Accountability and Return-On-Investment

Once viewed more as art than science, marketers are increasingly interested in measuring performance. Like it or not, there is a new wave of accountability in the world of marketing, and if you're not prepared, you could get swept under it. Companies are becoming increasingly concerned with ensuring that all activities are profitable. As a result, each dollar invested in marketing is being challenged to demonstrate bottom line performance. New forms of marketing, escalating ad costs and tools that purport to measure marketing effectiveness have all contributed to the pressure traditional media is facing to "prove its worth."

Watrall, Rick. Communication World Bulletin (2003). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing>Assessment

Are You Communicating Dynamically?

It took only a few years for the Internet to fundamentally change the way we communicate. Marketers have learned to take advantage of this new medium by creating innovative ways to reach their audiences. But what about business communicators? Have we really taken advantage of everything the ’Net has to offer? With all the choices for news and information, how do we cut through the noise of the competition, keep our audiences engaged and influence them to move in the right direction? We need to think of the Internet as a dynamic communication tool that gives us the ability to target, focus and change our messages constantly in order to influence diverse sets of audiences.

Bechtel, Chris. Communication World Bulletin (2004). Articles>Communication>Marketing

The Art of Self-Marketing

Whether you're a tech writer, documentation manager or training professional, after reading this article you may consider incorporating some marketing techniques into your annual objectives to maximize your career development.

Harris, Kerri. Writing Assistance (2005). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing

Blogs: The Fast Track to Getting Global Awareness

“We need to get global awareness fast,” says your CEO. “Make it happen.” When faced with the need to rapidly increase your organization’s visibility around the world, there are some daunting and expensive challenges, particularly if your company does not have a local presence in the countries it is targeting. Hiring local public relations and marketing communication talent, translating collateral into local languages and identifying and getting into both formal and informal business networks are just a few of these challenges.

Albrycht, Elizabeth. Communication World Bulletin (2005). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing>Blogging

Branding Your Company  

Branding dates back to ancient times and can be an aspect of every field. Not only does branding provide clients with a sense of professionalism and reliability, it can also help define your company.

Frick, Elizabeth G. 'Bette'. Intercom (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing

Build More Effective International Media Analysis Programmes with Market Research Disciplines

Ask communication professionals why measurement is important, and their answers are likely to involve accountability, measures of effectiveness, ROI and planning support. Ask market researchers what makes for good measurement, and they are likely to respond that it involves reproducible results, adherence to rigorous standards and objective impartiality. Within the communication process, however—especially within PR and media relations—there is a tendency to look more closely at the output of their programmes than at the methodology yielding the data charts and reports. While market research has a well-established body of theory to support its claims of delivering objective and authoritative data, media analysis as a commercial discipline is only just beginning to grasp the importance of these standards.

Stoeckle, Thomas and Mike Daniels. Communication World Bulletin (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing>Assessment

Communicating Information or Engaging Your People—How Does Communication Best Support Change?

According to a 1997 survey entitled “The Quality of Working Life” by Professors Les Worrall and Cary Cooper of the Institute of Management, of the 5,000 U.K. managers polled, a majority revealed that they had been affected by organisational change in the last year and failed to see business benefits. When asked about possible improvements, the largest response reflected the need for greater involvement, more listening by senior managers and more honest, two-way communication.

Sparrow, Jane. Communication World Bulletin (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Management>Marketing

Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting in South Africa: A Descriptive and Comparative Analysis    

In this article, the authors compare the corporate social responsibility reporting (CSRR) of companies" environment, human relations, community, human rights, and diversity dimensions"in the emerging market economy of South Africa with that of companies in the leading economies represented by the Fortune Global 100. The descriptive analysis extends earlier empirical work on the CSRR of emerging market economies, and the impact of culture on CSRR, by examining annual report data from the top 100 companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Index and the Fortune Global 100. Generally, the frequency and level of CSRR in South African companies was significantly higher than that of the Fortune Global 100, which indicates a greater willingness to convey social responsibility in their disclosure practices. This lends credence to the notion that emerging market economies may be more receptive to stakeholder concerns and social responsibility than peer institutions in leading economies.

Dawkins, Cedric and Faith Wambura Ngunjiri. JBC (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing>Africa

Customer Service IS a Profit Center

If you provide after the sale customer service reluctantly, or delegate it to outsourced, but cheaper, providers, you're making a huge mistake. Customer service generates revenue via word of mouth, cross-sell and up-sell opportunities, and repeat purchases by satisfied customers.

Streight, Steven. Blogger.com (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Quality>Marketing

Demystifying Ways Employees Deliver on Brand Promises

At the heart of a successful brand strategy is a clear understanding of the customers you serve and what’s important to them. Employees need direction on what the customer expects and the actions they must take to deliver on those expectations. To gain this understanding, employees must identify the interactions from the customer’s point of view to determine whether or not the company is living up to its customer “promise.” While companies can easily measure marketing dollars spent on brand-building initiatives, understanding how the brand drives customers’ purchasing decisions has often proven to be more elusive.

MacDonald, Maril. Communication World Bulletin (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing

Dos and Don'ts of Branding

Corporate brands are built by countless interactions between people - customers and clients, suppliers and distributors, shareholders and communities, and one another. If your brand does not reflect your people in a way that makes them proud and passionate, they will not deliver the brand experience in the marketplace. Some do's and don'ts for corporate branding.

Riese, Tracey G. Communication World Bulletin (2003). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing

Emotions Trigger The Right Moves

We pump out a lot of information about product features and benefits on the Web, but have you taken a look at how much -- or maybe how little -- we use emotional appeals to help customers buy our products? Take a look at how customers make purchase decisions.

