Page 14 - 2016 April Voices
P. 14

Marketing: Why Messaging
is So Important

by Janet Hager

    Marketing is about relationships, and rela-    follows a sender-receiver model.
tionships rely on communication. Marketing             Certain messages are better suited to one
is, at its core, a specialized kind of communica-
tion. Communication, at its most basic level,      type of media than another. You would never
follows a sender-receiver model.                   send an entire college course catalog in a text
                                                   message, for example, because that media isn’t
    A sender (that would be you) sends a message   a good fit for that message. By contrast, you
(some kind of marketing communication) to          wouldn’t mail a printed postcard to let students
a receiver (a potential client or customer, for    know a class has been cancelled.
example). That message could be your answer
to the so-what-do-you-do question, or your             The media can also generate subconscious
logo, or your website, or a marketing emai—any     reactions in your receiver that will change how
one of the myriad pieces of communication          your message is perceived. An editorial in
you put out there to the world about your          the Enquirer, for example, creates a different
company each and every day.                        impression on a receiver than an editorial in
                                                   the New York Times.
    Simple, right?
    Except that between you and your receiver      Road Block Two: choices you make
stand a bunch of road blocks that your message     in crafting the message
has to get through in order to reach your
receiver. That’s why messaging is so important:        Word choice, design choices, color and
if you want your message to make it through        font choices, all work together to create an
the road blocks, you have to anticipate what       impression. You can say “it’s the second to
might get in its way and craft your message so     last one” or you can say “penultimate”; either
it will bust through those obstacles.              way, you’re creating an impression. Whether
                                                   you print your business cards on thin paper
Road Block One: the media                          or the thickest card stock, you’re creating a

    The media is the delivery mechanism
that carries your message to the receiver. The
media matters; it impacts how your message
is perceived and understood.

    Certain messages are better suited to one
type of media than another. You would never
send an entire college course catalog in a text
message, for example, because that media isn’t
a good fit for that message. By contrast, you
wouldn’t mail a printed postcard to let students
know a class has been cancelled.

    The media can also generate subconscious
reactions in your receiver that will change
how your message is perceived. An editorial in
the Enquirer, for example, creates a different
impression on a receiver than an editorial in
the New York Times.

    Marketing is about relationships, and rela-
tionships rely on communication. Marketing
is, at its core, a specialized kind of communica-
tion. Communication, at its most basic level,

14 Volume 2 Issue 10 - APRIL 2016
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