The Power of Integrated Marketing: Synergizing Digital and Traditional Channels

Gone are the days when you could solely rely on hoardings and newspaper ads to advertise your brand. While the traditional channels of marketing still have an impact on your target base, you need to remember that with the onset of technology, your target audience is spending more time online than ever before. This is why brands around the world are focussing on improving their digital reach in order to make the most of this shift. 

However, it is a short-sighted move to choose one over the other. This is where integrated marketing comes in. The idea is to use both digital and traditional channels of communication to reach out to a wider base of consumers. Before we can help you get started on incorporating integrated marketing into your business strategy, let’s first take a look at why it is important.  

Benefits of Integrated Marketing

Presently, most brands, both old and new, are easing into the field of integrated marketing because it has multiple benefits, such as, 

• It offers a way to reach out to different demographics across multiple platforms through various formats
• The brand message is consistent and builds loyalty among customers 
• It makes it easy to utilize different assets efficiently 
• It helps boost brand recall

One great way to describe integrated marketing would be with the commonly used phrase, “the best of both worlds”. Companies that can fully utilize the potential of integrated marketing can harness the advantages of both traditional and digital channels. 

Crafting an effective integrated marketing strategy may sound daunting, but don’t worry, we are here to help. 

5 Fail-Safe Tips to Help Create an Effective Integrated Marketing Strategy

1. Know Your Audience 

Every brand has a target audience. When you are crafting an integrated marketing strategy, you must first understand the demographic you are catering to. You need to do your research and find out whether they are spending more time indoors or outdoors. It also helps to have a rough idea about the amount of time they spend online, and the most popular sites and apps that people their age are using. 

2. Choose Right 

At present, there are many different communication channels that are available to businesses and brands. However, it would be ignorant to think that you can have it all. Your integrated marketing strategy should narrow down the key channels that promise the most amount of traffic. If you have done your research properly, then you can easily find the channels that your target demographic uses on a daily basis. 

Picking the wrong combination of communication channels can cost you time and money. That being said, allow yourself some leeway as it is not uncommon to make mistakes. It is always a good idea to monitor the results and have backups in place. The moment you realize that one option isn’t working for you as well as you had hoped, you can switch gears and pick something that will deliver the desired results. 

3. Be Consistent 

One of the biggest rules of integrated marketing strategy is to share a consistent message across different channels. This means that your brand’s vision and mission should come through in all the communication that is shared with the consumer. Do not confuse the ideal customer with conflicting information.

Also, do keep in mind that consistency does not mean that you put the exact same text or visual everywhere. A consistent colour theme or continuing a running pun are examples of ways you can create different promotional content that gives off the same vibe without being identical to each other. 

4. Content Plan

The core of every good integrated marketing strategy is a content plan that is structured and achievable. It is good to be ambitious but going overboard can be dangerous as it can have a negative impact. The idea is to stay in sight without overwhelming the target audience.

Make sure that your content is easy to understand and useful. Keep in mind that your target audience should gain something from the content that you are sharing with them. Instead of focusing on quantity, embrace quality. High-quality content will not only keep your customers engaged but it will also work wonders for your brand’s reputation. 

5. Monitor and analyse 

The hallmark of an effective integrated marketing strategy lies in its ability to evolve when needed. Nothing is written in stone in a constantly evolving world which is why it is important to embrace change. After you put your integrated marketing strategy to work, you need to monitor the results regularly. This way you can analyse all the data coming your way to improve the way you communicate and give your target audience what they need. 

It is important to note that brands that continue to work on themselves have a higher likelihood of earning the customer’s trust and loyalty. 

As there are so many moving parts involved, integrated marketing can feel daunting but it is essential for every growing business. If you are struggling to get your brand business up-to-date with the latest marketing strategies, we can help you make the shift. At Tattva Creations, our team is dedicated to helping companies grow to their fullest potential.