The main objective of the proposed marketing communication plan was to establish a powerful background for future Tesla’s activities and point out the opportunities that the company could capitalize on over time. The author intended to take on the modern trends and utilize innovative solutions to support Tesla’s brand image and attract more consumers to the company’s products. Both existing and potential customers will be expected to engage in Tesla’s activities and provide reasonable feedback.
The list of marketing objectives is topped by the need to raise consumer awareness in regard to electric cars and their numerous benefits that cannot be replicated by conventional vehicles. It was noted that Tesla could focus on the notion of sustainable transportation to promote eco-friendly solutions even further and create premises for stronger brand loyalty. Marketing initiatives were expected to help the company explore communication channels and establish a sturdier presence in the market as a whole.
Communication objectives that could be pursued by Tesla included promoting consumer knowledge regarding the brand and creating a business environment where consumers would ask for more information without being forced to do so. Tesla’s focus on environmental issues also represents a crucial pillar for the organization’s marketing communication strategy. It was proposed to utilize Tesla’s website and YouTube channel to motivate more consumers to switch to electric cars and Tesla in particular.
Overall, the theoretical expenditures proposed by the author of the current paper reached $4,250,000. The two most expensive sections of the plan were physical advertising and the Internet and interactive media since most consumers expect Tesla to exchange visual information and release car specifications online. It was also noticed that Elon Musk’s publicity and Facebook advertising could be beneficial in terms of creating more communication channels for Tesla.
Overall, the company is willing to protect and disseminate the idea that electric cars are much more powerful and performant than their fuel-powered counterparts. A multi-channel promotion program that is offered within the framework of the current marketing plan serves as proof of the fact that the upsides of electric cars are unbeatable. This is why Tesla’s seemingly luxurious products could be utilized by middle-class customers. The audience is going to provide the company with all the feedback required to develop better products and include features that the customers want.
The possible KPIs that Tesla might need to include in its marketing plan are marketplace movements, the effectiveness of direct and indirect advertising, and customer responsiveness. With all the feedback generated by consumers, the pre-test and post-test phases will run smoother since the team is going to get a chance to alter products in line with actual customer needs. Therefore, all the marketing KPIs proposed above will address the latest trends without forcing the company to invest money in projects that drive reluctance in most customers.
The data strategy will be based on collecting feedback from the primary and secondary target audiences: adult male professionals aged from 35 to 55 (primary audience) and young professionals aged from 20 to 35, and environmentally conscious individuals (secondary audience). Most of the information is going to be collected from metropolitan areas since the number of potential customers is going to be higher across urban locations. The creative strategy for Tesla will help the company pay more attention to the current trends and establish a closer connection to the target consumers, allowing for growing profits resulting from successful advertising.
Tesla: A Digital Marketing Campaign
The aim of the proposed promotional plan is to set the foundation for a reasonable strategic marketing campaign that is going to help Tesla achieve new organizational milestones. Through the interface of the current paper, the author is willing to discuss the majority of requirements that will have to be respected if the company looks forward to adhering to target market needs and remaining in tune with most modern trends that relate to the automotive industry or even go beyond it. The respective promotional activities could later turn into a new selling strategy for Tesla, allowing the management to attract the attention of a larger number of potential customers.
Marketing Objectives
Another crucial element of the strategy that cannot be eradicated is the list of essential marketing objectives that have to be attained in order to promote Tesla’s products and enrich the customer base. The essential reason why Tesla could be looking into marketing objectives is the probability of increasing brand awareness and establish an advertising strategy that will make Tesla’s market presence even stronger. The benefits of electric cars are now noticed by more potential customers due to the increased eco-friendliness and an overall positive outlook on the environment (Desai et al., 2019; Holmberg and Erdemir, 2019). As a result, Tesla could base its marketing strategy on the idea of sustainable transportation and achieve stronger brand loyalty while becoming a way more frequent user of media coverage. The company may also be focusing on extending its reach via various social channels, such as YouTube and Facebook.
Sales Objectives
Eventually, Tesla may be looking forward to adjusting its marketing plan to vital strategies that could make the company one step closer to generating higher revenues and appealing to the desired audience. Based on the revenue targets, profit margins, and other financial statistics, Tesla will be able to discuss the possible ways of achieving substantial returns on investment and improving sales. On the other hand, sales objectives have to be outlined to provide the team with a set of milestones to be achieved since Tesla requires consistency. One possible objective to attain would be a 25% increase in sales over the next fiscal year.
