Why Building Integrated Marketing Campaigns Is A Lot Like Rowing A Boat

Just as team rowing a boat in unison is far more effective than a group of individuals rowing separately, marketing campaigns are far more effective when they are integrated. Unfortunately, organizations often approach campaigns with the same haphazard strategy as a team with no unified direction, yet can’t understand why marketing efforts aren’t more successful.

There’s no better time than now to get your campaign components all rowing in the right direction.

Integrated Campaigns are More Effective Campaigns

If a team rowing together is more effective than rowing separately, then likewise, using multiple marketing channels is much more effective than only using one or two. According to Gartner, campaigns integrating four or more digital channels outperform single- or dual-channel campaigns by 300%.

Why are integrated campaigns so much more effective? According to HubSpot’s Allie Decker, it’s because these cohesive campaign approach allows you to:

1. Reach a wider audience than a single marketing channel
2. Have a greater chance of being seen on multiple channels, thus keeping your brand top-of-mind and pushing visitors closer to conversion
3. Build trust with your target audience by delivering a consistent message
4. Enable you to create assets that can be shared between teams and repurposed for different marketing channels

Creating Integrated Campaigns

Mapping out an integrated campaign can be challenging, so here are some basic guidelines to follow to set yourself (and your campaigns) up for success.

1. Set clear, measurable goals. You won’t know what you’re working towards if you don’t set a goal or have a way to measure success. First, you must define your overall goal. Is it to build brand awareness in target markets? Are you trying to capture leads? Or maybe you’re getting ready to launch a new product or service? Having a clear, defined goal will help guide the work as you build out a campaign. In addition, part of goal-setting is determining quantifiable metrics to measure campaign performance. Identify and track the key performance indicators (KPIs) tied to your goals that are most important to your business and have processes in place to track them.

2. Know your audience. Campaigns are successful when they resonate with the audience. That means you must know your buyer persona(s) and what characteristics, behaviors or needs make them unique. What’s their job title? What are their greatest pain points? How is their performance measured? How do they consume content? Better understanding your buyer personas will help you create a campaign with the right messages, tone of voice, visuals and more to best reach (and resonate with) that specific audience. This is especially important if the campaign is targeting multiple industries and thus, needs tailoring for each audience.

3. Use the right marketing channels. Integrated campaigns can utilize a variety of paid, earned, shared and owned marketing channels – from advertising and emails to social media and content marketing. Marketing technology provider Spectrio does a nice job breaking these down in its “51 Most Effective Marketing Channels for the Year” infographic. Each channel has its own benefits and has its own role in an integrated marketing strategy. This can help marketers determine which channels are best for a specific campaign. Channel determination is dependent on your campaign goals, audience, budget and a slew of other factors customized to your specific needs. If your campaign goal is to position your organization as an industry expert on a specific issue while using a limited budget, then PR, content marketing and social media may be the right channels. Whereas, if your goal is lead generation and a bigger budget is available, then advertising, search engine optimization and paid social media may be the most effective.

4. Be consistent (but adaptable) with messaging. Campaigns revolve around a central theme or message that should remain consistent regardless of target audiences or marketing channels. Consistency of that message along with design components help make campaigns integrated and impactful. Being consistent with your message doesn’t mean you can’t (or shouldn’t) tailor your content or delivery based on who and how you’re targeting. It doesn’t matter how creative the campaign theme or how well written the copy is if the messages, vocabulary or tone of voice don’t resonate with the audience being targeted. After all, the needs and pain points of a CEO are different than that of a CFO or an operations manager. And in some cases, it’s almost as if they speak an entirely different language. So be consistent with the foundational parts of the campaign but make sure what you’re saying matters to each audience you’re targeting.

Get Your Campaign Components Rowing Together

Integrated marketing campaigns are significantly more effective compared to campaigns on individual channels. An integrated approach not only enables you to reach a wider audience, but helps ensure a consistent message and brand experience across every part of a campaign – regardless of the marketing channel used or audiences being targeted.

Stop spinning your campaign boat around in circles because everyone is doing their own thing. Instead, get everyone rowing in the same direction where you reach the finish line and achieve your goals by having built a successful, integrated campaign.

Author: Stephen Dye, Account Director, Outlook Marketing Services