5 Reasons why you need an integrated approach to marketing

In today’s digital world, where ‘one-to-one’ marketing has been greatly facilitated  by tools such as social networking, many business owners assume that in this highly personalized environment, it’s not a concern if your messaging or positioning is different from one medium, audience or client conversation to the next. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In fact, in such a divergent and complex world, it’s never been more important to have a consistent and integrated marketing strategy for your business. Here’s why:

1)  “It’s all about focus.” – I seem to repeat this statement over and over again when speaking with clients.  Being focused on what your business stands for, how to convey this and where you want to communicate these messages is critical to any business’ marketing strategy. You need to think this through carefully and get it right.

2)  Consistency is King – There is little value and almost no point in saying things one way in the online space and another in your print collateral. If your audience is the same or similar in both mediums, your messaging shouldn’t be very different regardless of which one you’re currently using. Of course, if you’re talking to two different target markets, you’ll need to do this in two different ways.

3)  Reinforce key messages – Products or services that are unique to your business or a cut above your competitors need to be emphasized accordingly. Don’t be afraid to repeat yourself across different mediums, your clients won’t find you boring or repetitive. Instead, this will help to strengthen your positioning (you can always reword your messages a little to make them unique in each channel).

4)  Think holistically and strategically – You always need to think about the ‘big picture’, no matter how deep in the weeds you are. What are your objectives, and how do you plan on achieving them? What could get in your way and prevent you from accomplishing this? Don’t get caught up chasing the latest fad marketing concepts and tactics. Instead, take a step back and look at things from your customer’s perspective – what are they looking for and how can you satisfy this? Plan out your approach as much as possible.

5)  It makes good business sense – An integrated approach to marketing just makes sense. Having that consistency, where messages reinforce each other over multiple mediums can save you a lot of money, and reduce the amount of time it takes to establish and strengthen your brand. At the end of the day, an integrated marketing plan is just a smart business decision!

So if you want to enhance your marketing effort, online or off, be sure to first assess your plans and activities. If you’re currently employing a fully integrated marketing communications strategy for your business, this will come out in spades in terms of the focused, consistent approach you’ve developed.