It can be an exhilarating experience to get that first real breakthrough on a marketing campaign. Whether a piece of content goes viral or a social networking channel passes a certain milestone, it feels great when you can demonstrate a proven success and count it as a reliable stream of revenue. However, just because you've found one marketing strategy that works, you shouldn't put all of your eggs in one basket.
Integrated marketing campaigns can help you grow your brand's presence even further. Though it can be tempting to devote all of your energy to a singular effort that has brought your business demonstrated success, investing your time to create an integrated plan will ultimately set the stage for long-term growth. Here are three key characteristics of any strong integrated marketing campaign.
It Keeps Consumers Engaged With Your Brand
Creating a successful newsletter or content regularly published on your company blog or any other dedicated place where consumers know to find your brand is a huge milestone. However, no matter how many consumers you reach with one channel, it isn't enough. Your integrated marketing strategy should go beyond that initial successful platform to keep your consumers engaged with your brand when they're not interacting with your blog. So consider launching a display ad campaign or investing in paid search — these initiatives can draw more consumers back to your website to view your content and ideally convert. You can use social media like Twitter and Facebook to keep your customers engaged even when they're not at your site. You can promote your content through your social channels and again drive traffic back to your website. All of your different strategies work together to keep consumers engaged and thinking about your brand.
It Is Easy to Adapt
Your singular marketing channel may be working now, but that doesn't mean it will always work. Marketers who use Facebook to promote content can especially understand this, as BusinessNewsDaily reports that algorithm changes have had a negative effect on the amount of traffic pages receive. If your business solely uses Facebook (or any singular channel, for that matter) to propel your marketing campaign, the effects of these kinds of changes could be devastating. However, utilizing integrated marketing campaigns allows you the flexibility to easily adapt and refocus your efforts through other preexisting channels like TV advertising, paid search or pre-roll video ads. These varied channels allow you to reach a relevant and captive audience in ways that ensure that depressed traffic from one area doesn't absolutely devastate your business.
Different Channels Can Help Each Other
You may feel like display ads, social media and video live in separate worlds, but each of these advertising techniques is vying for the same consumer attention and all should be included within a dynamic integrated marketing campaign. The key is to keep your message consistent across all platforms and coordinate efforts through your channels. For instance, mention your Facebook page during a pre-roll video, and these different channels will boost one another, creating a truly multiplatform message that features different moving parts working together to bring your central message to consumers, no matter where they are and in which channels they're engaged.
There's no question that integrated marketing campaigns will require devoted time to craft, but the results speak for themselves. If you're struggling to manage and optimize your marketing campaigns, find a consultant that can do it for you. Your ability to reach your consumers through multiple channels and build a holistic campaign that keeps them engaged in your brand makes this an easy choice for businesses looking for long-term growth.
