When it comes to digital marketing, there are many platforms for you to utilise that will help to promote your brand.
Integrated marketing campaigns are more than just bringing different channels and techniques together; they’re about finding a consistent way to represent your business and reach your target audience – something that many brands fail to do on a regular basis.
A report published by Forrester found that 86 per cent of marketing professionals believe that combining channels into one consistent strategy is crucial to the success of their campaign. Want to utilise this important tactic? Well, here’s what you need to do to get ahead with your integrated campaigns.
Understand your audience
In order to create a successful campaign, it’s essential that you identify who your target audience is and where they’re likely to consume content.
Conduct audience research and find out as much as you can about who is likely to buy your products or services. This could include their age, gender, income or location. This research will also help you pick up on which media channels they’re likely to use. For example, you will want to look at utilising Snapchat and Instagram if you are reaching out to a teenage audience.
When you understand exactly who you want to reach, you can focus your time and effort on crafting a campaign that speaks directly to them.
It’s important to remain consistent
Once you’ve done your audience research and have identified which channels to use, you can begin to plan out how your campaign will run.
It’s vital that you remain consistent throughout the entire campaign. You need to decide on a universal message which will then be filtered through different channels.
By being consistent, not only will your audience become accustomed to your voice, but they will also be able to determine what your key messages are. People must be able to understand who you are, what you’re selling and why it is useful to them.
Think logically
In order for your campaign to be successful, you must be coherent. It’s about thinking logically about your decisions and making sure that everything in your campaign lines up in a way that makes sense.
It’s essential to think about the channels that will benefit from your campaign. When you’re aligned with the right audience and the right platform, you have a better chance of meeting your campaign objectives.
Ensure your content remains fresh and that you keep people engaged – after all, it’s no good providing integrated content that people simply don’t want to read.
Keep your budget at bay
With plenty of different channels to use, there’s always the risk of going overboard. Remember to keep your budget in mind and to only use channels that will prove profitable.
Use analytics tools, such as Google Analytics, to keep an eye on how well your campaigns are performing. If something isn’t performing well, you’ll be armed with the tools to help you understand how and why they’re not working before recalibrating your campaign accordingly.
Be aligned with your team
If you have different teams working on the same campaign simultaneously, it can be easy for things to fall out of place. Each member of your team needs to be on the same page as one another, with everyone aware of the campaign’s objectives.
To ensure that the campaign is running smoothly, hold regular meetings with the entire team. Meetings will enable you to understand what’s working and, more importantly, what isn’t. You will then able to discuss solutions and keep the campaign on course.
On the way to success
A successful integrated campaign is all about finding a way to make relevant platforms come together and join forces. Following these suggestions will allow you come up with a cohesive and consistent campaign that complements your branding.
Content that’s share on two or three channels, as opposed to just one, has a 24 percent higher chance of engagement, according to Mike Lewis, professor of social media and internet marketing at Clark University. So, keep this in mind when planning your campaign.