Communication Objectives
To ensure the company’s marketing strategy remains fresh and appealing to consumers, it may be recommended for Tesla to convey messages depending on the target audience and the objectives that the management expects to achieve. For example, Tesla could either curb or spark its purchase intentions to extend brand knowledge and deploy favorable attitudes in both existing and potential consumers. There are quite a few communication channels available to Tesla, such as YouTube videos, website advertising, billboards, and showcases (Lang, Reber and Aldori, 2021). There has to be a new catchphrase launched to promote Tesla’s focus on the environment. In addition to the company’s environmentally safe initiatives, the management could capitalize on improved affordability and tech-savviness of Tesla’s consumers.
Potential Costs of Implementing the Plan
In order to cover the cost of advertising (see Table 1), it was decided to allocate at least $1,400,000. It would be expected to help Tesla build a stronger relationship with a renowned magazine to publish advertising on an annual basis. Production costs are as high as $300,000 since Tesla will be required to design a consistent advertising theme to be able to save time and money in the future. Billboards represent another crucial entry on the list of viable expenditures since $200,000 will be spent by the management to cover the most populated locations and attract an incredibly high number of potential customers to Tesla’s brand.
Table 1. Proposed tactics and budget mandates for Tesla’s marketing communication plan.
One more spot on the list was taken by the Internet-based instruments and interactive media. With $1,500,000 allocated on digital initiatives, it may be recommended to Tesla to establish a thorough virtual connection and interact with existing and potential customers in a manner that would improve customer satisfaction by a notch. Half of the allocated budget will have to be spent on Tesla’s official website, including every front-end or back-end operation that involves updating the information, deploy new designs, and maintain the database. The marketing team will work rather closely with designers and programmers to develop a website that can drive conversions and elicit purchasing behaviors in potential customers. Another line on the list of expenditures was reserved by the potential value of a Facebook page where Tesla would communicate the latest news and launch press releases regarding new products. With more than a billion active users, Facebook remains one of the few websites that are worth hiring online consultants and data managers. The same goes for a $250,000 investment in YouTube content that can help Tesla advertise its products and spread brand awareness without spending too much money.
A Detailed Review of Marketing Communication for Tesla
In order to succeed, Tesla should continue capitalizing on the idea that gasoline-powered cars are not as performant and eco-friendly as their electric counterparts. The company has to protect the innovative potential of the organization and consider promoting a setting where downgrades do not represent a viable possibility. The state-of-the-art measures applied by Tesla could be turned into an even stronger competitive advantage where the company’s technology and brand would serve as a tool for deploying sustainable means of transportation. The transition is near, and Tesla is doing practically everything in its power to support the mission and validate the upsides of electric cars (Teece, 2018; Thomas and Maine, 2019). Given that Tesla makes most of its announcements while adhering to the motto “an electric car with no compromise,” the company’s marketing communication strategy should recurrently revolve around innovation and possibilities.
Tesla is an experienced communicator and will not have any serious trouble conveying the message, with the essential source of correspondence being the company’s internal news. The chosen channels of communication are essential because they provide marketers with a better understanding of how the company could appeal to more consumers while maintaining simplicity and adhering to the initial plan. Nevertheless, additional resources might be necessary to motivate Tesla’s internal units to contribute to the multi-channel promotional program and find new ways to endorse most of the innovative products that could be groundbreaking and of high quality.
When discussing the company’s marketing channels, one might also notice that the strategy of aggressive sales has never been utilized by Tesla, as the company only resorts to promotional attempts. Any further Model of Tesla should be marketed through the interface of three basic media channels that are available to the organization:
- Non-personal. It may be recommended to place billboards, as the main representatives of the non-personal channel, in terminals of local and international airports. By doing this, the company is going to attract more people from the target segment to the expected advertising. Tesla’s competition has already utilized similar tactics in the past (e.g., Mercedes, Lexus, Porsche) to promote a luxurious product to the people whose lifestyle matches the looks and the innovative nature of Tesla.
- YouTube videos. The company would also seriously benefit from uploading relatively short clips to its YouTube channel in order to establish a different visual communication process. Knowing that most potential customers want to control what they see and get, it may be safe to say that video clips represent one of the simplest ways to validate the power of online media and motivate Tesla to continue investing in social relations with the consumers. Promotional clips published by Tesla on YouTube could expose the company to an incredibly large audience and leave room for a publicity stunt that is going to support Tesla’s image and reinforce it further.
- Ultimately, car displays at certain locations with the most targeted customers could be an essential way to popularize Tesla and help more customers get acquainted with the benefits of this electric car. Despite the strength of the company’s visual communication, more tangible experiences might be required to motivate a larger portion of potential consumers to invest in Tesla and purchase the company’s production. The team may also be required to hand out brochures and answers to all the questions in order to continue contributing to a strong relationship between customers and Tesla’s unique brand.
