Marketing Communications Planning Guide for Students + Free Samples

🔝 Top-5 Marketing Communications Planning Examples
👩‍🏫 Marketing Communications Planning Explained
🤔 What Is a Marketing Communications Strategy?
📝 How to Write a Marketing Communications Plan
🏆 Best Marketing Communications Planning Research Titles

Marketing communications, also known as MC, marcom(s), marcomm(s), or just simply communications, are an essential and intricate component of a company’s marketing strategy. They focus on how businesses communicate a message to their target market or the market in general. They help potential clients understand what the brand offers. Also, marketing communications are responsible for the organization’s internal communications.

🔝 Top-5 Marketing Communications Planning Examples

👩‍🏫 Marketing Communications Planning Explained

Let’s look at marketing communications’ definition and study its objectives and types.

What Are Marketing Communications?

Marketing communications refer to utilizing various marketing messages and media to communicate with the market. They support a company’s goals, including everyday marketing efforts, product launches, and limited-time promotions. Marketing communications involve several practical tools, such as advertising, personal selling, direct marketing, public relations, social media, and promotion, which help achieve the company’s objectives.

Marketing Communications Objectives

Marketing communication includes distinct approaches and tactics that enable companies to reach their audiences in a competitive market. It helps organizations achieve the following objectives:

Share ideas with the target audience. The fundamental goal of marcom is to exchange ideas, opinions, and perspectives with the intended audience. Good communication with potential clients creates a competitive advantage and strengthens the brand image.
Compete in the market. Marketing communication lets the firm differentiate its products and services to appeal to its target consumers. It also aids in developing brand loyalty.
Convince the customer. Marketing communication planning aims to persuade customers to buy goods from the company. It focuses on building trust between the intended clients and the brand, thereby increasing the company’s income.

Types of Marketing Communications

Marcom suggests many methods of reaching customers. Look at the most common types that businesses employ to attract their target audience’s attention:

Advertising	Advertising is a highly effective and robust form of marketing communication. It enables the company to deliver its message to a broad target audience frequently. Large corporations typically promote their products on television or through web commercials because they have the highest audience reach.
Digital marketing	In this type, brands use the internet to market and promote their products and communicate with customers. Companies can reach prospects and clients using email marketing, messengers, social media, and web push alerts.
Public relations	This method is one of the most successful and credible. It lets customers receive information about a specific brand or product from a neutral third party. Public relations work best for brands that provide exceptional products, a consistent user experience, and smooth customer service.
Social media	Social media is the most modern kind of marketing communication. Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and other platforms help the company to approach many target clients directly regardless of geographical boundaries.
Direct marketing	This type suggests that businesses customize messages for specific clients. Once the company is familiar with the audience and their needs, it can send discounts, vouchers, or unique offerings to make clients buy from them again.
Sales promotion	This type involves selling lower-priced products to entice clients to make an immediate purchase. It assists businesses in increasing sales through the use of coupons and discounts.
Customer recommendations	The best advertising for a product comes from satisfied consumers. The business can create referral programs, offer discounts and other incentives to customers, and ask them to sign up for a loyalty club.

🤔 What Is a Marketing Communications Strategy?

The marketing communication strategy is a company’s method to plan its communication with the target market through various media. It includes 3 guiding principles:

Brand alignment. The company’s strategic plan must have the same marketing direction as the brand image. If the company wants to reach younger audiences, it can advertise on social media rather than traditional TV commercials.
Customer alignment. It is vital to choose platforms where the clients are already active. For example, if the firm offers expensive goods, it can reach out to journalists at prominent magazines rather than a neighborhood newspaper.
Budget alignment. Choosing a marketing channel that fits the company’s budget is critical since it will help the brand promote its products effectively.

As a result, the company that applies a communication marketing strategy can gain brand trust, optimize targeting and achieve cost-effectiveness.

📝 How to Write a Marketing Communications Plan

The marketing communications framework includes 7 practical steps:

Step 1: Define the Target Market

Before creating a strategic communications plan, the company must determine its target audience. It is critical to specify clients’ location, age, hobbies, and preferences to understand their needs. Focusing on the target market rather than selling to everyone allows the company to craft precise messages and allocate the marketing budget more effectively.

Step 2: Establish the Brand’s Values

Brand values are critical in establishing deeper connections that turn one-time buyers into lifelong customers. The company should consider the customer experience and determine the values significant to the target audience. Then, it should record these values and ensure they are reflected in its operations and customer experiences. As a result, consumers will become loyal to the brand and satisfied with its services.

Step 3: Consider the Problem-Solution Aspect

The next step is to correlate clients’ pain points with the company’s solution. The firm can make a table with customer problems and product solutions and mark the offerings that address customer needs. Finally, the company should share this table with its employees to build messages that address clients’ issues by providing solutions.

Step 4: Define the Marketing Mix

The marketing communications mix refers to the channels the company utilizes to reach potential customers. The marketing mix can include online and offline advertising, content marketing, direct marketing, or personal selling. The organization should be aware of these activities and use them in communication with consumers.

