Communication Verbiage 101
We are excited to be increasing our education center and we think the best place to start- is the beginning by clearing up misconceptions of communication terminology. So join us below as we work through a few of the main relevant terms you will hear regarding communication.
Communication terms are some of the most incorrectly used terms. People say marketing when they mean branding or advertising when they actually mean PR. Let’s begin with the overall umbrella- COMMUNICATION.
Communication vs. CommunicationS
Did you know that by adding as S on the end of communication it actually means something completely different?
Communication is what we do on a daily basis. It is how messages are received and interpreted.
CommunicationS is the distribution of the message. It is the system you use to send the message and it’s generally speaking in terms of mass communication not interpersonal. Or large audience instead of a small audience. That means your website, social media, radio, tv…
Easy way to remember- Communication is human. CommunicationS is technical.
Marketing vs. Advertising vs. Branding vs. Public Relations vs. Outreach
Marketing is the act or process of selling or purchasing in the market. It’s the process or technique of promoting your sale whether that is through services or products. Marketing has multiple categories that fall under it and it can be an action. For example, sharing content via social media, in a brochure or talking about that content at a networking event is all marketing. More terminology you will hear is content marketing, visual marketing, classic marketing, digital marketing, social marketing, inbound marketing…
Advertising is paid. It’s calling the attention of the public or your desired audience by paid announcements. You can purchase an ad in a magazine, online through SEO or social, a newspaper… This is all advertising and advertising falls under the marketing category.
Branding is plain and simple- Identity. My favorite quote about branding is “branding is what people say about you when you aren’t in the room.” It is the words they would use to describe you or your business. And it’s important to know you have a personal brand that impacts your business brand. If people describe you as kind, knowledgable, or helpful, they are likely to describe your business the same way. However, if you are rude and pushy, the same situation.
Public Relations (PR) is so very different than anything else we discussed so far. Public Relations is the actions of goodwill. The true definition is the professional maintenance of a favorable public image by a company or other organization or a famous person. The best PR is when you help and give back through your company. At Digital Summit Denver this year, we heard over and over the proof that businesses who are focusing on goodwill and giving back (i.e. passion over profit) are doing incredibly better than businesses who aren’t.
Many times people hear PR and think its a big task to tackle but PR can be sponsoring the local high school football team, donating to charities, getting involved at a food bank, or volunteering in your community. The biggest mistake made in PR is when you try to do everything. You need to choose items that are close to the heart of your business to partake. We will give examples of this in a future blog.
Outreach is a term we hear for our government clients more than our business clients typically but it applies to both. In the business world many times you would lump it under marketing but it really deserves its own category. Community Outreach would include things like events whether you host or attend them. It is the active approach to reaching the community you want to serve. Many times the goal of Community Outreach is interpersonal communication or human to human contact.
There you have it! The common communication terms and their definitions. Did you know The Tallent Company is a one-stop-shop to handle all of these categories for businesses, government, and organizations under our monthly marketing package? Contact us today for a conversation about how all these terms apply to your business and to create a communication strategy for your business!
info@tallentco.com
Check back in with us soon for more news in our education center!
