What is Integrated Marketing?

 

Why integrated multichannel marketing is essential to your business's success:

Key Detail Briefs

Without getting too Aristotelian, with marketing, the whole is most certainly more than the sum of its parts - when it's done right that is. That's the essential essence of integrated marketing - that by coordinating messages across channels the results from increasing brand awareness, familiarity, favorability and purchase intent are far higher than when taking a less integrated approach which fails to coordinate.

With the introduction of a whole host of new digital marketing channels over the past decade, such as Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest as well as existing digital platforms like Google, Facebook and Twitter, the integration of marketing channels has never been more difficult or more important.

Defining integrated marketing:

Traditionally, definitions of integrated marketing focus on integrated marketing communications (IMC), but we believe these are no longer fit for purpose since they imply an old media mindset of campaigns with broadcast and push communications that are one-way and not interactive. Digital media and the web have brought us the opportunity to share via social media (including UGC, user-generated content) and create immersive experiences on websites and in mobile apps. We can also personalize across ads, website, and email through techniques like re-targeting and website personalization.

Look into it

We also need to plan our communications around cross-device usage to reach what comScore rightly highlights as the Multichannel majority and to consider we should look beyond burst campaigns to longer-term continuous online visibility as people and businesses look for our products, services, and brands, which Gartner have called Two-speed marketing.

Given this changed reality of marketing today we define Integrated marketing as:

"A strategic approach to integrating communications and interactive experiences targeting defined audiences and individuals which coordinates all aspects of marketing of a brand including Paid media (offline advertising, direct marketing and online display and programmatic); Earned media (Organic search fueled by content marketing, PR and online influencer outreach) and Owned media (including social media, on-site UX, customer service and direct messaging through email and mobile) in order achieve consistent messaging customized where possible by channel which presents a unified and seamless experience to consumers across the customer lifecycle or path to purchase".

This builds on this definition of Integrated marketing from the DMA, which also emphasizes the use of communications and experience together.

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.

Reference Through

That's not to say integration stops at coordinating across individual digital channels. Many more traditional ad mediums have retained their effectiveness, and also need to be integrated with digital campaigns. TV has proved particularly resilient in this regard, as shown by the chart from thinkbox TV below and the persistence of offline media as a high percentage of investment in IAB data on ad and media spend. 

Examples of successful integrated marketing:

Really good integrated marketing is about more than just having the same slogan, ident and brand colors splashed across every marketing channel. It weaves a coherent story through everything the brand does. One of the best examples of this is Compare the Market's classic 'Compare the Meerkat' campaign, which has been running for over 8 years. It integrates social media, search, TV and more, whilst using real Meerkat dolls as gifts to keep compare the market's brand awareness high.