Not surprising, more marketers are realizing the benefits of an integrated marketing approach. In fact, 36 percent of marketers are now actively working to integrate traditional and digital marketing efforts. To begin using this tactic, start by learning the basics of an integrated marketing strategy.

What is Integrated Marketing?

This approach breaks down the silos in marketing communication. When launching an integrated marketing campaign, for example, multiple channels are blended together - like radio advertising, social media and display advertising - to deliver a single, consistent message to your target audience.

What are the Benefits of an Integrated Marketing Strategy?

With an integrated marketing approach, you have an opportunity to leverage different channels and get your message across to specific audiences. When done right, businesses can expand their reach, achieve greater brand visibility and deliver clear and consistent messaging. As a result, they can gain a competitive edge and boost sales while saving time and money.

How Does Integrated Marketing Work?

The first step to an integrated marketing strategy is to decide on a unified goal for all of your advertising channels. Is your goal to build brand awareness, generate leads or promote sales? Choose one and use all marketing channels to support this objective. Be sure to leverage each channel’s strengths to maximize your efforts and thus boost marketing results.

Example of an Integrated Marketing Campaign

For our example, we'll use a company that wants to increase sales of a particular product. They plan to use several marketing channels to support this goal: radio, a website, digital advertising, and social media. Below are a few tactics the company can use as part of an integrated marketing strategy:

• The website includes a dedicated product page, which provides central messaging, product images, key features and benefits and an option to purchase the product online or direct people to a physical store.
• Radio can help promote the product to a broad yet local audience. With radio ads, you can also leverage on-air personalities who act as influencers to help build trust in your brand and product. The radio ad copy should use the product page URL as the call-to-action (make sure the URL is short and memorable) to drive listeners to the website.
• Digital ads can be used to retarget the radio listeners and drive them to your website, increasing ad frequency and getting them closer to making an actual purchase.
• Social media is a great channel to share product information, create conversations about the product and even drive people to the website. You also have the opportunity to tap into social influencers to further promote your message.

Since this is an integrated marketing campaign, all of the messaging is focused on promoting one specific product. This ensures that the message remains consistent and is not diluted regardless of where a consumer interacts with your brand.

Integrated marketing is essential in order to compete in today's advertising landscape. People routinely use a variety of platforms for information and entertainment, ranging from local radio to Facebook. An integrated campaign ensures that your ad will reach the eyes and ears of your target audience regardless of which source they prefer. To get started on your own integrated marketing strategy, consult with us here at Zimmer. We can handle radio, website design, digital advertising, social media, SEO, and more, and get them all working together to reach your marketing goals.