A lot of people in the marketing world talk about integration and it’s particularly prominent in the agency-sphere.
Some agencies have no interest in an integrated approach. They’re quite happy to sit in their silos with their one-service offering, or with their ‘traditional’ approach in an increasingly digital world, which is highly unlikely to get results.
On the other hand, there are some agencies who say they take an integrated approach to delivering their campaigns.
But what is an ‘integrated approach’?
Essentially, an integrated approach to digital marketing is one which takes multiple channels all working towards the same goal. The DMA describes it as:
“Integrated Marketing is an approach to creating a unified and seamless experience for consumers to interact with the brand/enterprise; it attempts to meld all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing, and social media, through their respective mix of tactics, methods, channels, media, and activities, so that all work together as a unified force. It is a process designed to ensure that all messaging and communications strategies are consistent across all channels and are centered on the customer.”
So why take this approach to your digital marketing campaigns?
There are a number of advantages to taking this approach to digital:
Great brand visibility
The more channels you use, the greater the probability that the brand is seen by the target audience. The more touchpoints people have with your brand, the more likely they are to recognise your brand and service offering.
Consistency
As long as each channel is being used effecitvely, which means ensuring that targeting is accurate, and that messages are being delivered at the right time, then you should be delivering the same message to the target audience, no matter what platform they’re on.
Financial Gains
With everyone pulling in the same direction, and with the same goal in mind, your budget is likely to go further. Costs are likely to be lower doing things on a bigger scale, you’re less likely to duplicate workload and in addition to this, with more touchpoints with your customers, they’re more likely to buy from you too!
Encourages collaboration
An integrated approach encourages collaboration between different teams. Whether that’s between various teams in an agency, for example the SEO and PR teams working closer together, or whether it results in greater collaboration between an agency and the client (and the client’s marketing department). This in turn results in more ideas, ensures everyone is on the same page, and makes everyone feel valued as part of the project. Collaboration can only be a good thing, right?
Better results
With an integrated approach, you’re more likely to see better results. For example, that site visitor who didn’t take a desired action, was retargeted through social media, which in turn led to a conversion. The recipient of your email newsletter became a lead after going through an automation process and being fed relevant blog content. With an integrated approach, the different channels compliment each other, and increase the likelihood of a prospect taking a desired action, whether that’s making a purchase, signing up to a newsletter or submitting a form on your website.
At The Source, we deliver integrated digital marketing campaigns, using an agile approach, which means we find the channels which work together well and deliver the desired results quicker than traditional digital agencies. If you’d like to find out more, visit our ‘About’ page or get in touch with us, and one of our team will talk you through what we could do for your business.
