Why are communication skills so important in marketing roles?

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Communication is all about revealing or exchanging information. This could take the form of written work, the spoken word, or a more visual type of media. In the world of marketing, it is the driving force behind selling a brand, an idea, or a product, both to the stakeholders who will support an enterprise and the buyers. Good communication is essential if a company is to grow its client base, expand its business and improve its turnover.

Speaking directly to the brand’s target audience

In itself, marketing refers to the act of getting a brand message to the target audience using the right tone of voice. For the marketing professionals who make this happen, communication skills are also essential in other areas of their work. This is because people on the same team need to interact effectively with one another when it comes to building campaigns and creating messages.

Barriers to good communication can make a small business struggle to promote its products or services. In larger organizations, a lack of cohesive communication skills in marketing departments can soon impact the way the company functions. In all sizes of business, being able to get the message across to an audience and connect well internally is crucial. This is more likely to result in successful advertising campaigns that resonate with customers and win higher sales.

Building good communication into workplace culture

Businesses work hard to remove any barriers that are present in their company culture and develop better communication. This could be through regular meetings, building trust in the workplace and listening to employee feedback. When this infrastructure is in place, employees are more likely to communicate well with each other and the benefits of this are clear in their work.

Employers will also seek out recruits who can demonstrate good communication skills, as these competencies mean they are more adept at working with a team and inspiring others. People who are hoping to advance their career and start work in this competitive profession can enroll on the communications masters online at St. Bonaventure University. Designed for graduates in any specialism, it takes an interdisciplinary approach to the subject, giving students the skills they need to excel in various areas of communication. 

How good communication can transform marketing departments

Marketing teams that consistently deliver a high level of performance often share similar characteristics. Creativity, adaptability and critical thinking are hallmarks of a functional team, as is good project management. However, to a greater or lesser degree, these aptitudes all rely on good communication. Here is a more detailed look at how communication can shape a marketing department:

Fostering team communication

Communication between people in the same department is key for designing strategies that work effectively. People need to feel confident in sharing their ideas without fear of failure or repercussions. This makes the brainstorming stage of a new marketing strategy more innovative, with the potential to discover new, previously unconsidered ways of connecting with the target market. 

Employees who are not as outgoing as others may feel unable to express their thoughts as forcefully, so great ideas could be consistently missed. This means opportunities are lost and the team may never reach its full potential. Employers can avoid the problem by training the entire team in better communication practices, such as listening and acknowledging. For employees who struggle to express themselves in a lively team meeting, there could be additional training to build their confidence. 

On the other end of the spectrum, an employee who tends to speak very loudly or speaks over their colleagues can be trained in working as part of a team and effective participation. Identifying where the areas of weakness are located allows an employer to work out how to help. As a result, the communication process of the entire department is enriched.

Knowing the company’s audience

An essential aspect of communication in marketing a product or service is thinking about the audience. The marketing team will need to establish who their customers are, what challenges they face, and how the product or service the business offers can be a benefit. By fixing this information at the start of a campaign, it is more likely that conversion rates will rise and customers will remain loyal.

To complete this stage accurately, the team needs good questioning skills and the ability to carry out effective investigations. This allows them to work together, describing the target audience, agreeing on their needs, and determining their characteristics. Part of this will include market research that is done with focus groups. Here, marketers will need to establish a rapport with members of the public and know the right questions to ask. Then, they will have to transform this raw data into useful results that aid the rest of the team.

Creating an effective message

Marketing messages should connect with the brand’s audience in various ways. They should recognize the consumer’s challenges, feel familiar, be conversational, and sound unique. It is a big ask, but done right marketing messages can make customers feel seen and understood. Furthermore, it builds trust in the brand, and this can lead to the growth of a long-term client base, which has a high value to the brand.

Once the marketing message has been sent, good communication is still important. Marketers may need to respond to customer feedback, gain insight into their changing needs and improve their overall experience with the product or service. This ensures that marketing messages are received in the way the company wants them to be and that there is no misunderstanding.

To increase sales, marketers will also need to consider the medium they are using. Each channel of communication, be it social media or email advertising, will need a custom message as people use these mediums in different ways.

Establishing a brand voice

Companies use a consistent brand voice in all their marketing messages. It is a way of conveying big ideas, such as their values and ethics, in a simple way. Moreover, recognizable brand voices allow a business to stand out from other businesses in the same market and establish its presence in a competitive industry. Working out a clear brand voice and sticking with it, or adapting it as times change, is the work of the marketing team.

They use their advanced communication skills to analyze and discuss every aspect of their brand’s voice. This determines what it sounds like, ensures consistency over various campaigns, and maintains the familiar dialogue with clients. Marketers will use written communication to document the brand voice and its features so the information is clear for new employees or other departments that are collaborating with them. When everyone is clear on what is expected, all forms of business communication, both internal and customer-facing, are presented in the same voice. This streamlines the experience for employees and regular customers, as well as potential buyers.

Developing better marketing processes

The marketing team works closely to spot the problems their customers need solutions for, assess new marketing opportunities and design advertising materials that address these. These marketing processes need effective communication at every stage for the team to share new ideas and work efficiently. Some departments have just two or three people, while others are made up of countless employees. In either case, it is essential to have documented marketing processes and procedures, so people can meet their responsibilities effectively. When steps are missed or people fail to understand the brief, the chance of errors in these processes is increased.

Furthermore, at each stage, marketing processes require great communication between the people involved. This is when content strategies, advertising plans or visual images are discussed within the team. However, employees also need constructive feedback from managers to manage their work and to be sure of pulling in the right direction.

