Marketers have their own language. They use words that most of us don’t. If you have a marketing department at your company, you may have heard them reference an “integrated marketing strategy” and you may have nodded politely. Whether you know what those words mean or not, you need one. Here’s how you can achieve it even if you don’t have a marketing guru on staff.
Components of an Integrated Marketing Strategy
Like it sounds, an integrated marketing strategy is one where all the pieces are bound tightly together like a spider’s web. No piece is created as an island. The goals behind whatever you are using are all aligned and stitched together. All of your marketing components should direct back to your website, even your social media marketing. You need a center for integrated marketing and it’s best if you own that center.
Remember MySpace? That’s why you don’t invest all your efforts on a social media platform.
Here are a few things you’ll want in your integrated marketing strategy:
Content marketing. Produce several of the following types to ensure that your audience has what they need.
- Video. You’ll want to have a mixture of recorded video and those you broadcasted live.
- Written content. Good quality articles are meant to be shared and serve as a strong resource for the buyer’s decision-making journey.
- Images. These are so important to getting people to notice you. They could take the form of image quotes, infographics, or graphs and charts.
- Podcasts. Like video, podcasts are very engaging especially for those who hate to read. They’re portable and can be listened to anywhere. Plus, podcasting creates an intimate atmosphere and listeners often feel like the podcaster is speaking directly to them.
- Giveaways. Contests spur action and increase engagement. Ever notice how bloggers use them? It’s a great way to get people to interact with you on social media.
Promotional marketing items. Your customers aren’t always online. With promotional marketing items, you can reach them no matter where they are.
Demos and webinars. If you sell a product that requires explanation, you’ll want these too.
Social media marketing. Join the platforms your ideal customer is on and post consistently. Look for ways to converse not just post.
Email marketing. You need to build a list and reach out to your customers and future customers on a consistent basis in order to stay top of mind.
A website. Yes, you need a website but you also need to keep it updated. Add offers, events, and things that change. Refresh content often and Google will notice you.
Advertising. You need to use advertising. From retargeting to targeted social media ads, advertising can help keep you on buyer’s minds.
Event marketing and/or trade shows. Event marketing gets people excited about your service or product. Trade shows depend largely on your industry but getting in front of people physically can be very successful in helping them get to know you.
How to Stitch It All Together
The easy part is coming up with what you need. The difficult part is stitching it all together. Use calls to action to deliver a consistent message. Drive traffic back to a center location that you own. Make sure everyone on your team knows the goals of your marketing and keep up with all parts of your marketing. Remember, a lop-sided spider web isn’t effective. If a moth can rip it apart by struggling, that spider will starve. You need to learn from that hardworking spider and ensure all of your marketing efforts are interconnected and balanced.
Leave a Reply