It’s easy to look at the various parts of your marketing efforts as individual events. You may have different people working on different parts of your marketing plan. If, however, you want to get the biggest bang for your marketing buck, you need to integrate what you do.
Why is that important? There are two big reasons. One has to do with perception (your brand) and the other has to do with impact.
First, let’s look at perception. You may consider your different marketing activities as separate endeavors with differing goals, but your customers see all of your communications and marketing efforts as an extension of who you are. You need to be consistent with your messaging. That goes beyond key messages and consistent language. It includes the tone of your messages—and what those messages communicate about your company as a whole.
Let’s say, for instance, that you’re a high-end homebuilder and your website reflects that. It has a quality look and feel to it. The images show quality construction and the messaging on all of your pages focuses on quality, attention to detail and custom finishes. You don’t want your blogs to focus on how to build a cheaper house. That’s sending two competing messages, and it leaves potential customers wondering which approach really represents your company.
Integration can also have a significant impact on your overall marketing efforts. You’ve heard the adage: “The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.” That’s the way your marketing should work. When the individual parts work together they can maximize the reach and effectiveness of your marketing.
Here’s an example—using the high-end homebuilder again. If you have a blog that talks about new trends in kitchen designs, you should have a link to a special report or e-book you’ve created about designing the perfect kitchen. And if you tweet during the week, one of your tweets should link readers back to the kitchen blog—which will then link back to the e-book. And maybe you can even have a link to an online webinar on the topic that takes readers to a landing page where they can register.
Or maybe you have a remodeling business and you want to reach out to homeowners in the vicinity of a project you’re working on. So you do a radius postcard mailing (a mailing to residents in a specific radius around your job site) announcing that you’re doing a remodeling project in their area. But you include a link in the card that takes people to a landing page on your website that gives people an “inside look” at what’s going on inside their neighbor’s house (with their permission, of course!). And you give them the opportunity to talk to you about their ideas for their own dream kitchen.
By the way, here’s more information about how links can make your marketing more effective.
The various parts of your marketing strategy may seem to operate independently of one another. But the more you can integrate them—both in terms of messaging and by linking them together—the more impact your overall marketing will have.
If you’d like help creating direct marketing campaigns that increase response and engagement, or if you want to leverage the power of your website so that visitors take action and become leads, we invite you to request a free marketing analysis.
