SELECTION OF MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS IN PROMOTION OF SMALL BUSINESS ENTREPRISE BRANDS

Abstract

Marketing communications play a key role in promoting brands and their success depends on the success and consolidation of the brand in the market, and sometimes the fate of the whole enterprise. This is especially true for small businesses that play an important socio-economic role in the economic development of the country. Difficulties in promoting national brands are associated with both increased global competition and the inherent problems of inefficient small business branding. The purpose of this study is to scientifically substantiate the process of choosing marketing communications for small businesses and to identify the main factors that determine this choice. The article presents approaches to the theory of brand management, identifies the place of marketing communications in branding, which act as a specific component of the holistic process and belong to its functional spheres, along with other elements of the marketing complex. It is noted that the choice of marketing communications must take into account the importance of sensory perception of the brand by the consumer and build on it the entire cognitive process of communication. The study also presents the importance of marketing communications, depending on the future strategic direction of the company, identifies the factors that shape the goals of promotion and based on them - the brand strategy within which the choice of marketing communications. Unlike other authors who consider the processes of choosing marketing communications to promote business brands in general, this study is aimed at promoting small business brands, which is due to their specificity and internal problems. The research revealed that the choice of marketing communications can be represented as a stage of brand promotion, which is to decide on the priority of the use of certain tools. These tools depend on the goals of the brand promotion, and are the result of a series of consistent actions related to the formation of individuality and brand positioning, determining the type of brand and consumer preferences and strategic directions of brand development.