Allen, Cliff. Allen.com (2001). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing>Emotions

Flexing Your Marketing Muscles: Tactics for the Reluctant Marketer  

I don’t like to market myself. Sometimes I think, 'Heck, I’m good at what I do. I've been doing this for thirty years. Why don’t people come to me?' Then I get over it, consult my marketing plan, and get on with it. (See my previous column, 'Building a Marketing Plan,' in the May 2004 issue of Intercom.) I don't like to market my services, but I like to have marketedmy services. And I keep one thought foremost in the process: 'Marketing is like swimming: If you stop, you sink!'

Frick, Elizabeth G. 'Bette'. Intercom (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing

A Formula for Writing Application Stories: Ingres Corporation's Story Of UC Berkeley's Digital Image Database As Example  

An application story is a form of promotional writing that highlights the practical benefits of a new product. The story tells why a client company purchases the product over comparable market offerings to solve a business problem. The story is complete when the writer (1) states the client's problem; (2) gives the solution to the problem; (3) shows how the new product solves the problem; (4) describes the criteria the organization had originally set for a new system; (5) shows the benefits of the new system; and(6) describes future applications of the technology. Using this 6-step formula, promotional writers can produce successful application stories.

Matherne, Beverly M. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing

From Technical Writing To Marketing Communication: Growth From Common Ground  

If you think marketing communications are written by an entirely different brand of writer—in a version of the language wholly unlike the one you employ— then think again. Marketing and technical communications do share common ground. And by expanding the horizons of this landscape, you can move into marketing writing. To begin, you must explore what the disciplines share, what attributes are peculiar to marketing communications, and how you can go about developing your skills in this field.

Baker, Dina. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Writing>Marketing>Business Communication

From Vista to Zune: Why Microsoft Can’t Sell to Consumers

Microsoft’s marketing of Windows Vista and the Zune have failed in large part due to the fact that Microsoft has not learned how to effectively sell consumer products. Consumers buy Windows and Office, but that’s because they have no choice, not because of the company’s marketing savvy. Microsoft only effectively markets its products to businesses, which represents a very different type of sales relationship.

RoughlyDrafted (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing>Case Studies

Go from Brochureware to E-Care

Online brochures don't attract return visits or serve your customers, so turn your Web site into a customer interaction center.

Writing that Works (2003). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing>Writing

How to Write Successful Direct Marketing Letters   

Direct marketing in the form of direct mail is used by almost every company whether it is the local service station or shoe repair shop or a Fortune 500 company. Unlike documentation that instructs or describes a process, marketing materials must persuade as well as inform. Increasingly, technical communicators’ responsibilities are being expanded to include marketing materials such as advertisements and direct mail. Writing successful direct marketing letters or advertisements can be easier by using a 10-point guide that uses the principles of attracting attention, arousing interest. creating desire and asking for action.

Smith, Gem. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Business Communication>Correspondence>Marketing

Imposing Order On The Chaos Of Marketing Materials Development  

A good relationship with internal clients, accompanied by well-defined procedures, makes the creative process of developing marketing materials as smooth as possible.

Kruell, Christopher P. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing

Imprecise Frequency Descriptors and the Miscomprehension of Prescription Drug Advertising: Public Policy and Regulatory Implications    

Two separate studies, conducted among a total sample of 147 adults, explored the communicative effectiveness of imprecise frequency descriptors within the context of direct to consumer prescription drug advertising. Study One used imprecise frequency descriptors to describe level of side effect occurrence and then asked consumers to numerically estimate the frequency of side effect occurrence. A comparison of consumers estimated to actual level of incidence indicated that they are unable to accurately estimate level of side effect occurrence when those levels are described by an imprecise frequency descriptor. Study Two presented consumers with a list of side effects preceded by an imprecise frequency descriptor. Consumers were then asked to estimate the relative likelihood of side effect occurrence. The results indicated that consumers are unable to accurately estimate the relative likelihood of side effect occurrence when a list of side effects are preceded by an imprecise frequency descriptor. The pattern of consumer response across both studies indicates that when imprecise frequency descriptors are used to describe the incidence of side effects within the context of direct to consumer prescription drug advertising, consumers estimate likelihood of side effect occurrence on the basis of an intuitive judgment of the side effect s commonness/severity within the general population.

Davis, Joel J. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (1999). Articles>Scientific Communication>Biomedical>Marketing

Incompetent Email Marketing = Lost Future Opportunities

Lack of personalization made an email newsletter completely useless to the recipient, damaging long-term customer relationship efforts.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2006). Articles>Business Communication>Correspondence>Marketing

Incompetent Email Marketing = Lost Future Opportunities

Lack of personalization made an email newsletter completely useless to the recipient, damaging long-term customer relationship efforts.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2005). Articles>Business Communication>Email>Marketing

Internal and External Brand: Two Sides of the Same Coin

Internal branding is alive and well, and continues to evolve as more people realize how powerful it is as a business tool. You may hear it called by different names, such as employer branding, employee branding or employee value propositioning, but whatever the term, it is an important and useful concept.

Covill, Simon. Communication World Bulletin (2006). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing>Workplace

Internal Branding: Communicating and Measuring the Impact

A recent Gallup poll showed that 69 percent of employees are disengaged at work. A survey of human resources managers by PricewaterhouseCoopers in the U.K. found that only 26 percent of employees demonstrated brand values in their day-to-day behavior. These figures suggest that internal branding efforts are perhaps not producing the desired effect. "Living the brand" initiatives cannot work when the majority of employees are not tuned in at work. Great brands are built by consistently delivering on the brand promise, which requires employee engagement with that brand.

Venkat, Ramesh. Communication World Bulletin (2006). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing>Workplace