We're all bombarded with thousands of messages each day ? personally and professionally. Some say it's the Internet; some say it's the all the new media channels the Internet has enabled. Whatever the cause, the effect is the same. The volume of marketing messages is overwhelming to most Americans. In fact, 60 percent have signed up for the do-not-call registry; 33 percent have installed Web pop-up blockers, and nine percent have signed on to a do-not-e-mail list (and 40 percent may want to). So the question is: "How do you break through in this environment?" One answer: integrated marketing.
Integrated marketing is about combining multiple marketing elements together to achieve an objective more efficiently and effectively than by implementing any one element alone. It is the case where 1+1 really does equal 3.
What's the point of having a catchy slogan if it doesn't strengthen or support your brand? Why invest in PR if it doesn't translate into increased awareness and recognition? Why go to tradeshows if they don't produce high-quality leads? Independently, these tactics do little to attract customers and drive revenue. However, as part of an integrated marketing strategy, these and other tactics are the foundation of a marketing plan that delivers results. Sounds simple, right? Well, often the simplest things are the hardest to do. Following are a few best practices in the art of integrated marketing:
Balance strategy and tactics. Often companies find themselves with a brilliant strategy ? on paper at least. When they try to implement the strategy, they run into obstacles such as channels, partners, technology, infrastructure, competition, or lack of resources. The reverse is also true. Companies can spend so much time executing that they lose sight of the business objective. They might end up with an awesome website, but no real results. To be valuable, strategy must be practical, and tactics must be integrated.
Create clear, compelling, and consistent messages. Research shows that it takes between five and nine impressions for someone to recognize a marketing message. Before this, potential customers may be aware of a marketing message, but they may not fully understand it or identify it with a particular company. This means that, for a message to get through and be understood, it must be clear (no marketing-speak or jargon), compelling (something the potential customers actually care about, not what you think they care about), and consistent (integrated into every customer touch point). Integrating messages across several touch points multiplies the value of your marketing investment.
Keep messages "fresh." This may sound like a contradiction, but in fact it is an important distinction. A fresh message is unusual language, a clever play on words, or a connection to a current event. However, the message should not deviate from the overall strategy, or be different just for the sake of being different. Unfortunately, as marketers we often get bored with our messages. We spend hours fine-tuning and testing them. Finally, by the time our campaigns launch and the messages are out there, they feel old and stale to us. But even though you're bored, your customers are not. They need to see your messages over and over again for them to register. Not necessarily the same words, but the same idea supported by the same brand.
Choose the right tool for the job. We're constantly hearing about the latest new marketing trend (blogs or podcasts, for example) and the coolest new technology (RSS feeds come to mind). However, these things are only useful if your target customers are using them. Marketing tools are like screwdrivers and hammers ? they're both useful but they serve different purposes. It is critical to the success of your marketing campaign that you identify customer-preferred vehicles and prioritize them above "really hot" things. While they may be the latest fad, they won't necessarily produce the results you want.
Test your ideas. You don't have to invest millions in market research to confirm that you're on the right track. Many research services and online research tools can help you learn a lot quickly and inexpensively. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research is best, but not always possible. Testing your ideas with a significant enough sample of your target audience will give you a good sense of direction and consistency. Their input will either confirm your thinking or give you new insights, potentially keeping you from making avoidable and often costly mistakes.
Marketing should get people's attention, and convince them to consider your company's products or services over the competition. By integrating strategy, messages, and activities, you can extend the impact of marketing investments. You can more efficiently and effectively improve awareness, produce leads and ultimately drive revenue. After all, isn't that the point?
When you enter in to the world of the Internet, most people have a limited knowledge of what to expect. All sorts of beautiful, glamorous options are presented. Options on how the web site could be presented are quite overwhelming. As the design/developer is explaining these options they become clear. This article is a discussion on falling in to the technology trap. Rather than taking a negative approach on suggesting what not to do, it takes a positive track and makes suggestions on what to do. There will be no discussion in this article in regards to SEO (search engine optimisation) as that is a topic in itself.
Probably the most important point to remember in a web design is that the vast majority of visitors to a web site will be new visitors or at best unfamiliar with the web site. For that reason alone everything possible should be kept simple. It is dangerous to assume that the world is computer and Internet literate. On the contrary there are a lot of potentials to your business out there who hate computers, but will use them as a cost and effort effective tool. If confronted with anything resembling a complication in the process they are more than likely to abandon your site and move on to the next. This does open a Pandora's Box, how do we best present our wears to potentials simply but impressively? Not the simplest of questions to answer. Although there are a few guidelines that can help us achieve this goal.
Firstly, present text to the visitor in a clear, concise summary form, until they prompt for more detail. If a visitor can gather the initial information they require quickly and without fuzz, they will be impressed. Keep your text to a minimum; reading from a screen differs greatly from reading from paper. Paper reflects light whereas a screen projects light. Your optical system manages these two differently.
When you present your web page to a visitor employ a strategy on the page that will initially catch their eye but will not distract from the objective of the page. If you can hold the visitor's attention for around 30 seconds you will have a good chance that they will stay long enough to absorb the point of the page. And that as the old salesman's adage is ?getting your foot in the door?. Many sites use a nice pretty picture in attempt to achieve this, but this does not really work. There are too many pretty pictures on the web. Try using something with a little movement, e.g. a slideshow or a flash movie clip. Use an eye catcher that is relevant to your page, framing the visitors mind set to match whatever you have to offer.
The colour scheme you choose for you site should reflect your business, think carefully. What is the image you what to project, sombre and conservative, fun, or outward bound? The colour scheme should reflect the business and the expectations of your potentials. For instance if the targeted potentials are mums-to-be you would not use the more serious colour like dark greens or blues, the colour scheme would be creams, light blues and pinks along with lemon yellows. The types of colours that are associated with babies. Your colour scheme should take the best advantage of a particular potentials frame of mind.
Your site navigation should be simple and easily followed and recovered from. By that I mean that when a visitor is lost, and no matter how simple it may appear to you someone will get lost, they can reach the home page without any effort. The home page navigation should always be prominent. Ideally your navigation should be that simple that no one ever gets lost. However, more and more software devices are being used that do complicate the navigation. Use these devices by all means, but limit their use. Remember not the whole world is computer and Internet literate and many get confused where others will stroll.
To summarise, we have discussed several positive points that you can address when contributing to the design your web site. Do not be overwhelmed by the options that the web site designer may present you with. It is good for the designers business when he presents a past project that looks very impressive, but will it impress your potentials enough for your business objectives? Decide on the targeted audience of your web site and let the web site be as complicated or as simple as you believe your potentials can handle. Limit your text to a concise summary, feeding out the details as and when your web site visitor requests it. Your text should be readable quickly and without ambiguity, this will encourage your visitor to progress further in to you web site. Catching a visitor's eye with a little movement will encourage them to stay long enough to absorb your web sites message. Be careful in selecting your colour scheme, it should reflect both your products or services and the expectations of your potentials. Lastly but not least, keep your navigation simple, there is no necessity for overly complicated navigation.
Wishing you all success in your Internet ventures.
Both Laura Lowell & George G Barr are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Laura Lowell has sinced written about articles on various topics from Marketing. Laura Lowell (http://www.lauralowell.com) is a sought after consultant, speaker and principal of Impact Marketing Group. Her upcoming book "Start Up Marketing" will be available in September 2007. For a free 30 minute consultationn email info@impact-mg.. Laura Lowell's top article generates over 720 views. to your Favourites.