Planning and managing good marketing communications mainly depends on evaluating communication performance. Communication activities will help to detect issues in the communication campaign as soon as possible and take action to make reasonable adjustments. Marketing communications can cost a lot of money and time, so it is less expensive to prevent mistakes in the first place or when mistakes are serious than to correct what happened. In addition, to ensure communication activities are on the right track, management must have a system to monitor and evaluate performance results. Some criteria to evaluate communication activities such as communication budget appropriateness,
1.5.1. Match the media budget
Today, the competition between businesses is increasingly fierce, and mixed promotion has become an indispensable marketing tool for business activities. However, the enormous amount of expenses that large companies have spent on this activity is a testament to its effectiveness and importance. With functions such as advertising, communication promotion, sales promotion, support and enhancement for product policy, pricing and distribution ... Mixed promotion is the link between supply and demand to meet, creating favorable conditions suing the buyer to maximize choice and consumption, and at the same time help the seller to avoid or reduce risks in the business.
One of the biggest concerns about marketing budgets is where to spend existing money. The budget items to consider are radio, print and magazine advertising, websites, marketing communications, PR, direct sales, etc. The marketing book is deciding which categories to spend money on, priorities and available money of the company. For any large or medium-sized enterprise, budgeting using communication tools is very important. It requires the strategic planner to consider before coming up with the most effective and appropriate communication plan to maximize profits, while also being able to use the smartest budget.
1.5.2. Target customer awareness level
For now, many companies still rely heavily on one or two communication tools to achieve their communication goals, despite the enormous changes taking place in the market economy, especially the division of the mass market into multiple sub-markets, each of which requires its own means of communication.
The appearance of new types, new media and consumer understanding is 3
increasingly high. The diversification of the tools to promote the mix of messages and the public has forced companies to think about implementing more fully and in a newer way, while at the same time harmonizing communication tools. Therefore, at this stage, the manager needs to review the objectives, environmental conditions and strategic content. Evaluate, adjust, and secure resources for implementation, develop an implementation organization structure according to possible changes, and finally reassess the strategic plan. The implementation of plans and strategies can’t happen randomly, but it requires careful analysis and supervision. In the process of implementing a strategy requires various changes that managers need to be flexible to meet those changes in order to achieve the desired goals.
After doing mixed promotion activities, the communicator must measure its effect on the target audience whether they notice or remember the message, how many times they have seen it, What points did they keep in mind, how did they feel about the message, their current and past attitudes toward that company's product. The communicator also needs to collect public responsive behavioral metrics such as: how many people bought the product, liked it, and talked to others about it.
1.5.3. Determine the outcome measures
Object-specific marketing activities have been identified with the aim of program creation and represented by specific objectives. Therefore, to evaluate the effectiveness of marketing communication activities, it must be based on the target of marketing communication activities. Here are some measures to measure the target audience's access and impact.
Perception measurement: this measure often focuses on measuring awareness of the existence of a product or identification of a specific product, which can be studied in one of two forms: impact and remember impact.
Measurement of knowledge: after the effect of awareness is knowledge.
Insight measurement is to measure the audience's receptivity to communication messages.
Convincing measurement: to evaluate or conclude about what the object draws from the information. Here, the administrator's concern is not only whether the object received the information or not, but the administrator also wants to know how impressed the object is by the result of receiving the information.
Intent measurement: if persuading the object is already informed, the recipient of the information will have a plan of action according to the way the information suggests. Measuring the results generated by marketing communications is called measuring intent. Intent measurement looks at what the media unit wants to achieve in a given time period.
1.5.4. Compare performance with set standards
During this stage the company needs to establish principles for determining the level of allowed right and wrong between the expected and expected performance. After comparing performance results with expected results, the ad administrator will determine the necessary actions.
1.5.5. Take the appropriate action
After starting to implement marketing communications, the administrator is responsible for keeping the program running according to the set plan. There
are three trends of action after assessing what is taken: no action, corrective action, and preventive action:
Take no action: this could be the right decision if there is no significant difference between actual performance and established goals. If the disparity between reality and goal remains within the permissible limits, there is no need to take any action to avoid wasting the organization's resources.
