As part of our Marketing Effectiveness series, we’re exploring Communication Effectiveness.
Most mid-market companies have good intentions when it comes to communication. But good intentions don’t equal effective communication. The key is to be cohesive and consistent over time, so your audience understands who you are, what you do, and why it matters.
When communication is cohesive, marketing becomes a growth lever. When it’s not, your message gets lost in the noise.
Here’s how to increase your communication effectiveness and build a brand that people recognize and trust.
What We Mean by “Cohesive”
Cohesive communication means every message, across platforms and teams, reinforces the same brand story. When that happens, people start to understand your brand and what it stands for.
Why does that matter?
- Cohesiveness builds understanding.
- Understanding builds trust.
- Inconsistency causes confusion.
When your communications are aligned and consistent, your audience begins to connect the dots. They recognize your value, remember your message, and come to trust your brand.
Why Be Consistent Over Time?
You’ve likely heard it takes multiple touchpoints before a message sticks. That’s because of how people retain – and forget – information.
- It can take 10+ exposures for someone to remember a message.
- The forgetting curve is steep, especially if you’re inconsistent.
- Customers may not know all that you offer unless you tell them, more than once.
- People aren’t always ready to buy, but when they are, you want to be top of mind.
- Referral partners may not know when they’ll have an opportunity, until they do.
Consistency over time builds familiarity. Familiarity builds trust and potentially action.
If You Haven’t Already, Define Your Brand Strategy
Before you start working on communication, revisit your Brand Strategy. A clear strategy will help you stay cohesive as you create content, campaigns, and customer touchpoints.
Here’s what we define as part of our Strategic Marketing Playbook:
- Why Your Brand Exists
If you’re communicating to more than one Ideal Target or market (e.g., B2C and B2B or very different B2B industries), you may need separate approaches. What resonates with one audience might not work for another. Effective communication requires relevance, which that starts with knowing your audience.
Develop a Communication Strategy
Once your brand strategy is in place, develop a Communication Strategy that guides how, when, and where you communicate. In our Strategic Marketing Playbook, this includes:
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These tools ensure every message aligns with your brand and speaks clearly to your audience.
We recommend sharing your communication tools with everyone who communicates on behalf of the brand, such as internal teams, agencies, freelancers, and partners. Some clients use their Key Messages with the sales team because it helps them communicate the main brand message (Promise & Secret Sauce) while they are talking about features and/or initiatives.
Align Your Communication Strategy with Your Business-Driving Marketing Plan
Your communications should drive business outcomes, not just fill space. That’s why your communication strategy and marketing strategy must go hand-in-hand.
If you haven’t yet developed a business-driving marketing plan, start there. We include these in our Marketing Plan pillar of our Strategic Marketing Playbook:
Once you’ve mapped out your plan, define how frequently to communicate. This depends on your category, audience engagement, and buying cycle.
For example:
- A B2B company may only need to send a marketing email to their current database monthly.
- A retailer may send promotional SMS messages daily.
You might have multiple messages during the same period; for example, you might be communicating a promotion to a group of people while you are communicating a new product launch to all customers. The Calendar Overview will show what message is being shared, through which channels, and to which audience.
Prepare Your Foundations & Messaging
Before you starting communicating with your market, assess your communication foundations so you are confident that your Ideal Target’s full experience is cohesive and builds trust.
- Social Pages: If your organization sells B2C, you probably have several social platforms. If your organization sells B2B, LinkedIn is probably the primary platform.
- Website: Your brand’s website is an “always on” communication channel.
- eCommerce: Your own or another seller like Amazon
If you work with more than a few people, you will probably meet to discuss the plan development throughout the process. You might need to include your leadership and/or other parts of the organization before you “go live.” Many companies use “table top reviews” or “store sets” where teams gather once the customer or market-facing communications are drafted so they can “walk in the shoes” of the person who will be experiencing the communication. This gives everyone a broader view of the experience and allows the team to make adjustments before the communications are finalized.
