This integrated marketing checklist will help you incorporate integrated marketing in your 2019 marketing program. Sure, we know that this year’s buzz-word is omni-channel – but the key is integrating your marketing to deliver that omni-channel marketing experience.
This Integrated Marketing Checklist covers strategies you should consider for customer acquisition.
Search marketing
When a prospect uses Google to search on your company name or product, a paid search ad should pop up and direct them to your website or landing page.
Retargeting
Automate this to start after a prospect interacts with content on a media site or searches on a specific term. A sequence of follow-up ads, known as retargeting, should show up as they visit other sites. Many people refer to this as “stalking” a prospect. For example, if you’ve ever clicked on an ad for shoes on-line, you know you will see other ads for shoes every time you open up your Facebook.
Welcome strategy
When a prospect subscribes to an email newsletter or calls into the office to ask about a service, you should have a welcome strategy in place. This might include using a sequence of email, direct mail and follow up phone calls to start to develop rapport and educate the customer about the brand or product. Bottom line, we are looking to generate a sale and you have to start somewhere.
Following up on customer interest
After a customer clicks on a link in an email or interacts repeatedly with content on a site, do you have a way to interact with them? Is there an automated workflow that triggers email, direct mail or a phone reminder about what they were looking at?
Reducing online attrition
Part of your integrated marketing strategy needs to deal with attrition. When a shopper abandons their shopping cart, a combination of communications should seek to win them back. For example, someone who was looking at auto insurance policies on-line and dropped off should get a follow-up email to remind them about the benefits of taking out the policy with a link to going back in.
Getting the frequency right
It’s important that messages stay relevant and don’t become intrusive. Nothing gets people angrier than too many emails cluttering up their inboxes. You need to create rules for the maximum number of emails that are sent in a given period (one a month or one a week) and the interval between them (for example, at least 3 days).
Getting the channel right
Part of an integrated marketing strategy means using the best channel(s) for the customer. It needs to fit their preferences and be the right channel for your company. This gives you the best combination of cost and response. It means that for some customers you focus on email communications because they interact and respond to them. But other customers may absolutely not respond to email which means direct mail may be the best choice to communicate with them.
Getting the offer right
Offers will vary in effectiveness according to the target audience and the media channel. A direct mail offer may be way different than an on-line offer. Test different offers that deliver the right message and make someone want to respond.
Think Omni-Channel
Make sure your message translates across all marketing channels so your customers and prospects hear what you have to say in a consistent fashion. A message in your direct mail should be the same as the message you post in your social. Consistency makes your message more impactful and your brand stronger. Consider USPS Informed Delivery which gives your direct mail digital legs – and offers you the ability to connect your message in multiple media outlets to give your prospects that omni-channel experience.
Life is a Journey
It’s how you get there that determines your success.
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