Corrective action: This action has a direct impact on a part of the marketing activities that did not bring the desired performance, appropriate in some cases such as: sales for a target group target customers are very low compared to expect...
Preventive actions: Preventive actions that do not address any immediate deficiencies but the purpose of which is to prevent serious problems right before they develop.
1.5.6. Some methods of evaluating communication effectiveness
By the number of responses: When the ad is posted, the poster reaches the audience so that we can know the number of responses. Among these responses, some decide to participate in the show, and as such we can measure the value, or the success of the advertising campaign.
By statistics based on the number and groups of customers: News in newspapers, radio or television can be assessed not only by the size of the news or the time it aired, but also by the number of good audience group. This can calculate how many and which people have the opportunity to read, hear or see the message.
Opinion: Changing public opinion or perception can be measured by a
Feedback via media: Customers can send comments to the company via email so that the company can change to meet needs.
Evaluation by analyzing the statistical results: Did the number of spectators support Hoai Linh increase after the PR activities ended?
Evaluate the increase in knowledge: Customers are interested in or participate in the programs of the company organizations.
1.6. Overview of brand awareness communication
Brand awareness is a marketing term that describes the degree of consumer recognition of a product by its name. Creating brand awareness is a key step in promoting a new product or reviving an older brand. Ideally, awareness of the brand may include the qualities that distinguish the product from its competition.
Brand awareness refers to the familiarity of consumers with a particular product or service.
A brand awareness campaign seeks to familiarize the public with a new or revised product and differentiate it from the competition.
Social media has become an important new tool in brand awareness marketing.
1.6.1. Mode of operation
Products and services that maintain a high level of brand awareness are likely to generate more sales. Consumers confronted with choices are simply more likely to buy a name brand product than an unfamiliar one.
Consider the soft drink industry. Removed from their packaging, many soft drinks are indistinguishable. The giants in the industry, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, rely on brand awareness to make their brands the ones consumers reach
for. Over the years, these companies have employed advertising and marketing strategies that have increased brand awareness among consumers, and that has directly translated into higher sales.
This higher rate of brand awareness for dominant brands in a category can serve as an economic moat that prevents competitors from gaining additional market share.
1.6.2. Special Considerations Regarding Brand Awareness
As of 2019, Internet users spent approximately 38 minutes per day on Facebook, 26 minutes on Snapchat, and 27 minutes on Instagram.
Not surprisingly, companies are now spending a great deal of energy promoting brand awareness on these platforms. This has led to new forms of promotion in which consumers themselves generate discussions about products and services that they like and use. Targeted ads on Facebook and Instagram account for a large majority of brand awareness tactics used, especially among Millennial and Gen Z audiences.
Inevitably, consumers also share unfavorable experiences, and marketers are adapting to that reality. It has become crucial for a company to respond to negative reviews and offer a solution to the customer's problem, in real-time.
But as consumers view and interact with social media posts and updates, brand awareness will increase. For brand awareness to be most productive, consumers should be able to connect to the company's website seamlessly from the social media platform.
1.6.3. Other Ways to Create Brand Awareness
Print media is not the force it once was, but there are still consumers who read newspapers and magazines. Advertisements placed strategically, such as in
targeted locations in the appropriate section of a newspaper or in specialized publications, can attract the viewer’s attention and create brand awareness.
For example, a new company that will be trading on the forex (FX) may advertise in a magazine that focuses on global trade and currencies in order to create brand awareness among investors.
Advertising in physical locations such as inside stores is also used to create brand awareness. Impulse purchase products are well-suited for in-store distribution and advertising. A company marketing a new candy bar may distribute the product at a point-of-sale (POS) location to create brand awareness.
Event sponsorship is another effective way to create brand awareness.
Charitable events, sporting events, and fundraisers allow for prominent visibility of a company's name and logo.
For example, a health insurance company may distribute complimentary company-branded health packs at a charity marathon. This associates the brand with an act of goodwill and community feeling. Awareness of the brand has increased, and its image has been burnished.