Can Marketing Communications Impact the Bottom Line?
As we are all figuring out the post-pandemic world (knock on wood – all of the wood), business leaders have begun pondering what the secret sauce to sales means moving forward. It is a question we as public relations partners have heard during meetings with the leadership of several brands over the past several months, in fact.
For many, the secret sauce lies within the company’s sales funnel. And by extension: marketing communications.
Allow me to explain.
The sales funnel, sometimes referred to as the sales pipeline, is the journey a prospective buyer or organization takes to go from complete stranger to stark raving fan, or at the least, to a customer. It reminds me a bit of the journey we all learned in elementary school about how a bill becomes a law or one of those “Choose Your Own Adventure” books. Visually, the sales funnel resembles a toy you might have had as a kid.
One of the first steps to adding to your sales funnel is building awareness of your brand. As you grow your contacts and begin honing in on those with potential, you’re moving more to the narrowing middle of the funnel. The small tip of the funnel is the goal – this is when you have strong engagement and have set the all-important meeting with the prospect.
So how do you begin building awareness of your brand? Essentially, the discovery and awareness stage of the sales funnel is getting the prospect to answer “yes, of course, I want to know more” when they receive a phone call or email from your sales team, see an ad or read an article about your company in their local newspaper, or receive a promotional piece in the mail.
Therefore, marketing communications is and will continue to be an integral component as it relates to increasing a brand’s bottom line. Some of the strategies that businesses should consider investing in moving forward, or continuing to seek out, include:
- Advertising
- Brand Education
- Cold Calling
- Community Relations
- Content Marketing
- Digital Communications
- Direct Mail
- Media Relations
- Native Advertising
- Podcasts
- Presentations
- Promotional Materials
- Public Relations
- Search Engine Optimization
- Site Visits
- Social Media
- Speaking Engagements
- Special Events
- Sponsorships
- Videos
- Webinars
Need help with any of them? We are here for you. Just click here.
