What are some of the benefits of integration in a marketing communications strategy?
The way your organization communicates with your customers affects your bottom line. Your marketing communications strategy can help your target audience to trust you and want to learn more. However, if your marketing communications strategy is poorly constructed and misaligned, your prospects may be turned off and not want to do business with your company. Show
Review the advantages and disadvantages of integrated marketing communication to see how this strategy can help your business to build brand awareness, establish credibility, create a consistent customer experience and stay relevant for your audience. Understanding Integrated Marketing CommunicationsIntegrated marketing communications (IMC) is an effective business strategy that focuses on aligning all forms of marketing messages and communication. In order to achieve the goals of their marketing campaign, companies that use integrated marketing communications utilize several different promotional mediums to spread their message. However, the key is that all mediums share a consistent company message and reinforce one another through their integrated strategy. In order to maximize the communication impact, the company needs to carefully plan its marketing communications activities and decide on which key messages it will consistently promote. This helps the business to clearly resonate with its audience and create a memorable experience. Integrated marketing communications examples include a buy-one-get-one campaign for a local shoe store. The business can promote its sales deal through print advertising in the local newspaper, online in the local town Facebook group and on the local radio station. The message that it will share through each of those mediums will be carefully aligned, reinforcing the benefits for the customers and incentivizing them to make a purchase. Looking at IMC as Part of the Marketing MixIntegrated marketing communications plays an important role in the overall marketing mix. This is the foundational strategy that businesses use to market their products to their consumers. The four elements of the marketing mix are:
The integrated marketing communications approach applies to the promotion element of the marketing mix. In order to ensure their promotions are effective, businesses need to carefully align their messages in each promotional medium to hook the consumer with a consistent message. While it’s important for the promotional messages to be consistent, it’s also critical for all four elements of the marketing mix to work together. For example, a business should not offer a high-priced item in a bargain-basement store, as that sends a conflicting message about the product’s value to consumers. In order to create a successful product strategy, all four marketing mix elements need to reinforce one another. Creating Brand Awareness and VisibilityOne of the key benefits of using the integrated marketing communications approach is that it helps businesses to build brand awareness and increase brand visibility. In order to resonate with their consumers, businesses first need to get noticed. With IMC, businesses can reach consumers with a consistent brand message through several different promotional mediums. By catching consumers’ eyes in different places, businesses can become more present through their consistent messaging. For example, if a new hardware store is opening and wants to build awareness with its target market, it can launch an integrated marketing campaign using search engine marketing and pay-per-click advertising to target its consumer base. By establishing some key messaging points that resonate with its audience and sharing them consistently through its website, blog, social media and ads, it can build brand awareness and increase brand visibility. Establishing Expertise and Thought LeadershipIn order to stand out from a sea of competitors, businesses can use integrated marketing communications to establish their expertise in the industry. By offering guidance, advice, how-to tips and new tactics, businesses can show their target market that they are a thought leader in their industry. When done consistently with an integrated marketing communications strategy, this builds trust with the consumer base. For example, consider a retail store that sells products to help consumers reduce waste in their daily lives. It can share tips on how to reuse and recycle materials so they don’t end up in the landfill. Through social media outreach and how-to articles on its blog and in key publications, the company can showcase its knowledge in the zero-waste market with its consumers. Creating a Consistent Customer ExperienceWhen it comes to great customer experiences, consistency is front and center. Through an integrated marketing communications strategy, businesses can ensure that no matter where a prospect interacts with their business, they receive a reliable and steady message. This kind of consistency reduces confusion about the benefits for consumers and helps them to make the purchasing decision sooner. For example, a local mechanic can share his unique value proposition through his integrated marketing communications messaging. On flyers at the gas station, in print in the local newspaper and on the company’s website, the customers can see that the mechanic is professional and experienced, offering personalized service that the leading chains can’t match. Staying Relevant for Your AudienceA key benefit of IMC is that it helps businesses to stay top of mind for their target market. Consumers are constantly bombarded with marketing messages from all different kinds of companies. It’s difficult for them to remember a particular brand or product. With careful repetition of brand messaging through an integrated marketing communications approach, however, businesses can stay relevant to their prospects. For example, if a new bakery has just opened in town, the best way to remind prospects of what it offers is through consistent messaging. Whether it’s on its social media or through pay-per-click advertising, television ads or grocery store flyers, the bakery can stay relevant in the minds of prospects by sharing a steady message of the benefits of visiting its store. Prospects have more chances of remembering the name of the bakery if they have seen its promotions in several places. Avoiding Obstacles in Integrated Marketing CommunicationsIn order to take advantage of the benefits of integrated marketing communications, it’s critical for businesses to actively avoid the barriers that can restrict success. By taking initiative and putting processes in place to avoid the obstacles, businesses can reap the full benefits of the integrated marketing communications approach. Some key obstacles to avoid include:
By being aware of the obstacles that can get in the way of a successful integrated marketing communications strategy, businesses can create plans and processes to mitigate those difficulties. This enables companies to resolve issues before they arise and cause problems with their promotional plans. Establishing an Integrated Marketing Communication ProcessCreating an integrated marketing communications strategy for your small business requires careful planning. Consider these steps to help you establish your IMC plan:
Following IMC Best Practices in Your Small BusinessIn order to ensure your integrated marketing communications plan is successful, be sure to follow best practices in your organization. Communicate the benefits of integrated marketing communications to your management team and ensure all business leaders understand the value of this strategy. It’s imperative that all managers are on board with the strategy, as it requires different business units to work together. Create a content strategy for your business in addition to a brand style guide. Share these resources widely with all employees regardless of whether they are responsible for creating marketing messages or not. It’s important for all employees to be familiar with the marketing communication messages so they can apply them to their specific roles. Create processes within the company that enable different employees, departments and business units to share marketing communication assets. If a marketing employee is creating a graphic for a product, she should have an easy way to share it with the sales representative and the public relations employee. This helps create efficiencies and also ensures consistency throughout the organization. What is an integrated marketing communication strategy?Integrated marketing communications (IMC) is the strategy that takes your marketing department from disparate functions to one interconnected approach. IMC takes your various marketing collateral and channels — from digital, to social media, to PR, to direct mail — and merges them with one dependable message.
What are the 5 integration marketing communication?As we've mentioned previously, Integrated Marketing communications can be used harmoniously with five primary communication tools. These are advertising, direct marketing, internet marketing, sales promotion and public relations.
What is the importance of communication integration?Integrated communication enables organizations to deliver a consistent message across channels to support business objectives, create a seamless stakeholder experience, and build brand trust and loyalty.
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