Today, marketers have more choices than ever regarding how
and where to promote or advertise products and services. In addition to
traditional methods, such as print advertising and direct marketing, you have
email marketing, Web-based advertising and multiple social media sites, such as
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, as well as mobile marketing.
And as many businesses have learned the hard way, what works
in, say, traditional print marketing, does not work as well (or at all) on the
Web or social media sties -- and vice versa.
While there is no one sure-fire formula to creating a
successful integrated marketing campaign, there are steps that businesses and
marketers can take to maximize viewership.
Step 1: Have a clear understanding of who your target
audience is. "It's important to clearly identify [who your target
audience is by] both demographic and psychographic (attitudes, interests and
behaviors), to help develop key messages and to identify the best communication
channels to reach them," says Linda Pophal, marketing communication
consultant, Strategic Communications.
Adds Yusuf Bhana, digital marketing
manager, TranslateMedia, ask yourself, or your marketing team: "Who
are your target customers? What are their motivations? How do they like being
communicated to? Which newspapers or magazines do they read and which sites do
they visit regularly? Which channels are they using? [And] if they're using
social media, what are they talking about? All these questions need to be
answered before developing your integrated marketing strategy," he says.
Step 2: Pick your channels. "Not everyone
needs to be on Facebook, or in a magazine," says Bhana. "In addition
to asking, 'Which channels do my customers use?' ask yourself 'What are the
channels' strengths and weaknesses? How will they help me reach my business
objectives?'" he suggests. "Be ruthless in selecting (and rejecting
channels). It's better to concentrate on the more effective channels than
trying to be everywhere all the time."
Step 3: Have a consistent look. "Make sure
your visual identity is consistent," says Andrew Stanten,
president, Altitude Marketing. "Visual identity is far more than your
logo. It entails having a common overarching design (look and feel), style of
photography and graphics, consistent logo treatment [and] common colors and
fonts," he says. "Everything should look as if it came from the same
[company]. A person reading an e-newsletter or brochure should see an immediate
visual connection when visiting the website."
Step 4: Create clear, consistent content that can easily
be adapted or repurposed to suit different media or channels. "Because
it can take more than five impressions for an individual to recognize a brand
or specific marketing message, follow the three Cs for marketing
messages," says Justin Honaman, partner, Consumer Goods, and retail
national practice leader, Teradata, which specializes in data-driven
marketing. "Communications [i.e., messaging and offers] must be clear (not
[filled with] confusing in words/phrases), compelling (interesting and/or
topical to the receiver) and consistent (regardless of channel -- Web, phone,
in-store, mobile)."
In addition, "every piece of content you develop -- a
blog post, case study or video -- [should be able to be] used in as many places
as possible," says Stanten. For example, you should be able to take a case
study and "use it in your newsletter; post an excerpt on LinkedIn; tweet a
series of informational nuggets from the piece; [and use it to] pitch [an] idea
-- or the case study itself -- to a publication."
Step 5: Ensure that your messaging is integrated. Make
sure each element of your marketing campaign "is set up to drive traffic
to your ultimate target, whether your target is a website (for purchases,
reservations, email newsletter subscriptions, blog RSS subscriptions, etc.) or
a social network like Facebook or Twitter (for engagement)," advises
Tracie Broom, partner, Flock and Rally, an agency that specializes in
integrated marketing communications.
"Include links to this online real estate in press
releases and on select marketing collaterals," she continues. "Simply
including a client's Twitter handle on printed materials can help influencers
connect more easily with the brand and spread [the word on] their
networks," Broom says. In addition, "URLs and usernames should be as
uniform as possible, e.g. @FlockandRally, FlockandRally.com, etc.," she
says. And be sure to use the same keywords and phrases throughout your integrated
marketing campaigns.
Step 6: Make sure your marketing teams/agencies are
working in sync. "If you have multiple members of a team working
on disparate projects within the same integrated marketing campaign, facilitate
team meetings to ensure all members are on the same page, the message behind
the campaign is consistent and to manage company brand standards across the
campaign," says Lauren Witte, associate director of Marketing at law
firm JacksonWhite, P.C.
Similarly, if you are using different agencies to produce
different aspects of your marketing campaign, make sure there is someone
in-house to monitor and coordinate their efforts, to ensure your branding has a
consistent look and feel across channels.
Step 7: Don't forget to track your campaigns -- and
coupons. "The most important aspect of any campaign, and most
especially integrated campaigns, is putting the proper analytics and
attribution methods in place to really understand how you're achieving
conversions and/or results," says Dylan Whitman, cofounder, Brand
Value Accelerator, a digital marketing agency.
"Specifically, for those looking to use digital to
drive in-stores sales with coupons, using a tracking platform that generates
unique barcodes with every coupon printed and then allows you to receive data
back from retailers and coupon clearing houses about which corresponding campaign segments are
performing best from an ROI standpoint," Whitman says.
Article From: www.cio.com
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