Download Why Constituting a Fully Integrated Marketing Plan Matters

Getting Up Close and Integrated – Why Constituting a Fully Integrated Marketing
Plan Matters
“In a participatory world, new techniques need to be developed, which work with the
powers of collaboration, rather than the outdated concept of command and control.” –
Ray Poynter & Graeme Lawrence
There is not doubt that businesses are getting smarter in how they market their brands to
consumers, but only six percent of B2B leaders feel they can prove their return on
investment (ROI). With many options available for companies to drive and quantify ROI,
and businesses finding ways to become better marketers, why do the vast majority see
very limited results in their marketing efforts? The missing piece to the puzzle is
implementing an integrated marketing plan into the overall approach to brand marketing
and effectively communicating a strong brand message throughout.
Utilizing one marketing tactic or one media campaign may produce results, but according
to the 2013 B2B Leaders report, 93 percent of businesses say the lack of ROI makes
justifying future investments very difficult. The key is combining the available tools into a
single marketing plan that will create synergy and dramatically increase a brandʼs
success rate.
Picture it like this. “If youʼve ever heard a good piano player, you know that a solo act
can create beautiful music, pleasing everyone within earshot. Now, combine the piano
with a guitar, vocalist, saxophone, and a few other pieces and suddenly you have a
richer, more powerful sound.” –Inc.
The Method Behind The Madness
Through all of the stages and changes in the way humans have exchanged messages
since the beginning of time, one element still stands – the simple act of communicating.
Effective communication results in intentional or unintentional idea sharing between
parties, hence the ʻBusiness to Consumerʼ relationship. A recent DMA analysis showed
27.4 percent of businesses found that integration was most effective when messaging
was incorporated across all channels. Creating a cohesive funnel for your brandʼs
messaging across platforms will not only help build a stronger brand, but can also lead
to more opportunities with existing and potential clients.
Consequently, when messaging is not streamlined throughout the plan, businesses have
no idea of the impact their marketing efforts have on the bottom line. If companies canʼt
show the impact their marketing efforts have, then consumers will most definitely not see
it and ultimately lose interest in engaging with that brand.
By cultivating one integrated marketing plan, brand messages will become transparent
throughout your campaigns and in turn, encourage users to become more proactive with
the brand. This allows for marketers and brands can be clearly understood in the
marketplace and ultimately win over new customers, in addition to garnering
relationships and building the trust needed to entice responsive action across your
brandʼs communication platforms. Steve McKee, president of McKee Wallwork &
Company and an accomplished industry writer had this to say about integrated
marketing:
“Integration means communicating a consistent identity from message to message, and
medium to medium, and (more importantly) delivering consistently on that identity.”
So Whatʼs The Problem?
Surprisingly, nine out of ten marketers have attempted to integrate messaging across
channels and have begun aligning their implementation as well, but few marketers feel
that their integration efforts have achieved optimal results. So where are they falling
short? At evok, we feel businesses should follow the three Cʼs of effective
communication in order to properly integrate a successful and highly targeted marketing
plan.
Clear
To be clear means your message has to be both powerful and inviting. Your brandʼs
message needs to entice users to want to interact with every marketing entity, whether it
be a website, social media platform, or avenue of traditional media. How do you produce
a clear message? Know the audience youʼre talking to and what captures their attention.
This is probably the most overlooked area of marketing, but itʼs imperative to know your
target audience like the back of your hand. Many times, marketers try to just blast out
messages to the masses, which is ultimately damaging to the brandʼs reputation as a
trustworthy source for products and services. The goal is to reach consumers in
moments that most influence their decisions, or what we call touch points.
Much like a funnel, consumers start with a few brands in mind that offer the same
products or services, and then move through the selection process (or funnel) until they
choose one brand to satisfy those needs and wants. By introducing an integrated plan
with a clear, targeted audience and messaging that moves them to action, businesses
can:
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Determine potential customers
Suit your ideation to better meet the needs of the consumer
Tailor products and services as needed
Closely target marketing efforts to become more efficient
Craft the appropriate messages to solidify a lasting relationship with consumers
By strategically and clearly defining a brandʼs target audience, you are able to identify
the touch points of consumers who are most likely to engage with the brand and become
customers and even advocates. As an example, a report by The Nielsen Company found
that when consumers were exposed to pharmaceutical ads both on television and online,
they were 100 percent more likely to ask their doctors about them.
