7 Keys to Creating Successful Integrated Marketing Campaigns
What Is Integrated Marketing and Why Is It Important?
In short, integrated marketing refers to a multi-channel marketing approach to marketing campaigns. By considering what channels will be most effective for a given campaign and treating these individual channels as elements of a single campaign, marketing efforts are more cohesive and much more efficient.
Rather than relying on individual marketing efforts, like print or Facebook ads, we know that multi-channel efforts are more effective. An integrated, multi-channel approach makes the best use of each medium/channel by assuring concurrent, consistent messaging to maximize communication impact to prospective customers.
Repetition
By repeating the right headlines, key phrases, offers, and brand imagery in each piece of communication, you ensure that potential customers and prospects see consistent messages each time they see one of the elements of the campaign.
This consistency reinforces the campaign by increasing the number of times prospects see or hear your message. The more often your consistent messaging is seen, the greater your chance for brand awareness and the more likely a prospect will take action leading to more conversions and greater campaign ROI.
Channel Selection
Determining the right channels to target your intended audience is equally important to repetition. Depending on a given channel, the message and presentation might be tuned to play to the strengths of that channel to better resonate with your audience while, most importantly, not sacrificing campaign identity and brand consistency. This gives your business the potential to get better results from your campaigns and reduce marketing costs.
Note, a message that does not speak directly to a potential customer could sacrifice an opportunity to convert these prospects into loyal customers. To alleviate this, we focus on how a potential customer or audience consumes information on any given channel and how you’re most likely to attract their attention.
An example of this could be developing two sets of Facebook and Instagram ads. Each with different age/demographic appropriate imagery and headlines that will appeal to your desired audience and are optimized for each platform. Say you are creating an integrated campaign for orthopedic services, you might show a young person running in one ad and an older person with arthritic inflammation in another with targeted headlines for each demographic while retaining the overarching look and feel of the campaign.
Sample Integrated Marketing Ads
Two Demographics Optimized for Facebook
Two Demographics Optimized for Instagram
Getting Started
“Okay, I get it. So how do I put an integrated marketing approach in place for my upcoming campaign?”
So glad you asked!
One mistake that many brands make is spreading themselves too thin and losing track of their long-term messaging. They do this by trying to be in more places than their budget allows, saying more than they need to say. A campaign stretched too thin, over multiple platforms, without strategic consistency will not have the results you are hoping for. In fact, this can even be detrimental by not only failing to reach your prospect but also losing out on repetitive prospect exposure. In other words, you don’t have to be everywhere! An integrated campaign can prove very successful utilizing only a few channels and tactics which can be tailored to work within any reasonable budget.
Specifically, a digitally focused integration is an effective way to not only get your message out through multiple channels and initiatives but also to provide the capability for daily tracking via Google Analytics and other channel monitoring platforms. Careful monitoring allows you to make campaign revisions based on what is or is not working, and shift resources to make better use of your budget dollars.
7-Step Plan For Launching Integrated Marketing Campaigns
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Identify your high-level campaign goals.
Don’t try for too many. Once identified, set your stake in the ground and begin refining your messaging and make sure it follows in lock-step with your larger brand mission.
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Choose your marketing channels and set goals for each one.
Not all channels are created equal. While static ads may be great for one, a pre-roll ad may be better for another, or maybe an interstitial. It’s not necessary for all, but it is necessary to choose the best one for the appropriate platform.
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Define your buyer personas by channel.
A potential customer on Instagram consumes messaging and gives trust differently than that of an Instagram user. This is the same across all channels. Put yourself in their shoes as you build your strategy for each. -
Identify your channel managers.
Depending on the size of your campaign and the number of channels, it is not always wise to have one person manage them all. In many situations, the cost of an additional channel manager can far outweigh that of lost opportunity or an unresponsive brand.
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Create adaptable marketing assets and messaging.
Don’t reinvent the wheels for every channel. Create assets that can easily be adapted in minor ways to appropriately communicate your messaging.
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Establish your plan for collecting leads.
It’s great to get the leads, but if you don’t collect them in an organized way, all is for naught.
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Launch, measure, and iterate your campaign.
Do this well and do this often. It will most certainly save time, money, and unneeded hair-pulling.
Don’t make the mistake of pulling the trigger too soon. Following the steps outlined above before launching your ads will put you on the path to a successful integrated marketing campaign.
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