Irrespective of whether Tesla has access to an extended customer base or not, the company should be exceptionally careful when looking into its audience. The specifics of Tesla’s niche provide the company with enough freedom to come up with innovative marketing messages but also limit the organization in terms of how it can reach the target segment. Tesla’s product features are often too groundbreaking to be accepted by a larger community (e.g., Tesla being the first driverless car), which makes it harder for the company to position itself properly. As a brand of high-end luxury cars, Tesla represents an incredible mixture since it is powerful and eco-friendly at the same time (Jiang and Lu, 2018). The company targets most of the upper-class individuals, but it may also be interested in developing cheaper cars in order to appeal to an even bigger segment. Financial demographics should play a significantly more important role in Tesla’s promotional strategies because some product factors cannot be accepted by every target customer.
Ultimately, it is recommended to focus more on the feedback coming from consumers, stakeholders, and employees in order to be able to validate the effectiveness of the marketing communication methods discussed above. Given that some of the customers are less impulsive, they may not be subject to any immediate actions and will only store information for the future. Tesla should develop its online feedback functionality and capitalize on the use of technology. Online orders represent the only way to get in touch with such an innovative company as Tesla, which makes it safe to say that all the additional marketing communication efforts (including billboards and social media posts) are going to gain even more traction across the target audience. Through direct sales and promo clips, the company may expect to increase its visibility and appeal to consumers that do not fall directly under the niche of high-end businesspersons. The author of the current proposal hopes to see the biggest increases in terms of the personal marketing channel (e.g., car shows) where consumers will have a chance to access real-life demonstrations and generate lots of new inquiries regarding Tesla’s products.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
One of the main activities that have to be monitored by Tesla to achieve an improved corporate state of affairs is the presence of marketplace movements that foreshadow the company’s competitiveness. Accordingly, the team will be required to look into the campaign and conduct pre- and post-testing activities to ensure that all the data has been collected and processed properly. The pre-test element of performance analysis will require the staff members to analyze all the indirect and direct advertising and its outcomes for consumers. Therefore, it will be an essential task for Tesla to set the right standards for their vehicle performance and establish showcases that are held masterfully and provide customers with all the required information. In terms of marketing communication, this pre-test activity makes sense because all stakeholders will have a chance to gain insight into the contents of marketing messages and correct the most offensive errors just in case.
After completing a detailed review of pre-test messages, the team will have to try to make a difference through the interface of revised communication methods intended to make an even bigger difference. As a high-class vehicle, Tesla is also expected to protect the reputation of its brand via quality products and constant reinforcement of innovation. This is where the post-test activities come into play, as Tesla is going to establish a completely different strategy of attracting consumer attention and measure the company’s performance. This stage of marketing communication will be contingent on the presence of numerous instances of feedback that can be translated into improved performance and clearer messages being sent out to consumers. The level of authenticity of Tesla’s campaign should be another indicator of the company’s performance since customers will have the possibility to contribute to organizational strategies by simply providing timely feedback. On the other hand, the company is going to address the needs of the target market while also aligning most of its activities against the latest trends.
Data Strategy
The primary target market for data collection is represented by males aged from 35 to 55 who are professionally active in a certain industry sphere. This is the most important niche for cars manufactured by Tesla because their exposure to new products would be most likely to result in a purchase. In order to appeal to this particular segment and collect adequate information regarding purchasing behaviors of male professionals, the company will be expected to capitalize on product showcasing and outdoor advertising. Most of the advertising can be placed within metropolitan areas in order to appeal to as many male professionals as possible, eliciting the need to purchase a new Tesla product (Rice, 2019). This is a means of adequate exposure that can be utilized even if the intended professionals are going to travel between locations. As for the process of showcasing, Tesla may be interested in organizing its centers in a way that could help professionals recognize the essential benefits of electric cars and start supporting Tesla.
The first segment of the secondary target market that will be addressed by Tesla to collect more data is the cohort of environmentally conscious individuals of all ages. The main reason why this has a specific impact on the company is that Tesla positions itself as a sustainable and largely ‘green’ organization that is looking forward to reducing the amount of waste and pollution. Per annum, the number of supporters of such initiatives grows continually, allowing Tesla to collect feedback from social media and various instances of outdoor advertising. This target segment is going to respond to the new marketing communication plan in a positive manner because of its proximity to metropolitan regions and ecological awareness (Evtimov et al., 2020; Taffel, 2018). The increasing strength of exposure makes it crucial for this secondary target market to consider using social media to contact Tesla and validate the company’s interest in tech-savvy consumers.
The second segment of the inferior target market is the cohort of young professionals aged between 20 and 35. Their inclusion is based on the idea that Tesla could collect various data regarding aspirations and career progression hints allowing the company to market its vehicles. As a luxury brand, Tesla will be required to offer the best value deals to this particular market segment because its representatives will be most likely to engage with the company over social media and communicate their experiences to online followers (Long et al., 2019). Even though print media is still active as a means of marketing communication, Tesla will be much more likely to run a blog where all the current market affairs and self-education efforts will be covered. Therefore, Tesla should focus on the utilization of social media and reinforce the importance of online communication while marketing its products to a younger generation of professionals.
