Marketing Communications

Marketing Communications

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Marketing Communications

Marketing communications process entails combined activities where the target group is recognized and thereafter well-planned promotional activities are developed in order to achieve the desired reaction from the target population (Ruben, 2016). Marketing communication focuses on the customer’s tastes and preferences, awareness, and perceptions. In this era, most marketers use marketing communication to develop customer relationships during the stages of pre-selling, selling, consumption, and post-consumption (Ruben, 2016). Customers are different and they have different wants, therefore, separate programs of communication are created for each segment as per their needs. A marketer should be able to understand how communication flows in order to have a well-coordinated system of communication. UnitedHealth Group is the chosen health care provider for this paper and it will focus on the major elements that make up their marketing communication process.

The Elements of Marketing Communication Process

The elements of the marketing communication process are encoding, message, media, decoding, receiver, and feedback (Ruben, 2016). Encoding involves translating an idea into a symbol that has a meaning. Message refers to a collection of symbols that the sender communicates. Media refers to the means of communication used by the sender to transmit a message to the receiver. Decoding is when the receiver translates the symbols sent by the sender into something meaningful. The receiver is the person who receives the message sent. The response is the reaction shown when the message is received by the receiver. Feedback is part of the response that the receiver sends back to the sender.

Major Steps in Delivering Effective Communication

For effective communication to be a success, a few basic fundamentals should be followed which include, engaging in listening, speaking, writing and reading (Ruben, 2016). When these basic principles are incorporated there will be an effective flow of communication. Transparency and building good relationships are some of the recommendations which can be adopted to enhance effective communication (Ruben, 2016). For example, if UnitedHealth Group builds a proper relationship between the patients and health practitioners, a trust will be developed making it easier for patients seeking care to express themselves and communicate comfortably.

• Recognizing the target group
• Defining the objectives of the communication
• Formulating the message
• Choosing a suitable communication channel
• Determine the budget
• Choose a communication mix
• Measure results
• Manage the marketing communication process

References

Ruben, B. D. (2016). Communication Theory and Health Communication Practice: The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same1. Health Communications, 31(1), 1-11.