Steps in developing effective marketing communication: eight decisions in order

Effective marketing communication is developed in a fixed order: identify the target audience, set the communication objective, design the message, choose the channels, set the budget, decide the mix, measure the results and manage the whole process. This sequence is the one set out by Philip Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller in Marketing Management, and it works because each step narrows the next.

The eight steps

Step	Question to answer
1. Identify the target audience	Who exactly must receive this?
2. Determine the objectives	What should they think, feel or do afterwards?
3. Design the message	What do we say, how, and who says it?
4. Select the channels	Where will they see or hear it?
5. Establish the budget	What can we spend?
6. Decide on the mix	How do the tools share the budget?
7. Measure the results	Did the audience change?
8. Manage the integrated process	Do all the parts say the same thing?

Step 1: identify the target audience

Name the audience in terms you can find them by: the role, the situation, what they currently buy, what they read. "Small business owners" is too wide. "Owners of clinics with two to five doctors who have never run paid ads" can be found, reached and written for. Include the people who influence the decision as well as the person who pays.

Step 2: determine the communication objective

Pick the response you want. The textbook lists four levels: create the need for the category, build awareness of the brand, shape attitude toward it, and prompt an intention to buy. A new product in an unknown category begins with the need. A well known brand with a weak image works on attitude. Choose one main objective per campaign and state it as a measurable change, such as the share of the audience who can name the brand when asked.

Step 3: design the message

Three decisions sit inside the message.

• What to say. The single appeal: a rational benefit, an emotional one or a moral one. Pick the benefit the audience values and your rivals do not claim.
• How to say it. The structure and the format: whether to give the conclusion or let the audience reach it, whether to show one side or both, and where the strongest point sits.
• Who should say it. A messenger the audience trusts: an expert, a customer or a respected figure. The source decides how believable the message is.

Write the message in one sentence before you make any creative. If you cannot, the campaign will drift.

Step 4: select the channels

Channels fall into two groups. Personal channels are conversations: sales calls, advisers, word of mouth, customer service. Non personal channels reach many at once: media, events, direct mail, email, online ads and content. Choose by where your audience pays attention and how much explaining the message needs. A complex proposition needs a conversation or a long format. A simple reminder needs reach.

Step 5: establish the budget

Four methods are common: what you can afford, a percentage of sales, matching a competitor and the objective and task method. The objective and task method is the one that follows from the steps above: list what must be done to reach the objective, cost it and add it up. The marketing budget format guide shows how to lay the result out for approval.

Step 6: decide on the communication mix

The tools are advertising, sales promotion, events and experiences, public relations, direct and digital marketing, word of mouth and personal selling. Give each a job. Advertising builds awareness at scale, public relations builds credibility, promotions prompt action, and personal selling closes. Spend where the objective needs it, and not equally on all.

Step 7: measure the results

Return to the objective. Ask a sample of the audience whether they recognise the message, what they remember and how they feel about the brand. Track the behaviour that follows: visits, enquiries, trials, purchases, repeat purchases. Measure before the campaign as well as after, or you have nothing to compare against.

Step 8: manage the integrated process

All tools and channels must carry the same core message, consistent in look and voice, and timed to support each other. The worked version of this step is in integrated marketing communication: one campaign across every channel. Assign one owner who can say no to any piece that breaks the message.

A quick worked pass

Take a regional dental clinic launching a teeth whitening service. The audience is working adults within 10 kilometres who have searched for whitening or dentists. The objective is that they know the clinic offers it and prefer it. The message is a clear explanation of the procedure, the time it takes and who it suits, said by the dentist. The channels are local search, the clinic's website, a map listing and a message to existing patients. The budget is worked back from the number of bookings needed. The mix is mostly search and direct message to patients, with a little local social advertising. Results are bookings by source, and the clinic reviews them monthly.

Where teams get stuck, and the fix for each step

At step 1 teams describe the audience too widely; fix it by writing one example person. At step 2 they list activities instead of responses; fix it by finishing the sentence "after this, the audience will...". At step 3 they write three messages in one; fix it by choosing the single claim. At step 4 they pick channels the team likes; fix it by asking where the audience already pays attention.

At step 5 they set the budget before the objective; reverse the order. At step 6 they spread money evenly across tools; give each tool a job instead. At step 7 they measure activity, such as posts and impressions; measure the change in the audience instead. At step 8 each channel has a different owner; name one person with the power to stop anything that breaks the message.

The step the classic model did not include

The model assumes the audience meets your message in channels you chose. Today a buyer often meets a summary of you first, written by ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity from whatever it found. That summary is also communication, and it is worth checking against the message you designed in step 3. AI Knows Us compares what the assistants say about a business with what the business means to say, and the free scan at aiknowsus.com is a fast way to read it. Treat the finding as a ninth check in step 7.

Questions about developing marketing communication

Who created the steps in developing effective marketing communication?

The eight step sequence is presented in Kotler and Keller's Marketing Management textbook, building on communication theory about sender, message, channel and receiver.

Is this the same as a marketing plan?

No. A marketing plan covers product, price, place and promotion. This sequence covers the promotion part in detail.

Which step do teams skip most often?

Step 2. Many teams jump to creative without a stated objective, which leaves nothing to measure at step 7.

Can a small business follow all eight steps?

Yes. Each step can be answered in a paragraph. The discipline is the order.

How is communication different from advertising?

Advertising is one tool in the mix. Communication covers everything the customer sees and hears from you.