In this article, we will be focusing on how to craft your
message and your delivery – how to communicate, inform and educate.
Often the idea of ensuring all players along the chain
understand the value-proposition. A value proposition
is a simple statement that summarizes why a customer would choose your
product or service. Your value proposition communicates the clearest benefit
that customers receive by giving you their business.
The message encompasses what you would like to tell
your audience, whilst the delivery is how you get that message to them
effectively. The most effective messages take into consideration who the audiences
are, what motivates them to make an initial purchase, and equally important,
what would move them to keep purchasing.
Now when we speak to the
target audience, the audience will be different along the chain, so for
government entities it may be inclusive of the farmer, the processor and or
roaster. For the farmer their key
audience is the processor for the coffee shop their key audience is the
consumer. This shows that there can be a
myriad of audiences all with varying needs, wants, understanding and triggers.
Your message must therefore taken into consideration
your audience.
While the strategy begins with
the identification of target audiences, you will need to go a step further by detailing audience
characteristics and the possible benefits each group might gain from the
product or service.
Refer to the article on
Consumer Segmentation
to get an understanding of the task of identifying targeting audiences. For
information regarding research and analytics, go to the
Research & Diagnosis
article to get an
in-depth review.
Once the market is defined and their
behaviours/psychological influences clearly understood, you can start
structuring your message. The message should relay information about the
product whilst also guiding the reader on how to feel about the product. The consumer today is very exposed and demands transparency in
information being imparted. Today’s
consumer seeks to make choices from an informed perspective. Consumer education is critical in this
regard; it can be defined as “a process of developing and enhancing skills and
knowledge to make informed and well-reasoned choices that take societal values
and objectives into account”. Consumer education is therefore important along
the value chain aiding in developing critical thinking and raising awareness,
thereby enabling consumers to become more pro-active. Consumer education serves to also increase
engagement levels and ‘buy-in’.
It is the communication about coffee that will aid in increasing
domestic consumption. It is an important
vehicle for building the confidence that consumers need to operate in
increasingly complex markets.
The communication must be diverse, it must include information based on
the entity’s objectives. As such it may
include information about why employing best farming practices are beneficial
or to debunk popular myths about coffee, sustainable consumption, startegies to
build a small business and the list goes on.
When we inform, communicate
and educate it not only increases the information flow but it builds trust. You must therefore create
communications that tie specific product advantages to the interests and
requirements of the audience. Use language that describe the advantages to the
target audienceInformative bylines, graphics, and accompanying pictures all
help to paint a picture and aid in sharing the desired message. The same descriptive language, visuals, and
photographs from the marketing message can be used in several media. This
ensures that recurring connections remain consistent.
Adults have significant consumer education needs, some of which are
specific to different societal sub-groups. Adult learning occurs in informal
and non-formal settings that are not being fully exploited. Agencies and government
bodies should explore how to remain consistent with messaging and supplement
consumer education as a life-long process, taking into consideration how communication
can be structured to build knowledge in a cumulative fashion over time. For communication to be effective information should be disseminated in
a variety of ways, taking advantage of both online and offline resources. When online
communication is being used, it is important to take the accessibility of
information and communication technology in your country into account, as well
as the level of usage and the ability of targeted groups to use it. Sites that draw together different elements of consumer education are
important in this regard, as such blogs, you tube and other social media should
be considered. Developing effective strategies to attract your audiences to the
platform selected is also important.
Advertisements work very well to
speak openly to your target market. Advertisements can be executed across
various medium: print, outdoor media, online, TV, radio, and social media. Communication and consumer education should be viewed as a long-term and
a continuous process. A one-off message
will not ‘do the trick’. Consumer
education plays a critical role in raising public awareness. Having clearly defined strategies can increase the effectiveness and
efficiency of communication and consumer education programs. It must however be noted that to enhance
coherence, such objectives should be coordinated among market players at the national
level as well as other appropriate levels. In addition, outlined objectives,
content and delivery must keep pace with innovation in technology, particularly
the rapid expansion of mobile technology.
Social Media is an extremely engaging method of
communicating to your market because it is immediately responsive and allows
you to interact directly with your would-be consumers. Real-time interaction
and 24/7 discussion can occur with followers re-posting to others. Social media
can be utilized (especially blog sites) to conduct market research about target
audiences. Social media sites use fun discussions to help organizations build
relationships.