Marketing Communication Methods
Should we use traditional marketing or digital marketing? This question is top-of-mind for all marketers. The decision to use one platform or outlet can mean the difference between success or failure. Evaluating each option is time-consuming but essential for forming a cohesive, meaningful marketing effort. This section looks at a variety of traditional media activities, including advertising, public relations, sales promotions, and direct marketing. It also explores digital marketing, including websites, interactive tools, content marketing, SEO (search engine optimization), and other strategies. As you read, consider the criteria you might need to use when determining which strategies are right for your organization and offerings.
People Power
How IMC Supports Personal Selling
As with any other marketing communication method, personal selling must be evaluated on the basis of its contribution to the overall marketing mix. The costs of personal selling can be high and carry risks, but the returns may be just as high. In addition, when personal selling is supported by other elements of a well-conceived IMC strategy, it can be very effective indeed.
Consider the following example of Audi, which set out to build a customer-relationship program:
Audi's goal was to not have the relationship with the customer end after the sale was made. Operating on the assumption that the company's best potential customers were also its existing customers, the company initiated an online program to maintain contact, while allowing its sales force to concentrate on selling. Based on its television campaign for the new A4 model, Audi offered a downloadable screensaver that frequently broadcasted updated news and information automatically to the consumers' computers. After displaying the screensaver option on its Web site, Audi sent an email to owners and prospects offering them the opportunity to download it. More than 10,000 people took advantage of the offer. Audi then began to maintain a continuous dialog with the adopters by sending them newsletters and updates. Click-through rates ranged from 25 to 35 percent on various parts of the site - well exceeding the standard rates - and car sales were 25 percent higher than they were the previous year, even in a down economy.
As a result of several coordinated communication methods (TV advertising, email, downloadable screensaver, newsletters, and product information) and presumably a well-designed customer relationship management (CRM) system, Audi helped its sales force be more effective (by freeing it up to focus on sales and by connecting it with more prospective customers), which, turn, meant higher profits.