04 Apr 10 3Cs of Marketing Communication
Communication, in a nutshell, is the process of transferring information from the sender to the receiver. This definition applies to the field of marketing communication as well. For a communication to be effective, it needs to follow some principles, which I call 3 Cs of communication. In this blog post, I will discuss about these in context of marketing communication.
Content
What is being said is the most important factor in communication. This is the first thing you need to decide. You need to figure out what you want to convey to your audience. Is it the product benefit, or is it brand camaraderie? Before making any attempt to communicate, you should decide what you want to convey.
Concise
No one likes a 1000-page epic, not even you-particularly in the context of marketing message. The longer your message is the slimmer is its chance of making any impact on the receiver. You should not use even a single useless word in your marketing communication. It does not only push the audience away, but it also costs more—after all, every word takes more media space.
Clear
This is paramount. Clarity is very, very important. No matter how concise and clearly defined your content is, if it is not clear, it will not be understood. You need to do a test run of every communication campaign, before releasing it for the entire population. Nothing could be more harmful for your brand then misunderstood message.
Marketing communication is an attempt to inform the brand’s target audience about the feature, attributes, and benefits, etc., of the brand, and the more closer it will be to the 3Cs described above, the better it will be for the overall health of the brand.
Tags: 3cs, Attempt, Attributes, blog, Camaraderie, Clarity, Communication Campaign, Communication Content, Communication Effective, Field Marketing, health, Marketing Communication, Marketing Content, Media Space, Nutshell, Population, Product Benefit, Target Audience
26 Feb 10 A Job-Search Guide to Help People Over 45 – XIV
This post contains the last set of tips on changes you need to bring in your résumé to get the job you want. Like the tips shared in the previous posts, these are bite-sized and actionable. Do not just read and forget. Work on it. And that too as soon as you can.
Keep it short and simple
I will not add stupid to above because I know you are not that. You are quite smart, and in your 45 years you have also understood the power of simplicity. And believe me when I say that simplicity works in résumé as well. No one likes to read a CV-epic, so keep it short and simple. Mention only those things that really, really matters for the job you are applying for. Keeping it short will help you keep it focused. Focus is another important thing.
Use chronological not function résumé
A new trend of using functional résumé —the type in which skills are mentioned in a cluster— has caught the fancy of young job seekers. Yes with young job seekers, particularly those who are looking for a career change, so let it remain confined to young people only. You do not need to follow the trend because in mid-aged job seekers the use of functional in place of chronological résumé is seen as an attempt to hide age. Well, I understand you do not intend to do that, and I am equally certain that you will not get even a 10 seconds of personal time with employers to explain this to them, so why take chances? Go with a résumé that lists your experience in chronologically. If you are too much in love with functional résumé then use it in combination of chronological one.
Write emphatic cover letter
Although cover letter has come at the end of pour discussion on résumé, it does not take away the importance assigned to a cover letter by your employer. A cover letter is your elevator pitch, and the emphatic it is the greater is the chances of your being called for a personal interview. A great cover letter makes your résumé stand out from the crowd of hundreds of faceless curricula vitae.
With this our discussion on résumé comes to an end. I hope you will apply these principles in your own CV. From the next post in the series we shall discuss about interviews and about ways to handle tough questions. Till then keep applying the principles taught so far.
Tags: 45 Years, Attempt, Career Change, Cover Letter, Crowd, Cv, Elevator Pitch, Epic, Job Guide, Job Help, Job Search, Job Seekers, Looking For A Career, New Trend, Personal Interview, Personal Time, Search People, Simplicity Works, Stupid, Young People
18 Jul 09 Sell Yourself In A Job Interview
A job interview is basically just a sales pitch, and what you are selling is your experience and the requirements that you meet for the job to which you are applying. You’re selling the fact that you would be the best person for that company to pay for that job, and you need to remember that during an interview. Which is exactly why a good way to think of the interview situation is almost like a sales pitch. You want to do your research about the company, research yourself, and find the best way to draw comparisons as to why you would fit into the company very well.
So first off, research the company to which you are applying. Know their practices inside and out, as this will offer plenty of opportunities for you to showcase your knowledge during the interview, and will also let you get a better feel for the company before you even enter the interview stage. If you were going to attempt to sell someone a product, you’d want to know everything about your potential audience right? Same concept for knowing the company you’re trying to earn employment from.
Make a list of your strengths and rehearse them so that you can flow throughout the interview with well prepared statements on why the company needs you. Stay away from terms suggesting that you would be a “perfect fit”, or “perfect for the job”, as these are severe turn offs to any interviewer. Implying that you are perfect for the position only implies that you are giving a form response that the interviewer has heard a thousand times over, and shows you didn’t put enough thought into your interview to come up with engaging original statements.
Ask probing industry related questions to demonstrate that you know what you are talking about, and to show you are taking a major interest in the job opportunity. Showing that you are interested in doing the job before you even have the offer will make the interviewer realize that you genuinely want to perform at that company. And nothing sells your ability and experience like appearing to have the energy and interest to succeed as much as possible.
Tags: Attempt, Audience, Employment, Form Response, Interview Situation, Interview Stage, Interviewer, Job Interview, Job Opportunity, Knowledge, Major Interest, Perfect Fit, Perfect Job, Sales Pitch, Showcase, Turn Offs