Building a productive team spirit

Employees use their communication skills to build relationships with co-workers. Much of their workplace interaction will be related to professional issues, but even so, over time, friendships will flourish. As a result, people learn more about each other, get on better and feel more comfortable in each other’s company. This improves their ability to work as a team on marketing projects, push through any difficult periods and deliver excellent results.  

Minimizing conflict within the team

All teams experience a certain level of conflict, and in most cases, these differences of opinion are relatively harmless and simply create an animated discussion. Teams with good communication skills work well together, even if they do not share a cohesive vision. They understand how to solve conflicts and disagreements in constructive ways while maintaining a professional attitude.

However, when the conflicts are regular, prolonged, or take a more serious turn, they can quickly cause problems for a marketing team and their organization. A conflicted team is not only less productive but also less likely to feel free enough to be creative. 

Communication can resolve these negative periods, as the team will need to work together in order to shift the dynamic. If that cannot be done, a manager might have to intervene. They will try to establish what the conflict arises from and how these issues can be mitigated. Moving forward, it can help to create a clearer vision, choose aims for everyone on the team, and larger, overarching goals. This context makes it easier for people to share ideas in a concise, focused way. Additionally, team members have insight into each other’s motivations, which helps them to reach a compromise or agree on an issue more readily.

Encouraging new ideas to improve campaigns

The success of marketing campaigns depends on how innovative the creative team are. The quality of these messages must remain high, season after season, because opinions, trends and fashions are constantly changing. A business’s ability to keep up relies on the performance of its marketing department. Their insight is crucial, but encouraging people to share thoughts and ideas is challenging when they lack the skills to do so or the team does not promote open communication.

Marketers must find ever more creative ways of engaging their audience and keeping their attention, as this translates to sales. This begins with brainstorming sessions in offices. Here, colleagues will explain their thoughts to others, refine the ideas of their colleagues, offer each other feedback, and finally articulate their discussion into a campaign. Engaging campaigns live and die on robust communication skills.

Navigating through challenges

Various challenges face the average marketing team on a daily and monthly basis. They could be working with a modest budget, have limited technological resources, or have a history of unsuccessful campaigns. All these things can eat into the confidence of a team and affect their productivity. Therefore, the ability to seek out solutions and keep the team on track is vital. In this process, communication will be used by colleagues to develop workarounds which help them tackle barriers.  

For instance, when the funds they have been allocated are not sufficient for their needs, the team will need to request a larger budget. For their CEO to agree, the team will need to work together, compiling evidence that demonstrates the worthiness of their more expensive plan and how it could result in a great ROI. This could involve writing a proposal or holding a meeting during which they ask for a higher budget and are ready to answer any questions the senior team may have.

What communication skills do top-level marketing teams have?

Marketing teams use communication skills to sell their company’s products and services but also to nurture workplace relationships.

Using professional language

In a marketing environment, employees must communicate in a range of settings and with people in different departments. The language they use should be tailored to the situation and the person they are talking to. For example, chatting with consumers on social media often calls for an informal tone, but in a senior team meeting, formal language is expected. Good communication skills ensure a person can choose the right language for the situation.

Displaying emotional intelligence

Tone-deaf marketing is an ongoing problem which can alienate an audience and make a brand appear completely out of touch. Emotional intelligence makes someone self-aware, socially aware, and able to communicate these feelings effectively. They can understand the social issues that their consumers are concerned about and design marketing campaigns that react to these in appropriate ways.

Becoming an active listener

Lucrative marketing campaigns owe a lot to the listening skills of a creative team. They have researched and understood the customer’s needs, then demonstrated how the product in question could be useful. Active listening involves giving the other person space and time to speak, asking additional questions to clarify their opinion, and then repeating their key points to show understanding.

Being open and transparent

Many customers doubt the honesty of marketing campaigns, so those that are conspicuously open, by giving the facts without using florid language, can be very effective. Consumers feel they can decide by themselves, using the accurate information they have been provided with. 

Moreover, people feel they can trust honest brands. This form of sincere communication builds better relationships between consumers and a business and encourages people to recommend their favorite brands, which helps to grow the company organically.

Confidence that comes from knowledge

Professionals who work in marketing will have to make decisions quickly, particularly when they are trying to convince potential clients. Having the necessary knowledge to do so involves adequate preparation and a genuine understanding of the product or service that will be sold. Communicating in a confident — but not arrogant — way reassures a client that they are dealing with a trustworthy individual who knows how to help. Finally, as clients will have questions at the end of a pitch, answering these assuredly and accurately could seal the deal.

Inspiring and convincing others in writing

Marketers with the ability to communicate well in writing have valuable skills. They can write articles about new ranges or items that could be shared online in the form of a social media post or blog. They might also create emails that will be sent directly to clients and press releases that announce a new line of products. Furthermore, marketing is a collaborative process. Keeping clients updated, sending progress reports and requesting information can all be done more effectively by someone with excellent communication skills.

Communication brings the client and the company together

Marketing can have a huge impact on the success of an organization. Consumers depend on marketing messages when they are choosing what to buy, what to subscribe to and what could make them happy. Effective communication in marketing is not just about selling It also encompasses building relationships with customers, ones that are based on trust and reliability. A marketing department that listens is successful because it adapts the brand to meet its client’s changing needs. At every stage of this process, communication is the essential ingredient when it comes to connecting clients and companies.

BUSINESS NEWS DAY