(Part 5 of 7 part series)
“I” is for Integrated
DAVNA’s A.C.T.I.V.E. Marketing concept highlights the six elements that make up an effective living-breathing branding campaign capable of maneuvering the economic roller coaster today’s entrepreneurs face in the consumer marketplace.
What is an Integrated Marketing Campaign?
Let’s first take a look at the word “Integrated”… to bring separate parts together, combine or incorporate into a whole for the better good of all. Combining or coordinating separate elements to provide/create a harmonious interrelated whole.
How does this fit into an overall marketing campaign? As a strategist my response would be “to focus on developing a plan, organizing things and creating a timeline to deliver specific marketing items to communicate a specific message and response to a predetermined target market to produce maximum return.”
So what does this mean? It means that as an entrepreneur you must look at the whole picture when planning your marketing. Who is your target audience? What would you like them to do in response to your marketing? What is the fastest and least expensive way to reach them? What is my “conversion” threshold (How much am I willing to spend to get them to buy my product or service?)
These are just a few of the questions you should be asking yourself when planning your marketing campaign. Traditional advertising and marketing sources have been pushed aside in lieu of the more current ones that produce quicker and more accurate responses. That does not mean that the traditional sources should be eliminated from your overall campaign. Understanding your target audience and how they get their information is key to identifying the integrated approach you will utilize to get your message out.
There are 5 reasons why an Integrated Marketing Campaign is so important today.
- Your target audience has more ways to get their information. There are many more ways your customers now have to interact with your brand. Understanding their preferred method of communication is critical to campaign success.
- Media/Marketing resources have become more intelligent. Now companies can customize their reach to better target their IDEAL customers giving them the information they want, how they want it and when they want it.
- Customer centric. No longer does the manufacturer or the brand control the market. Because competitive options are now more prevalent than ever, the power has shifted to the retailers and subsequently the customer. Brand awareness and satisfaction is critical in today’s market to ensure customer loyalty.
- Marketing’s function has shifted from pushing information out to collecting as much data as possible to better focus messaging and outreach. The introduction of data-mining has provided marketers the opportunity to uncover consumer buying triggers to build targeted campaigns ultimately reducing costs while still turning around sales.
- More widespread Internet use. The Internet has put the power into the consumer’s hands allowing them the opportunity to do their own research and compare products/services on their own time. No longer are they limited to retail or service hours. Thus, the reason ALL companies must have an Internet presence. Your website is your storefront 24/7.
Before you begin developing an integrated marketing program there are four key factors that must be explored. These factors speak to what your message is (analyze and identify), what your expectations are (goals) and how much it will cost to implement (budget). Once you have a clear understanding of these key factors you will be able to develop your campaign by incorporating the following 7 steps:
Step 1: Understand your Market. Know whom your IDEAL customer is, how they can be reached and what they want to know.
Step 2: Pick your marketing channels. By knowing how your customers can be reached you can better target your message, narrowing the scope of your outreach to produce higher returns.
Step 3: Make Lasting First Impressions. Visual consistency applies not only to the words communicated but also visually. First impressions speak loader than words and last longer. Your visual brand extends more than your logo. It extends to your employees, your electronic presence, your marketing materials and your store.
Step 4: Develop clear, consistent content that is easily adapted across multiple platforms. Straight and to the point consistent messaging without a lot of confusing terminology. Ensure that the message can be transmitted and received across multiple platforms. Make sure the content is interesting and exciting with a “call to action” providing the necessary contact information.
Step 5: Build message into an Integrated Campaign. Understand what the goal is of your message and ensure that all of your marketing is designed to drive traffic to where you want them. Whether is be your website, storefront or ecommerce store all content should entice the end user to take action. Be sure to use the same keywords and phrases throughout your integrated marketing campaigns.
Step 6: Make sure all team members are on the same page. Whether working with different internal divisions, outside consultants. PR or Advertising firms … ensure that all members understand the message behind the campaign and maintain consistency to the company brand standards across the 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: Track your efforts. 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.
DAVNA Enterprises specializes in building strategic Marketing programs that are A.C.T.I.V.E. — Unique and relevant off and on line programs that engage consumers and inspire action. We take a hard look at your marketing objectives and your audience and create experiential marketing based campaigns engage your target where they live, breath, work, and play.
For more information or to receive a copy of a full report on building a campaign for your company email info@davna.com with the subject line “ACTIVE Marketing Campaign Report”. We will gladly send the reports out to you free of charge.
DAVNA Enterprises, LLC is a Florida based firm specializing in the development and implementation of strategic operational, marketing and business development programs locally and internationally. Whether a new business starting out or an existing firm seeking increased market exposure, rebranding or repositioning, DAVNA brings more than 35 years of experience and the expertise needed to successfully develop and execute strategies designed to achieve your ultimate goals. For more information visit www.davna.com or email info@davna.com
