A Brief Introduction to this Important Marketing Term
Have you heard the phrase, “Integrated Marketing” before? We have – in fact, we hear it almost every day at Strata. Why? It’s one of our main services and something that helps many of our clients achieve success in their customer acquisition efforts. Sit back and settle in as we take you through the basics (an introduction, if you will) of integrated marketing.
In General, What is Integrated Marketing?
Integrated marketing is a way to “keep marketing communications consistent and easy”. It’s a strategic approach to integrating all your customer experiences and communications – ensuring everything about your brand is aligned, and that consistent and relevant brand messages are always delivered across all marketing channels. Integrated marketing’s main goal is to create a seamless and unified experience for the customer, and to do so, you must coordinate and streamline both your assets and your people. Find more on our integrated marketing communications services page.
As stated, this includes integrating everything across all channels – from print to digital, online to in person, and paid media to owned media. While ensuring that all of this aligns has never been more difficult (there are a lot of channels to consider and streamline), it’s never been more imperative to business success.
“RACE”, which stands for Reach, Act, Convert, Engage, is an acronym and marketing plan that can help you keep it all together. It structures your marketing communications around the life cycle (otherwise known as the customer journey) of the customer.
What are Some Statistics Behind Integrated Marketing?
- “It takes an average of 6 touches to generate a sales lead”, so it’s important that they all align!
- “According to a Cross-Media Ad Effectiveness Study by The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) consumers viewing a consistant message across a variety of channels can improve purchase intent by 90% and brand perception by 68%.”
- “70% of consumers use three or more channels when researching a purchase.”
- “Integrated campaigns are 31 percent more effective at building brands, even without customization.”
- “’AdReaction: The Art of Integration‘ found that well integrated and customized ad campaigns boosted effectiveness by 57 percent.”
Why Should I Use Integrated Marketing Solutions?
Although integrated marketing takes a lot of effort, communication, cooperation, and attention to detail, it’s worth the investment. Plus, if you don’t create cohesive marketing and communication, you risk confusing customers or even steering customers away with mixed, disconnected messages that delegitimize your brand and products and/or services.
Using integrated marketing can result in the following:
- Consistent/trustworthy messaging
- Reduced costs of bad/unnecessary/unaligned communications
- Increased brand awareness/familiarity
- Increased likelihood of brand loyalty
- Increased purchasing and intent
- Better customer experiences
- Increased marketing revenue
- Improved efficiency
You may be asking how and where integrated marketing can reduce costs? Although a good strategy and efficient streamlining comes with its time and costs, integrated marketing is cost-effective because its parts, messages, and pieces can be used repeatedly and seamlessly. Different graphics, content, and ideas can be used for many purposes across many platforms. Additionally, many integrated marketing campaigns incorporate user-generated content, which is – you guessed it – practically free marketing that “can also help drive your costs down while increasing efficiency and engagement.”
Overall, integrated marketing is key because your marketing piece may be great, but it doesn’t do much if it contradicts or doesn’t align with and emphasize your other communications. Plus, potential customers are less likely to remember or recognize something they only see or hear once. So, make sure it’s driven home across all platforms and communication channels.
Want to streamline your marketing processes and content, overcome operational challenges, and take control of your brand? Learn more here or contact us.
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