Marketing communications are all the communications between the organization and all other parties. Part of the wider academic research area of marketing, it encompasses all the traditional forms of promotion including advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, publicity and public relations. But it aims to be broader than this. It includes all points of contact between the organization and other parties. It includes everything from the way the telephone is answered, to the way the fleet of vehicles is maintained and used, to the quality of envolopes used.

It is commonly accepted that Integrated Marketing Communications should be the goal of such a marketing communications strategy. All points of contact with the organization should present the same corporate image.

In the United Kingdom, the University of Bournemouth and Middlesex University offer specialist courses in Marketing Communications at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

See also: promotion, marketing, marketing management