Refer to these Resource Links;
Effective Marketing Campaign:
Create Creative, Unique and Meaningful Content:
Brand Identity:
Marketing Strategy:
Examples:
To create an integrated marketing campaign, two main questions must be addressed;
- How do we find our customers online?
- How do we market in such a way that we have consistent, high-level sales for less than it cost to do previously?
Integrated marketing campaigns use a more holistic approach than those using a single marketing medium. They’re more interesting, more impactful, and they typically have higher response rates and generate more leads. Your audience needs to perceive the concept of pattern to understand that what they see from different mediums is a unified campaign, not several different messages, even if they understand that those messages are from the same company. Too much variation breaks pattern down and creates a loss of unity. One of the main reasons to create a campaign, and to have your audience perceive it as a campaign, is that there is strength in numbers. Each individual deliverable will reinforce one another. If they aren’t seen that way, then you will lose the power of strength in numbers—the marketing message will be weaker and less effective.
Does your content have a Hook Point?—Brendan Kane
A Hook Point could be an intriguing question. It could be an interesting insight. It could be a startling statistic. It could be a radical opinion. A back-door business strategy. It very often is based on a unique metaphor. The point is, the first 3 seconds of your content needs to reveal to the person what they’re about to watch, listen, read, or consume—and more importantly, whether or not it matters to them. But the secret to creating effective Hook Points is not just to appeal to someone’s logic. It’s to appeal to their emotions. It must appeal to their personal life goals and aspirations.
In order to “stand out,” you need to present the person you are trying to reach with something different. The only problem is, at this point, what is “different?” That’s what creating a Hook Point is all about—and here are 3 proven Hook Points that work.
Hook Point #1: A unique phrase, thought, title, or piece of copy (problem/solution/benefit). The more your unique phrase, thought, title, or combination of problem/solution/benefit can tell a story people haven’t heard before AND is emotionally appealing the more likely people will pay attention to it.
Hook Point #2: A concept or idea expressed through a visual format (image or video). Many great Hook Points get people to think differently, which is why subverting expectations with your Hook Points is a good tactic for capturing people’s attention. One way to do so is to take commonly held beliefs or phrases and flip them on their heads.
For example, the Hook Point:
“WARNING!!! Safety is Dangerous.”
This challenged the commonly held belief that playing it safe was a good approach to life—instead, it encouraged people to take risks and fight for their dreams.
Hook Point #3: A product or service that is different from what this type of audience member is used to seeing. This comes down to a simple If/Then statement. You want to point out your prospects’ problems or needs after the IF, and use your product as the solution to their problems after the THEN.
Anatomy of a Single Medium Campaign
Before we jump into an example of how to design an integrated campaign, let’s take a look at a common scenario in many small to midsize businesses.
ABC Software sells — you guessed it – software! Their software manages a very specific design function for automobile part manufacturers. The ABC marketing team needs to generate 100 qualified leads for the sales team in the new year. They have a large prospect base, so they send out an email blast to the database in January promoting a New Year’s discount, to generate a quick batch of leads to satisfy the sales team.
Next, to satisfy their own creative juices, they send out a special direct mail piece in February–a rubber stress ball with the company name printed on it. It’s expensive, but the marketers think their prospects will enjoy it, and it will keep their brand top-of-mind.
In March they’ll run a full page ad in the industry trade-show journal highlighting the features of their latest software version. And throughout the quarter, they’re running pay-per-click advertising on Google offering a free demo by the sales team.
Not bad. They’ve spent their budget, and they believe they’ll generate their lead target based on historical conversion rates.
Use Multiple Media Sources to Create an Integrated Marketing Campaign
Single media campaigns often fail to convert interested prospects because many people may not have time to take action on the first touch. Others may file for later review but never get to it. Most of us are busy and often manage by focusing on the hottest fires; if you don’t land at the top of the list, you are forgotten.
To draw in their attention, deliver a strong message using multiple media sources. In today’s marketing world, Social Media MUST be one of those media sources. Repetition gives you more chances at conversion. Hitting prospects through different channels builds a stronger awareness.
For example, if you receive an interesting email offer that you flag for later review (and of course never get to) and then receive a direct mail piece one week later, you may recall the email offer and finally be compelled to take action; or you might not recall the email offer, but you might think, “I remember hearing about this somewhere.” The Web and mobile devices have inundated us with so much information that this is becoming more and more common.
To the point, here’s how to apply this convention to ABC Software: Instead of using email, direct mail, print advertising and search marketing with 4 separate offers, tie them all together into one or two offers that are thematically or visually connected.
For example, the marketing team could create a webinar in early February to highlight the features of the new software. The marketing mix might look like this:
- Invite existing database contacts to sign up via email, sending out three separate messages to the list, strategically spaced over time as the event approaches.
- Send a direct mail piece—perhaps less expensive than the stress balls–to the same list, promoting the webinar.
- Use telemarketing to call the list and sign up interested prospects right over the phone.
- Use pay-per-click on Google to advertise the webinar to new prospects.
The more enticing the offer, the better the response, so the team might decide to offer two contest prizes: a drawing for a free $500 airline voucher, and a drawing for a free one-year software support contract.
After the webinar, the marketing team will upload a recording of the event to their blog and email the link to their entire list, using the opportunity to announce the winners of the prizes. They will also send a postcard with the URL and have the sales team place follow-up phone calls to all attendees to start the sales cycle.
By creating an integrated marketing campaign centered around an event, the marketing team spends the same budget but generates 175 leads, exceeding their lead quota by 75 percent.
Marketing Campaign Media Types
If you’re deciding what type of marketing media to use to match business goals, check out this Marketing Campaign Strategy tool. It gives an overview and outlines the pros and cons of many different media types for 10 different business goals:
- Generating new leads
- Qualifying leads
- Nurturing existing leads
- Direct selling
- Branding
- Cross-selling to existing customers
- Up-selling to existing customers
- Nurturing existing customers
- Generating referrals
- Training