К.ф.н. Тунникова В.А., Прадед Ю. И.

Ростовский Государственный Экономический Университет РГЭУ (РИНХ), Россия

Business Language for Effective Marketing Communications

Communication is an integral part of business. Companies transfer information for various reasons to internal and external business stakeholders. Marketing communications are used to persuade people into product purchase using mass media. Emphasis is on rational, product-based information.

In the business world, marketing communications are all the messages and any relevant media that can be used to enhance communication with one’s market. Marketing communication helps to develop brand awareness, which means that consumers translate product information into perceptions about the product’s attributes and its position within the larger market [6].

Traditional communication mediums include written letters or memos, telephones and interviews or meetings. Electronic communication includes email, chatting, texting and other forms of Internet-based communication mediums.

Individuals sending business communication should pay close attention to the audience receiving the message. Individual receivers may not have the same education or experience as the sender, leading to confusion when individuals receive the message. Thus business language is used to avoid ambiguity and uncertainty while communicating with customers. It plays a significant role in marketing as a whole as helps effectively promote goods and services. Due to the fact that business language is explicit, concise and exact, it makes the process of earning consumers’ trust easier.

Major marketing communication functions are: advertising, direct marketing, the Internet, interactive media, sales promotion, public relations, and personal selling where business language plays a key-role.

Having explored all the notions of business language we may say that business language is a variant of social function, is a branch of language for specific purpose used in business occasions, containing a variety of business activities and suiting the need of commerce.

Another feature and advantage of business language that makes marketing communications more effective is that business language is void of emotional or expressive colouring. Marketing communications should be aimed at representing precise facts, clear vision of brand’s upper hand where traditional business language’s clichés and patterns are extremely useful. Terminological word-combinations are quite a peculiarity of business language in marketing communications.

Moreover, business language focuses on vocabulary and topics which are used in different trade fields and on the language and skills needed for typical marketing communications such as presentations, negotiations, meetings, small talk, socializing, correspondence, report writing, and a systematic approach. In terms of lexical and grammatical aspect, business language is specialized, formal, standardized and consists of polysemy, compound and borrowed words as to the aspect of syntactic term, it is concise, tight, clear, plain and courteous. All these features explain effectiveness of business language in marketing communications.

Marketing communication strategies are divided in two basic groups: direct and indirect. Businesses use a direct communication style by comparing their products to a leading competitor or the industry standard. This style allows businesses to promote the benefits of their products and why consumers will receive satisfaction when purchasing them. Indirect communication styles present a product’s feature and allow consumers to make up their own mind about the benefits of the product. An indirect communication method may be perceived by consumers as less adversarial than the direct method.

Tailoring usage of business language in marketing communications can help companies avoid these negative situations. Without good business communication, the internal and external structure of a business can face numerous challenges that can ultimately lead to its demise.

The language which is used in all marketing communications, including advertising, public relations, and general communications, should reflect each target locale’s unique expressions and values. To ensure an effective marketing message, marketers use experienced linguistic experts who understand how to write marketing and advertising copy in each of their languages.

Business language has a clear impact on marketing communications as a whole. Social media has revolutionized consumer-brand interactions. For the first time ever, the brand itself can converse with consumers [2].

Business language may shape consumer-brand relationships. Communication objectives may include creating awareness or knowledge about a product and its attributes or benefits; creating an image; or developing favourable attitudes, preferences, or purchase intentions [1].

The objectives of business language in marketing communications are:

· to eliminate the ambiguity and definitional differences between functions within and across firms and their partners.

· to encourage trust and collaboration within and across functional areas in organizations, the marketing industry and the broader business community.

· to enhance marketing measurement and accountability through a commonly understood language of marketing.

The key here is clarity. Good business language helps get marketing communications done well, on time and on budget. Good business language in marketing communications is simple and easily understood, a rule often overlooked by managers and team members. Simple and concise language wins over language that is obtuse and hard to understand [1].

When marketers send a message to an intended audience or market, they want to make sure it gets through clearly and persuasively. That is why business language is so important to marketing [5]. Consumers today are bombarded daily by hundreds of sales messages through many media channels. This communications traffic can create confusion as noise in the channel increases. That is why the major mission of business language is to eliminate errors, misunderstanding and noise and deliver a precise offer to consumers.

When the internal forces of a business are working toward communicating the same message to vendors, suppliers and customers, good communication can also lead to a boost in sales for the business. Essentially, using business language in marketing communications creates a win-win situation. The customers who can benefit from the company receive the messages they need to make them aware of the company and to make a purchase, which in turn boosts the sales of the company.

References:

1. Belch, G.E., Belch, M. A. (2003). Advertising and promotion. An integrated marketing communications perspective. The McGraw-Hill-Irwin.

2. Blythe, J. (2009). Key Concepts in Marketing. Sage.

3. Fill. C. (2010). Marketing communications. Interactivity, communities and content. Financial Times/ Prentice Hall.

4. Guimard. A. (2009). Investor relations. Principles and International best practices of financial communications. Palgrave Macmillan.

5. Kurtz D.L. (2009). Contemporary Marketing. South-Western College Pub.

6. Yadin D. (2002). The international dictionary of marketing. Kogan Page.

7. Zwick. D., Cayla J. (2011). Inside marketing. Practices, ideologies, devices. Oxford University Press.