There is a communication formula. Few marketers know this, although most of the better ones apply it by instinct or accident. It is a formula as powerful, predictable and clear as Newton’s Law of Gravity. It is simply this: Communication is equal to understanding. You cannot have one without the other. Ideal communication is, "transferring an idea from the originator to the receiver in such a way that the idea is totally understood by the receiver."

Communication and understanding are not absolutes. This means you can't actually achieve 100 percent perfect understanding and communication. Thus, the goal of marketing communications is to achieve the closest you can to perfect understanding and communication. The closer you get to perfection, the better the results you achieve.

To reach this goal, you must dissect communication and understanding down to their basic components. These are agreement (reality) and affinity. Agreement is. "what is real to an individual based on his viewpoint, experiences and values." For example, if a guy is shopping for a car and his major desire is economy, a salesman is not going to succeed trying to sell him a high performance car that gets 10 miles to the gallon. When the salesman tries to push this gas guzzler on him, the guy walks away. This brings us to the other key component; affinity.

Affinity is, the degree of liking, interest and desire, or degree of willingness to be close to someone or something. It is all about emotion. Notice in the car sales example, the guy was in disagreement with the salesman and walked away. As a result of being in disagreement, his affinity automatically dropped. He began to dislike the salesperson and decided he no longer wanted to be near him. If the salesperson had shown the guy a hybrid that got 50 miles to the gallon, the guy would have been interested and attentive.

Here then is another vitally important part of the law of communication. The greater the level of agreement, the greater the level of affinity. Conversely, the lower the level of agreement, the lower the level of affinity. Therefore, the greater the level of agreement and affinity, the higher the level of communication and understanding. THIS IS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT POINT IN ALL MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS. Why? Because all you have to do is ensure your audience agrees with your message and you automatically raise their affinity, communication and understanding. This increases their desire for what you're selling. As a result, you make more sales.

So, how do you know your target market will be in agreement with your message? You need to know exactly how they think. If you have any uncertainties about how they see things, you must conduct surveys. In order to know what questions you need to ask and how to use their responses, you must understand the marketing formula. (Beginning in the following section)

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