on advertising accordingly. However, also in the communication policy, pay attention to the cost-benefit ratio, where you put the range (i.e. how many customers you can reach) in relation to the total cost. Informing the first 20% of your audience is much easier and cheaper than the last 5%. With Guerilla Marketing for example, you can carry out very efficient advertising within the framework of your communication policy.
Another important factor is the scattering losses of the respective advertising measures. Try to find out how to inform your target customers as accurately as possible. Use to assess the measures of your communication policy and to draw up a marketing budget the free tool by Für-Gründer.de.
Conclusion on communication policy: the goal is …
… that you explain in your business plan in the chapter Communication Policy how you want to win over your future customers. In doing so, you must present a credible concept for the communication policy and show why you have chosen which advertising measures.
A target group-oriented approach to communication policy is just as important as taking into account advertising efficiency and corporate strategy.
When you are finished with the communication policy, you have the basis for the next chapter in the business plan, the marketing budget, has already been worked out.