An important audience segment to consider is the niche market. A niche market serves
the crucial function of distinguishing your brand and offering from any competitors. The
more unique you are to consumers and the more specific your services become, your
target audience will grow exponentially. It is truly all about grabbing the attention of the
right people at the right time, just like the pharmaceutical company who reached their
audience online and on television to convert these multiple touch points into increased
brand awareness and sales.
If brands can effectively implement a strategic plan to target an audience and create a
niche market nestled within each overarching industry, then chances are the consumer
will be more apt to understand your clear messaging that speaks to them specifically,
and will subsequently continue to connect with your business and build a long lasting
relationship.
Competitive
Once youʼve established your target audience, then itʼs time to unleash your secret
weapon in an integrated plan – the competitive analysis. This is a tool used to research
competing brands and identify strengths and weaknesses in their businesses as well as
your own. By utilizing these features within the plan, companies are able discover new
ways to reach the desired target audience.
To get started, Facebook can be an excellent tool for launching your research efforts.
When utilized correctly, the platform can serve as the looking glass into the brand
personality and tactics of your competitors. Through diving in to the Facebook Timeline
and analyzing brand content, itʼs easy to glean how responsive their audience is to the
messaging, and just how active and engaged the brand is as a whole. Through gaining
this insight, you can outsmart your competition and win business through anticipating
your audienceʼs wants and needs.
The competitive analysis can also be an effective tool for internal strategy. Sometimes
your competition may be executing a marketing strategy well, and by using a competitive
analysis alongside your integrated messaging you are able to decide if that tactic or
something similar may be right for you and your audience as well.
Properly allocating a budget is another critical element in maintaining a competitive edge
within the marketplace. While itʼs impossible to offer a one size fits all budget breakdown
without knowing specific goals and who the audience segments are, itʼs of the utmost
importance to keep in mind a few things while planning your brandʼs budget to ensure
youʼre gaining share of voice within the right mediums and markets:
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Keep in mind defined objectives. This will help align the budget with the goals of
your brand. A great example of a budget objective is asking yourself what youʼre
looking to achieve through marketing efforts in the upcoming fiscal year.
Know the action youʼre asking your audience to take, and consider which
mediums are most appropriate. As an example, if youʼre a restaurant owner, you
may be looking to persuade customers into stopping by and grabbing quick
service dinner on their way home from work. An effective way to capitalize on
that opportunity is to allocate dollars towards radio.
Investigate where your audience spends the most time and utilize this as your
ʻhome field advantageʼ by meeting the audience where theyʼre most comfortable.
Conceptual
Conceptualizing the cohesive messaging makes it easier for consumers to identify with
the brand. A successful way to conceptualize your integrated marketing plan is to
conduct a SWOT analysis. This practice gives insight into questions like who are you,
where do you belong within the marketplace, and what makes you stronger or weaker
than your competition?
The purpose for analyzing your companyʼs Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and
Threats is to carefully identify Unique Selling Points (USP). Focusing on your audience
internally will help dissect the strengths and weaknesses within the business. For
example, if one prospective consumer is a small independent laundry cleaning service
who provides services only to a specific area, a strength may be the size of the business
since smaller companies have the ability to provide an intimate customer service
experience. A weakness may be that it will be harder to compete as a leader within the
larger area of scope.
In a 2013 SWOT analysis for Apple, the company found that one of their biggest
weaknesses for the year is a decrease in market share. But by incorporating this SWOT
within the plan, Apple was able to find that one of their largest opportunities was the
strong growth in the mobile advertising market. By incorporating this feature into their
annual marketing plan, Apple was able to combat what could have been a loss with an
area of their business that proved to be a strength and USP.
There is also a unique messaging component of a SWOT which is key to successfully
constituting a integrated marketing plan. Once the analysis has been finalized, your
audience will have a better understanding of what messaging needs to be top-of-mind
and if there are specific tactics that need to be put in place within the plan to showcase
that messaging.
“The right integrated marketer has… the flexibility to deal with ambiguity and
uncertainty.” – Dana Wade
Through strategic and effective communication, the consumer will be able to easily
identify what a brandʼs unified messaging is, engage with all marketing channels, and
essentially understand the business and try the service or product. By implementing an
intregrated marketing plan, your audience will see the value in your unique approach and
in turn youʼll see an increase in ROI. The three Cʼs to effective communication should
serve as your overarching theme of your 2014 marketing plan. Within, the plan should
include crucial components such as defining the brandʼs target audience, leveraging
your competitive analysis to help discover new ways to reach an audience, properly
allocating the annual budget and performing a SWOT analysis to stay on top of the
competitive and internal landscape.