You now have what you need to communicate cohesively and consistently over time with your customers and your market(s).
Communicate with Your Market(s)
Once your strategy, calendar, and messaging are in place, it’s time to communicate.
Use the Calendar Overview and Content Calendar to guide your communications with your market(s). Here are a few thoughts on implementing communications.
If paid digital media (text ads, banner ads, video ads, social ads, etc.) is part of your communication strategy, the creative should be aligned with the rest of your messages (like in social media posts, website blogs, emails, etc.). Note, we recommend collaborating with and agency that has expertise in digital media to develop the detailed media plan and manage the account.
Many of our clients connect with potential customers, referral partners and current customers at events. If events are part of your strategy, we recommend that you develop an Event Plan so you can focus your efforts on the most effective events and get the most out of them. (link to event plan).
If you are testing a new channel and/or new message, we recommend that you pilot the approach before launching to the full market. Even an informal conversation with a person who fits within the Ideal Target for feedback can help you focus your communications.
Communicate with Your Customers
1. Stay in Touch with Current Customers
Your communication cadence should reflect your brand, your industry, and your customer base. For B2B companies, ensure sales and marketing work together to coordinate messages and timing.
Conduct a customer segmentation to prioritize customers who will receive more personalized and more frequent engagement from you and your team (link to customer segmentation article)
Identify the people within the customer’s organization to stay in touch with. It might be more than just your main contact.
2. Don’t Lose Track of Former Customers
Many of our clients gain new customers when their contact moves to a new company. One of our clients created an “alumni group” where they reached out to former customers to share useful, relevant information.
3. Reach out to Lost / Inactive Customers
Depending on the purchase cycle, you might have some “lost” or “inactive” customers who might need a simple communication to reengage.
Implement & Continually Enhance Your Communications
Meet regularly to discuss the results and how you can enhance your cohesiveness and consistency.
Don’t do this in a vacuum. Engage team members who are interacting with customers and the market. Ask them what’s working, what’s not working and ideas for enhancing.
Compare the Calendar Overview with the in-market results to determine if you need to adjust the calendar or the execution plan.
Review the Budget Priorities periodically to ensure that you are investing in the most effective communications.
You’ve built the foundation. Now it’s time to execute.
- Create an Action Plan – Break down daily/weekly tasks to implement your Communication Plan.
- Follow your Calendar Overview and Content Calendar – Keep your communications cohesive and consistent across all channels over time.
- Use Your KPI Tracker & Results Dashboard – Measure results and learn from them. Use your Calendar Overview and Content Calendar to keep your communications cohesive and consistent across all channels over time.
- Meet Regularly – Gather your team, review what’s working, and make improvements.
- Engage the Frontlines – Ask customer-facing team members what they’re hearing.
- Review Budget Priorities – Ensure you’re investing in the most effective communications that are also aligned with your Marketing Plan.
Marketing Effectiveness doesn’t happen all at once. It’s the result of a strong foundation, consistent and cohesive execution, and regular discussion and enhancement.
Ready to Communicate More Effectively?
Improving communication effectiveness helps your audience understand who you are and trust what you offer. When your communications are cohesive and consistent over time, they become one of your most powerful tools for business growth.
Want to Gain Insight on Your Overall Marketing Effectiveness?
If you’re ready to improve your marketing effectiveness and want a clear roadmap to get started, take our quick Marketing Effectiveness Self-Assessment Survey. We’ll send you a personalized report with recommendations across all five drivers of effectiveness.
Be sure to check out our Marketing Effectiveness articles, including the other 4 drivers:
What is Marketing Effectiveness?
Elevate Your Brand Strength: A Guide for Mid-Market Companies
Stop Leaving Money on the Table: How to Find (and Keep) Your Best Customers
Customer and Market Focus: The Key to Organizational Alignment & Scalability
Driving Business Success: Marketing Plans That Deliver Results