Creative Strategy
The company’s creative strategy will be based on the opportunity to introduce most of the local public to the advantages of electric cars and market new cars produced by Tesla as the future of the automotive business. Communal awareness will be required to switch to more environment-friendly transportation solutions and appeal to the target audiences described above. Therefore, cars produced by Tesla could become a pillar of innovation for both industry professionals and environment protection enthusiasts looking for support.
Even though Tesla represents a relatively young brand that yet has to be promoted across the globe in order to help electric cars override their fuel-powered counterparts, the existing marketing plan shows that innovations attract more people and give the required publicity to the organization. Since the company tends to follow modern trends and comes up with the most stylish designs for its vehicles, it may be safe to say that Tesla could capitalize on the existing brand awareness and different social media tendencies to extend its reach (Aybaly et al., 2017). Tesla already represents a brand that possesses a positive image across the globe while also supporting its luxury initiatives.
Even though Tesla is relatively famous across the globe, its vehicles have only gained major popularity in the United States. This is why the media presence for the company should be improved in an attempt to reach more consumers and raise customer awareness. The major selling point for Tesla will be the fact that the company’s electric cars represent top-notch products that relate to the luxury segment and provide the end-users with a list of unique benefits that have not been explored by other competitors yet. Tesla’s solutions create an attractive image for the company because tech-savvy customers and ecology enthusiasts both have the opportunity to attain their goals when purchasing a Tesla.
The idea for Tesla should be to diversify its advertising strategies in a number of ways in order to be able to create a perfect scenario for consumers looking to purchase a stylish car that responds to their bravest aspirations. Even though luxury is one of the essential elements of the proposal, it should be noted that target markets can be flexible enough to let Tesla mix its modern design and the power of electric engines with innovation (Liu and Meng, 2017). All the promotion efforts discussed above will only become successful in the case where the public is going to rethink its image of an electric car and what kind of specifications it might have. Therefore, the company’s creative strategy is going to appeal to personalization and numerous atypical solutions in terms of advertising and marketing communication. By allowing more people to interact with new Teslas, the company would make it much easier for upcoming models to conquer the market and elicit purchasing behaviors even in the new customers. All the attention from the public that the company is going to receive can be turned into a competitive advantage and continue dominating the automotive market.
Reflexive Commentary
Marketing communication is quickly becoming an essential element of the economic system and its social context across the globe. The marketing communication plan developed within the framework of the current paper serves as proof of the fact that customer purchasing decisions are crucially dependent on how an organization allocates its resources and utilizes the existing knowledge. Irrespective of the size of the business, marketing communication represents a lifetime competitive advantage since goods and services have to be marketed to all target customers (Alghalith, 2018). From the course materials, I have also learned that marketing communication could be a powerful means of maintaining a positive relationship with important stakeholders and consumers. From advertising to different promotional efforts, the ability to convey a message remains a crucial instrument in terms of producing sales and extending the communication mix. It may be safe to say that marketers nowadays are required to consider more elements of communications than they did in the past since customer aspirations are dynamic and tend to change over time.
When critically evaluating the digital marketing plan that I have developed for Tesla, I found that new media technologies represent an inextricable pillar of producing and selling goods since consumers love establishing new ways of communicating with the brand. Not only should such relationships be reinforced, but the whole idea of marketing communication being a major force should be nurtured and popularized. The Internet influences purchase decisions to a certain extent, making more people interested in what companies have in store for them. The innovative nature of Tesla’s brand makes it safe to say that a proper marketing plan could be utilized to remove misunderstandings and establish a channel for product demonstration. With a mostly positive impression, consumers will be much more likely to engage in the communication process and gain better insight into the essential benefits of Tesla vehicles. Also, the current marketing communication plan allowed me to recognize patterns related to larger campaigns that can be expected to alter customers’ beliefs and preferences completely.
This learning experience has shaped my views on marketing communication and also allowed me to realize how consumer priorities could be changed in order to get in line with the company’s organizational objectives. This is an exceptionally valuable insight because Tesla’s features and characteristics are always innovative and require the organization to convey its ideas properly in order to be understood and remain respected by the community. If the whole variety of benefits proposed by Tesla goes unnoticed by the target market, the company will have to become more aggressive in terms of how it reformulates the product or the message. The campaign that has been outlined within the framework of the current paper serves as an example of why customer perception and attitudes play an important role. To my mind, even the competitors’ perceptions could be altered via marketing communication, allowing for a stronger differentiation. I believe that a thorough focus on innovation is going to help Tesla prosper in the future and attract even more consumers.
Reference List
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