Just like no two people are alike, no two companies are the same. And that means that each company will have various areas of marketing that are most effective. Often it’s a combination of marketing efforts that will make a difference to your bottom line. With integrated marketing your company can figure out how to utilize a number of marketing channels that best fit with your sales goals. So get out there and see how integrated marketing can improve your current marketing approach.
Lengthy But Essential
Doing your research probably isn’t the most entertaining way to kick off a new marketing plan. But when you pinpoint what marketing tools work for your company, you’ll be glad you took the time. For example, maybe you discovered that a certain demographic of your customers responded more readily with a combination of direct mail promotions and similar radio offers rather than just radio alone. Eureka! You’ve just unlocked two marketing tools that can work together to reach a specific demographic. The concept is relatively simple, and yet so many small businesses think of each marketing effort independently. It’s important to make a marketing plan when you employ an integrated marketing strategy so that you know how each marketing tool works together.
Unify and Conquer
Now that you’ve done your research, it’s time to take a look at what you’ve been doing. With integrated marketing, every piece of marketing should have a similar feel. You should consider making a style guide so that everyone on your staff knows the approved logos, fonts and colors you want to use for your company. You’ll also want to set a tone with your content. What you say on your website should match what you’re writing in a brochure and especially what your employees are saying. This is the essence of building your brand. Now you’re ready to implement it in your all of your marketing, sales and customer service.
Open Customer Communication
Now that you have your brand and a marketing strategy, your customers should notice. The benefit of an integrated marketing strategy means that since your marketing is working together, customers should recognize it more readily, making it more powerful. It may take a while for it to sink in with customers. Remember, you’ve been living and breathing your new integrated marketing well before you released it into the wild among all of the other brands competing for your customers’ attention. But you should start seeing results in due time and find it was worth the efforts.
