3 C's of Communication: Clarity, Content, Conviction

Clarity 

We’ve seen numerous marketing campaigns that have left us feeling confused about the purpose of a product or the benefit of doing business with an organization. The fact is most small businesses believe as long as they’re getting seen, it doesn’t matter what the actual campaign is, just that it’s getting out there somehow. Social media would be the most visible example of taking a “shotgun” approach in reaching an audience. It works if your goal is just visibility, but it doesn’t work if you’re actively trying to find your audience. 

In marketing, clarity in communication is about how easily audiences can understand your message, meaning it's concise and devoid of any ambiguity. 

Here’s a few things to remember about maintaining clarity in your communication strategies:

• Call-To-Action: All messages should end with a distinct call-to-action, a task that you want the audience to perform. It could tell audiences to visit your website, follow you on social media, complete a purchase or sign up for a newsletter. A call-to-action needs to be a specific request that’s actionable and easy to follow. 
• Consistency: Maintaining clarity in communication requires that your messaging is standardized across all channels. This doesn’t mean that you have to copy and paste content verbatim to standardize tone but the messaging should present a recognizable pattern for audiences. The goal is to present the same core message and values, regardless of whether it’s a social media post, radio ad, print ad, or newsletter. 
• Relevance: A relevant message is one that can address the needs, interests and/or concerns of your audience by understanding their desires and pain points. The messaging should explicitly state how your product/service can address their problem or help them achieve their desired outcome
• Visuals: In some cases, you need powerful visual elements (colors, fonts, images) to accompany your messaging. It’s been proven that visual aids can reinforce messaging, especially if the product/service you’re offering has complex features. For example, tech companies use high-impact visuals (commercials, presentations, etc.) to showcase product features and functions as part of their marketing to convince audiences why their product is the best one. 
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Clarity in communication is a critical function of marketing. Even the best, most storied brands and organizations have missteps in their marketing from time to time, often needing to review and refine their messaging. Effective communication always ensures that the message is easily understood, addresses audience questions and pain points, and inspires them to commit to an action. This is one of three aspects needed for strong communication. 

Content

I spend a lot of time - more than I admittedly should - brainstorming and developing the types of content that I think would resonate with our audiences. At Venture Lab, our core audience are students (undergraduate and graduate), and that comes with a unique set of challenges compared to other audiences. A college is made of multiple subgroups with their own set of demographics, psychographics, and behavioral patterns, meaning there’s multiple target markets confined within one ambiguous market, the student population. 

In order to reach these audiences as effectively as possible, our team looks at the type of content that works with each of our channels (email, social media, web) and then develops unique content within those parameters. The process is intensive but it ensures that we’re effective marketing using all available channels and reaching out to as many students as possible. 

Content here is being defined as images, photos, graphics, videos, and other assets being distributed across email, social media, web, or other digital/print channels. 

Here’s a few things to keep in mind regarding content: 

• Quality: I can’t stress this enough but the quality of content is key. Any visual content should follow the rules of visual hierarchy and be mindful of the creative use of colors, fonts, images. A lot of content on social media is not visually appealing and can push away audiences from your product/service, solely based on poor visuals. A low-quality visual asset can harm a strong message. 
• Value: The content that you create should either educate, entertain, or inspire, depending on your industry and product/service. 

A strong content marketing strategy can greatly increase the effectiveness of your communication. It presents audiences with a broader range of visual aids that aid in their understanding of your brand or business. 

Conviction

How do you convince audiences to visit your website? To sign up for a 1:1 session? Buy your product? It’s all about conviction. In order to convince your audience, you need to tap into their emotions.

A convincing message comes off as authentic and passionate. The marketing associated with some of the best products often have layers of emotional and psychological cues that help to deepen the connection with the audience. 

Here’s a few things to remember about conviction in marketing:

• Authenticity: As mentioned, communication requires an authentic tone. If you’re intending for your audience to purchase your product or service, you need to believe in your own product or service. The messaging needs to convince audiences that you are approaching their needs and problems in a concerned and genuine way. Authenticity through communication is one of the ways that businesses can build a strong brand identity and create brand loyalty. 
• Confidence: It’s one thing to believe in the product, but it’s another thing to demonstrate knowledge of the industry, the problems, and present yourself as the solution. An effective communication strategy should demonstrate your confidence in your product thus establishing credibility with audiences as a go-to solution for their problem. An example of this would be Clorox. Despite numerous other bleach products on the market, audiences trust the Clorox brand to actually get the job done. 

In conclusion, the keys to an effective communication strategy are the clarity (ease) in which audiences can understand your message and take action, how content, with strong visual aids, can present your product/service as of quality and value, and how authenticity and passion can convince audiences that your the best solution on the market

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If marketing is about how a business intends to reach its audiences, then effective communication strategies need to demonstrate the who, what, and why that business exists and is the best option. 

My name is Taylor Durham and I’m the Director of Marketing at Venture Lab, the University of Pennsylvania’s entrepreneurship hub for student venture development and the co-founder and chief creative officer at HoneyBlossom, a digital marketing company that works with small business owners to provide comprehensive creative and marketing services. In writing this series of articles, I’m hoping for one particular reason - to provide a set of accessible information on branding, digital marketing, and creative design. In this series, you’ll find various articles that provide tips, tricks, and best practices that any startup can apply with little to no cost.