The general organizational goal of the relevant communication strategy resides in improving the photography service’s performance. In other words, it is expected that the relevant strategy will assist the company in attracting new customers and increasing the profit rates. As a result, the particular communication aims might be put as follows:
- Build social awareness about the service;
- Persuade potential customers in the high-quality of the service;
- Put particular emphasis on the service’s competitive advantage;
- Motivate clients to try the service or to inform their relatives and friends; about it.
The accomplishment of each aim will be performed following the specificity of the targeted audience that is supposed to be composed of the middle-class population of the Seattle Area. Research and surveys that study public opinion in the framework of the demand for photography services show that people tend to use associate photography services with holidays or special occasions such as weddings, birthdays parties, anniversaries, etc. as a result, the public appeal must include the connotations for these events (Parker, 2016).
Moreover, research shows that the middle-class population is often particularly curious about the so-called “luxury” products. In the meantime, they expect that the price of the service to be reasonable (Kharas & Gertz, 2010). The communication strategy can employ this insight to achieve the best results. Thus, the competitive advantage might be gained by offering exclusive quality at low prices.
Also, the advertising message must take into account all types of clients. In other words, it is critical to assure that it equally addresses individual customers, families, and firms. To that, it is essential to list all the types of services offered – the more options will be introduced, the larger the potential clientele group will be (Sengupta, 2009).
Before, identifying the most effective advertising and promoting tools, it is critical to determine the sensor focus (Lordan, 2003). In other words, it is necessary to decide whether the advertising appeal should be transposed through visual or audio tools. As long as the PR project is devoted to photography service. It is assumed that visual images will have a more powerful impact and will be able to illustrate the offer more explicitly.
Therefore, it will be reasonable to focus on those sources that can reflect the visual aspects of the advertisement: web sites, television, billboards, blogs, e-mails, social networks, etc. It is recommended to carry out a simple survey to indicate the most popular mass media sources among the residents of the targeted area. The survey’s findings will be highly assistive while working out the implementation strategy.
Finally, the promotion activity should be focused on increasing sales as well as the general awareness of the targeted population about the service. The aims can be achieved through the implementation of special offers. Hence, the service can introduce discount coupons, regular discounts (for example, at weekends), discounts on a particular type of service (for example, standard black-and-white photo/wedding pictures, etc.).
Therefore, the stated aims might be accomplished through the following actions:
- Building social awareness: explicit report on the offered services and options available as well as a detailed description of all the promotion offers;
- Persuading the clients of the quality standard: visual illustrations of the service’s products;
- Gaining competitive advantage: promising exclusive, luxury service at low cost;
- Motivating to share the information: reminding the clients of the special occasions concerning which they might want to recommend the service to other people.
Integration of the Communication Tactics
While integrating the communication tactics, it is, first and foremost, essential to point out a couple of principal advertising tools. The indication of these tools can be done based on the survey’s results. It is expected that the most popular mass media source among the targeted population are social networks (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), and television. Therefore, it is necessary to work out advertisements for these sources. It is recommended that the first advertising campaign is limited to one month so that one has a chance to evaluate its efficiency and perform the urgent changes, if necessary.
In the course of the advertising campaign, it is essential to collect and analyze the relevant feedback. It can be done both through online surveys and personal communication with the customers (Now Hear This, 2009). For example, each client might be welcomed to tell where he or she learned about the service.
From the promotion standpoint, it is essential to introduce a couple of special offers and discounts. For example, the service can offer a 50% discount for the coupon owners (on condition that a coupon can be received by those people only who have already used the service, at least once) and an insignificant (5-10%) discount for a particular type of service (for example, anniversary photos). It is recommended that special offers are regularly changed to meet the demand for a maximum number of people. Moreover, special offers can also be used for advancing those services and products the demand for which is relatively low.
Reference List
Kharas, H., & Gertz, G. (2010). The New Global Middle Class: A Cross-Over from West to East. Web.
Lordan, E.J. (2003). Essentials of Public Relations Management. Chicago, Illinois: Rowman & Littlefield. Web.
Now Hear This. (2009). Web.
Parker, J. (2016). Is Being a Photographer in High Demand? Web.
Sengupta, S. (2009). Management Of Public Relations And Communication. New Delhi, India: Vikas Publishing House. Web.