When we considered the top content marketing tips for 2016, marketing integration was at the top of our list. So we thought we’d explore this trend in more detail, starting with looking at why marketing integration is so important.
Before we get into the benefits of marketing integration, let’s briefly define integrated marketing. Simply put, integrated marketing is the application of consistent brand messaging across traditional (e.g. direct mail, newspapers, TV) and non-traditional (e.g. mobile apps, social media) marketing channels and beyond to sales, customer service and even human resources. It creates a unified and unifying marketing strategy that gets incorporated into every aspect of your organization. Integrated marketing is guided by the importance of creating a consistent, seamless multidimensional brand experience that your customers can relate to in any format.
With integrated marketing, each branding effort reinforces the brand’s identity. It’s more than just plastering your marketing with the same tagline, color palette or even the same message—a message that works well for social media may not translate to email. Instead, it means you communicate a consistent identity across messages and mediums and then you deliver consistently on that identity.
Now let’s look at the numerous benefits of integrating marketing and why it’s important to start implementing it today.
1. Builds trust
Customers come to expect a certain you and when you deliver on that, it builds trust. If you use an integrated marketing approach, every time they come in contact with your brand, they’ll have the same experience and get the same feeling. They’ll come to know what to expect, and you’ll consistently deliver on those expectations. That consistency builds trust, and trust leads to brand love.
2. Fights fragmentation
With ever-growing competition, audiences and attention spans are growing increasingly fragmented, which reduces the chance of your message getting through. Integration is a powerful way to overcome that trend. With a unifying strategy and a compelling voice for your brand, you can pull your campaigns together into a cohesive whole that keeps objectives clear and messages simple, which in turn will cut through the clutter and the confusion.
3. More effective
Gartner Research recently found that lead management campaigns integrating four or more digital channels will outperform single or dual-channel campaigns by 300%. When you communicate a consistent identity across all channels, you’re consistently reinforcing your message, which amplifies it even further. Plus, it raises brand awareness and trust.
4. More efficient
Without a doubt, marketing integration helps streamline your process, saving you time and money. Instead of needing to create resources for different channels, you can repurpose your content. Another benefit? Marketing integration helps cut down on planning and meetings. No complaints here.
5. Boosts morale
When your team works together toward a unified vision, it tends to build enthusiasm and confidence. They have to come together, share their talents and communicate well to maintain consistency. The end result? A unified strategy and a unified team.
Beyond these five benefits, your customers may want integration, too. A whopping 72% of customers want an integrated marketing approach, according to the E-tailing group’s 4th annual consumer insights survey.
Everything you do to attract, convert, and engage your customers should be integrated. Integrate your content marketing with all the other elements of your marketing, sales, and branding processes, and in the end your content will have a stronger impact, more visibility, and better ROI. It takes time and perseverance, but the payoff is well worth it.
Have you seen an integrating marketing approach bring big wins to your business? Share your experience in the comments section below. Check back with us in a couple weeks to learn about how to build an integrated digital campaign.
Ready to set up an integrated marketing campaign? Get in touch with Filament.
