Five components for effective integrated marketing

Consider the brands we know best. Coca-Cola with its iconic polar bear, glass bottle in hand. We recognize Apple with its minimalist apple missing a bite-sized chunk. Many of us know that “the most magical place on earth” is Disney. The Nike Swoosh never needs an explanation.

These companies are masters of marketing. Their campaigns activate the key components of successful integrated marketing.

What is integrated marketing?

Think big picture with lots of little, interconnected details making up the whole. Integrated marketing is about promoting a unified and consistent message across a variety of channels. There is a single objective with coordinated tactics. Integrated marketing is a multi-channel approach—paid, display ads, social, video, webinars, email, events, influencers, executive amplification. It requires different parts to work together as a whole to reach target audiences where they are while illustrating the value for them.

How does it help your brand?

An integrated marketing strategy helps achieve business goals by ensuring all marketing efforts are aligned and working toward the same objectives. It helps you meet your audience where they are. And we know they can’t all be met in the same place. Platforms, trends, and communities also constantly evolve. A solid integrated marketing strategy ensures clear, consistent messages and brand values are amplified across relevant channels to engage your audience.

What are the components of a solid campaign?

As you think about building an integrated marketing campaign, know you will need these components for success:

1. Start with strong, central messages. Don’t focus solely on your offering. You need to highlight how you address your audiences’ pain points and aspirations.
2. Identify and understand your target audiences. Who are they? Where do they get info? Where do they shop, and how do they buy? Know the demographics, behavior, and preferences. You can’t address pain points and aspirations without this.
3. Choose relevant channels to reach your audience. Are they on specific social media channels? Where do they browse video shorts? Do they even open email? Paid ads might give you a broader reach to pull in a net-new audience. Add content marketing to the mix if they need to know more about your product. Check how your SEO strategy performs over various platforms to ensure your audience can find your well-crafted messages. You can’t drive engagement and conversion if your audience doesn’t show up. ‍
4. Coordinate, coordinate, and then...coordinate some more. There are so many moving pieces to a successful integrated marketing campaign—stakeholders, channels, content, and audiences are just the start. Ensure you have robust communication and collaboration tools—and everyone can access them. Schedule regular check-ins with key stakeholders. As the campaign progresses, make sure new people roll onto the project, fully briefed and connected. These are just small slices of the project management pie that you need to fully bake before, during, and after your campaign.
5. ‍Measure and be ready to pivot. Data is such a beautiful thing when you know what to do with it. Have goals and metrics for each channel, and don’t be afraid to adjust your strategy based on what you learn.

Ready to start a successful campaign?

There are many levers that must be pulled to bring a campaign to life. Striking a balance between strategy and execution is the origin story of success.

Delightful builds integrated marketing campaigns from ideation to performance analytics. We have the know-how for identifying and reaching your diverse audiences. Our superpower is distilling complex, technical content into a digestible, value-forward narrative. We devise ways to disseminate messages across relevant channels that appeal to the target audience’s needs. We are creative, agile strategists who develop campaigns that stand out from other content in the market.