Integrated Marketing and Why It's Important

Integrated marketing is the holistic approach to making sure you are being consistent with your message in all media. A consistent message across multiple platforms increases the likelihood your target audience will take action in ways that you intend. When used effectively, integrated marketing helps optimize spending by helping you to put the right amount of money toward the most effective approaches that yield the best results.

Integrated marketing puts the focus on ensuring that your messaging is consistent, regardless of the channel that is used as the vehicle to share the message. 

Marketing Segments

Technology has increased the avenues available for advertising and other marketing campaigns. Online advertising includes social media campaigns, in addition to internet ads. The most effective campaigns will incorporate as many forms of media as possible to reach the widest possible audience. The demographics that read daily newspapers might be vastly different from the ones that are active on social media, which might be different from the ones watching TV or listening to the radio, and so on.

While the messages that make up a marketing campaign will need to be delivered differently on each platform, it's important that it still be the same message. 

Lead Your Audience From One Medium to Another

A jewelry store might run a campaign telling a story about a young man choosing a diamond ring and proposing to his girlfriend. The most detail can be made available on a website, and segments—or chapters—of the story can be shared through TV and radio commercials. The videos also can be available on social media. Print advertising—including billboards—can be used to draw people to social media or the website to find out more.

A picture of the young man on his knee, holding out the ring to his girlfriend, can be accompanied by a few simple words designed to pique interest: "Did she say yes?" Beneath that can be a simple web address or a #hashtag that people will remember.

The goal of this kind of campaign certainly is to attract web traffic or followers on social media. Still, it also is a creative way to show potential customers how a product—in this case, jewelry—can have a lasting impact on key moments in people's lives, and that story is what generates the interest.

Increased Value

Some marketing campaigns might include the bulk of the information on internal platforms, like a company website or social media accounts. These campaigns may spend minimally and strategically on only one or two external platforms. External platforms can include a billboard or a brief radio spot. The impact of the money spent on external platforms can be magnified when an effective approach draws a lot of eyes to the internal platforms.

The different channels reinforce the message and can strengthen the outcome by increasing the chances that consumers will take action. The unified marketing approach delivers numerous benefits by increasing brand loyalty, cultivating consumer relationships, and boosting profits by increasing sales. The most effective campaigns can be successful with very little money spent externally if the message is good enough and interesting enough to generate word-of-mouth buzz.