The use of an effective set of communication instruments that go beyond the commonly known and used promotion tools is necessary for many reasons. This is influenced not only by the decreasing effectiveness of individual instruments but also by growing market competition, the globalization of markets, increasing supply, shortening product life cycles, and finally—though not yet very visible—the noticeable decline in the importance of the brand. This situation makes proper communication between enterprises and the market increasingly difficult, and its effectiveness requires constant attention and adaptation to ongoing changes. In other words, while realizing the necessity of actions in the area of marketing communication, one must simultaneously constantly monitor the effectiveness of the set of instruments used and introduce necessary changes, which can significantly affect the efficiency of any organization’s functioning. The difficulty that a manager faces when designing effective communication is the proper choice between existing alternatives for creating a specific promotion-mix. This requires a deep knowledge of the changes occurring not only in the effectiveness of individual promotion instruments but also a skillful analysis of the environment and the ability to capture changes in the psychological profiles of customers.
Effective decisions require analysis and the application of appropriate metrics and their evaluation. Meanwhile, creating them is difficult, and managers are inclined to use only traditionally applied indicators, which very often reflect only the past. They reach less frequently for new indicators, which, moreover, also require alternative choices and searches for indicators that best characterize the future direction of changes. Effective decisions within communication activities therefore require a specific departure from the existing mode of operation and very difficult, authentic resolutions.
In the area of marketing communication, as empirical research conducted in 100 of the largest Polish enterprises has shown, a relatively large number of indicators and measures of effectiveness are used. However, one might get the impression that they are not fully utilized, but rather serve as a justification for relatively high expenditures on promotional activities. This is confirmed by the relatively low frequency of using indicators to evaluate activities in marketing communication. It is lower than, for example, in the area of evaluating the effectiveness of products, brands, or prices. Almost half of the surveyed companies analyzed promotion effectiveness indicators only once a year. It was declared that the most frequently used indicators are: sales and gross margin in sales promotion campaigns in relation to sales promotion costs, as well as the volume of sales after advertising campaigns in relation to campaign costs and advertising reach, and the number of customers acquired in relation to costs incurred. Measures of the effectiveness of marketing communication activities are particularly useful for enterprises where the end purchaser is an individual customer. This is directly linked to a much larger scope of mass communication, the effectiveness of which is less predictable than in the case of direct communication, which is increasingly dominating the B2B market. Generally, however, in all surveyed enterprises, the verification of the effectiveness of promotional activities was conducted over a limited period.
Logistics companies operating in the B2B market should be aware of both the necessity of communication activities and the ongoing changes in the effectiveness of the promotion instruments used so far. This is directly related to the necessary transition in the operation of these enterprises from a transactional orientation to an orientation aimed at establishing long-term relationships with customers. In this orientation, the customer is a precisely defined recipient, not just an element of a target group. Interactivity, cooperation, and proper customer service are gaining importance. This does not mean that the enterprise does not want to acquire new customers. To this end, however, it must remember to communicate with the market. In the case of logistics companies, which are service companies, this is particularly difficult. The low effectiveness of commonly known promotion instruments means that the range of individual communication means used should be particularly broad. This applies to direct sales, participation in trade fairs, and the creation and promotion of a good company image. References and recommendations from customers and entities cooperating with a logistics company can be a powerful source of information about the logistics company. It is therefore necessary to precisely create the identity of the logistics company, creating its desired image among customers. An extremely helpful action in this area can be the creation of a brand, which, although classified as an intangible asset of the enterprise, can have greater importance in its operations than tangible assets. Consciously creating the brand of a service company, usually identified with its name, is difficult but possible and effective.
Both the decreasing effectiveness of mass communication and the characteristic features of the B2B market will lead to an increasing use of individual, direct communication instruments. In the literature, one can find various assignments of promotion forms to activities within direct communication. However, taking into account the increasingly dynamically developing unconventional ways of companies communicating with the market, this type of communication can include: direct marketing, viral marketing, word-of-mouth marketing, and personal selling.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 2/2010.