Before even trying to sell a product or service, you need to learn how to communicate. In this day and age, communication is an essential element in a company's development. Choosing the right means and tools of communication, and adapting them to the right target, is a guarantee of success for a small business facing fierce competition from major groups. Some business leaders give priority to prospecting over communication, without realizing that the former uses the latter, and that the two are intimately linked. In fact, prospecting is made easier when communication materials have been well thought out. There are many different means of communication. A good strategy requires a clear understanding of your target audience, so you can choose the most appropriate means of communication. The better you know your customers, the more effective your message will be.
What is a target?
In marketing parlance, a target is a type ofpotential buyer that a company seeks to attract or retain. Prospects are "classified" according to certain criteria: gender, age, socio-professional category, family situation...
To identify your target, you need to ask yourself the question: "Who is my product or service aimed at? We don't target everyone; we need toextract a typical group of people from a public, those who share the same needs, desires and values, and who would be receptive to the product or service proposed by the company.
To do this, we establish what we call a "persona". There's the primary persona, the one who's definitely interested in the product, the secondary persona, the one who may eventually be interested in the product, and the decision-maker persona, the one who has the power to buy the product.
Once the personas have been established, you'll need to choose a vocabulary, tone and style that resonate with them, so that they feel you're speaking directly to them.
The different means of communication
The ultimate goal of communication is to turn prospects into customers.
There are several ways of achieving this:
- the website, provided it is well constructed and, above all, correctly referenced
- the landing page: this is where the visitor arrives after clicking on an affiliate link or banner ad, for example.
- blogs: publishing informative and useful articles related to your field of activity, without trying to sell your product, inevitably attracts more prospects.
- videos: increasingly popular, they have a real impact
- promotional emails: sent directly to the target audience, they offer a good return on investment.
- social networks: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn are affordable communication tools
- influencers, youtubers and instagrammers open the doors to entire communities
- flyer distribution, to reach a very local audience
- direct mail: less and less used, it can nevertheless be adopted to reach certain profiles (the elderly, healthcare professionals, etc.).
- phoning or telephone canvassing: this form of direct marketing is not available to everyone, but it often proves very effective, as it enables you to talk to your prospects in a friendly way.
- Events: a more expensive but excellent way of promoting a product or company.
- sponsoring: depending on the size of the event, this form of communication can be profitable
- trade shows: essential for certain business sectors, they also enable you to collect addresses to follow up with prospects later on.
- billboards: on the street, at other retailers or organizations, in transport, on a vehicle... there's something for every budget
- Newspapers and magazines: inserts are very expensive in the national press, a little less so in the local press.
- radio: an interesting way to make yourself known
- cinema: reserved for major brands
Which communications media to choose?
Once the target has been defined and the means of communication are known, it's up to the company's management toadapt the means to the target, taking into account its budget.
A coherent communications strategy needs to be put in place for the long term. A communication plan can help. It will list all the actions to be taken, and indicate how and when to carry them out.
You don't approach a young, hip audience in the same way as an industrial audience, for example. All parameters need to be analyzed: the content of the message, the product or service to be promoted, the target audience(s), the objective to be achieved, the communications budget, the market in which the company operates and the offerings of competitors. Only then will it be possible to choose the right communication channels.
Once the strategy has been implemented, the results must be measured immediately , and any necessary adjustments made without delay.