Step 5: Establish the USP and CVP

The brand’s unique selling proposition (USP) clarifies the distinctive features the company’s products possess, but the goods of its rivals don’t. It can make the organization stand out and outperform its competitors.

The customer value proposition (CVP) states the benefits the consumers will get if they buy the firm’s products. A good CVP should include benefits desirable by clients, different from those of competitors, and underpinned by evidence.

If the company successfully assists its clients, it will be rewarded with good revenue, word-of-mouth promotion, a more extensive customer base, and a good market position.

Step 6: Define the Success Metrics

Once the firm has settled on its integrated marketing communications mix, it should prepare the appropriate success indicators for all communication channels. For example, it can be the number of website visits, backlinks, or social media shares. These metrics help the business decide whether it meets the significant objectives of its communications strategy.

Step 7: Evaluate the Results

After the company has implemented its strategy, it should monitor the results. The business should check its plan to see if the company is progressing toward its objectives. Also, the firm can use metrics to assess its performance and modify its approach as necessary.

🏆 Best Marketing Communications Planning Research Titles

Apple Inc.'s Marketing Communication Scenarios
Business essay sample: In this paper, a case study of Apple Inc. will be discussed to link theories related to marketing communication with practical scenarios.
The Role of Integrated Marketing Communication in Business
Business essay sample: IMC’s most fundamental and perhaps most challenging task is trying to reach people who can conceivably purchase a client's product.
Elements of Marketing Communications Plan
Business essay sample: Marketing is synonymous with sales. A good marketing plan is given a passing grade if its implementation would result to an increase in net profits. An increase in net profits would involve the four Ps of marketing
Daihatsu Motors Company: Marketing Communication Plan
Business essay sample: This paper attempts to create an integrated marketing communication mix for the world famous Daihatsu Motors in the Kuwait market place.
Golden Circle Company's International Marketing Plan
Business essay sample: The Golden Circle Company is one of the Australian fine fruits and vegetable manufacturers, which produces more than 15 varieties and is one of the largest pineapple processors.
Middlesex University: Integrated Marketing Communication
Business essay sample: The plan is designed for Middlesex university for conducting a seminar in Escola Superior de Tecnologia e Gestão de Lamego, Portugal for attracting more number of students.
Dr. Café: Integrated Marketing Communication
Business essay sample: This report analyzes various components of IMC that Dr. Café has applied in as effort to establish and maintain progress with their customer initiatives.
Integrated Marketing Communication & Planning Campaign
Business essay sample: For a business to function well, basic strategies must be used. Essential requirements may include a business plan, a marketing communications plan, and a marketing campaign plan.
Marketing Communications Plan: Audi
Business essay sample: Sales promotion and marketing are at the core of the company's success. Promotion is an important element of the marketing mix.
Marketing Communication: A Chocolate New Brand: Testty
Business essay sample: Testty is a new brand of chocolate. The aim of coming up with the product was to satisfy the current health needs as well as leisure activities of the users.
Autonomy Corporation's Marketing Communication Plan
Business essay sample: The objective of this paper is to draw up a market communication plan for the Autonomy Corporation company for one year or 12 months.
Nokia's Integrated Marketing Communication & Brand Building
Business essay sample: The IMC strategy is important for a company, like Nokia, which is interested in penetrating the market aggressively by using IMC tools.
GM Holden Company's Integrated Marketing Communication
Business essay sample: Outlining the importance of integrated marketing communication, this paper analyzes the role it plays in the brand-building process, based on the example of GM Holden.
Nike Inc.'s Marketing and Communications Plan Nike
Business essay sample: Nike's strategies as a brand must be improved, updated, and revitalized to the best option if the company is to be successful in maintaining its profit and market position.
Breast Cancer Research Foundation's Non-Profit Management
Business essay sample: Breast Cancer Research Foundation is among the leading charities in the US specializing in conducting research for developing a potential drug for curing cancerous disease.
PR and Integrated Marketing Communications
Business essay sample: The paper discusses the differences between PR, marketing and advertising, the definition of product publicity, brand building, third-party endorsement, integrating PR with marketing.
A Usage-Based Insurance Company's Marketing Strategy
Business essay sample: The paper explores an opportunity for the hypothetical company to enter the market of usage-based insurance in Colorado, as it shows a high potential for future growth.
Monsoon PLC Analytical Report
Business essay sample: The review consists of a marketing communications audit, strategy and plan, and other relevant advertising and marketing strategies.
Integrated Marketing Communications by Nike Inc.
Business essay sample: Nike incorporation was founded in 1964 by Phil Knight, a medium distance runner, and coach known as Bill Bowerman.
Furbo Dog Nanny's Marketing Communication Strategy
Business essay sample: The Furbo Dog Nanny intelligence-supported system has the potential of capturing a significant percentage of the market if a proper and viable marketing strategy is implemented.