When a company develops a marketing plan, it has to determine communication objectives. Objectives are important to understand, where the company wants to go with the marketing plan. Do they want to educate their customers? Build support or create demand for their product? Do they want to get people to do something differently than they are used to do it?
If the company has already set marketing or business objectives, these objectives can be translated into communication objectives of a marketing mix. After understanding the stakeholders, the external environment and the organizational context, it’s “possible to set communication objectives for a campaign” Baker, S. (2005).
Marketing objectives can include an overall sales value, profit margins or a certain market share. They differ from communication objectives, which describe the “direct effect of communication e.g. brand awareness, response rate, attitude change, offer take-up, personal recommendations etc.” Baker, S. (2005).
In the music business a marketing objective could be to sell 100.000 copies of an album over a 12 months period. This marketing objective can now be translated in a communication objective. e.g. to gain 50% awareness of the product among the defined target audience.
In this context it’s important to remember the integrated marketing approach. “The communication plan may include sub-objectives for each stakeholder or target audience and for a period of time within the planning stage. Baker, S. (2005). But there should be no separate objectives for each communication method in the marketing mix, because the integrated marketing communication sets common communication objectives for all elements of a marketing mix and directs specific communication talks that are all based on the same communication objectives.
Communication objectives “fall into three basic categories” Beard, M. & O’Hara, B. (2006).
1. To create a certain level of awareness in the target audience i.e. “To create 40% awareness of product x in the target audience over the campaign period” Beard, M. & O’Hara, B. (2006).
2. To influence an audiences preference for a product or service i.e. “To create 40% preference for a product x amongst the target audience over the period of the campaign” Beard, M. & O’Hara, B. (2006).
3. To stimulate sales, which is a communication tactic directly linked to the sales performance of a product or service. i.e. “To sell 30% more CDs than in the previous interval by using a new sales force strategy in sales promotion over the period of the campaign”
References:
Beard, Mark & O’Hara, Ben (2006). Music Marketing, PR & Image Making.
Baker, S. (2005). Section 1. Integrated Marketing Communication
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Unknown, U. (2009). How to write a good communication plan.
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