Integrated marketing to solve business problems: Why it's important, and the steps and points to consider
table of contents
What is integrated marketing?
"Integrated marketing" is a marketing concept that builds brand value for the market through products and the entire company. One that is particularly frequently discussed is "integrated marketing communication," which has been advocated since the 1990s. In English, it is called "Integrated Marketing Communication," and some people may know it by the abbreviation "IMC."
"Integrated marketing communications" is a method of conveying consistent values and brand messages across all channels, including not only mass media such as television and newspapers, but also online, social media, direct mail, and even in-store.
The reason why "integrated marketing" is currently attracting attention is that many marketers feel that there is a lack of consistency in the messages sent by each medium and that they are "not communicating effectively with their target audience." Furthermore, as the effects of mass media, which were previously unmeasurable, have become measurable thanks to technological advances, "integrated marketing" is increasingly being cited.
Why is integrated marketing important?
Previously, marketing communications were limited to media such as television and newspapers. This made them easy to manage, and targets accepted one-way communication from companies. However, with the emergence of various media such as social media, two-way communication is now possible, and communication has become more diverse as the number of media contacts has increased. As a result, management for companies has become more complicated, and a gap has emerged between the image that companies want to convey and the image that targets receive.
For example, a brand may promote a "luxury" image in TV commercials, but when you look at the e-commerce site, the low prices are emphasized, damaging the image. Or, a customer may get a friendly impression from social media, visit a store, but their impression may be ruined by the attitude of the salesperson. That experience may spread further as word of mouth, spreading a negative image.
As a result of the diversification of media and the ability to communicate two-way, it has become more difficult for companies to communicate consistently. As a result, "integrated marketing" has been attracting attention as a solution to this problem.
Free download of case study
In this rapidly changing era, how can you optimize your advertising investment to maximize business results?
Steps in integrated marketing
Now, let's take a look at the specific steps to consider when considering "integrated marketing." "Integrated marketing" can be broadly divided into four steps.
1. Marketing strategy planning
The first step is to develop a marketing strategy, which is how your product will compete in the market.
- Which targets will you be communicating to?
- What brand image do you want to build?
- What message will you convey?
We will determine core elements for considering future measures, such as:
What's important here is to analyze the current state of the market and the competition, and then clearly define who your company's target audience is, how you want to position yourself compared to your competitors, and what your company's products are. The starting point for all future measures and other considerations is the marketing strategy proposal.
2. Creating a customer journey
The key to "integrated marketing" is to consider it from the target's perspective. Measures are considered after taking into account how the target comes into contact with the media and how they feel. The "customer journey" is an effective way to do this. The "customer journey" is the process that the target goes through before making a purchase. It illustrates where the target becomes aware of the product, shows interest, and makes a purchase, which media they come into contact with at that time, and what state of mind the target is in.
When creating a "customer journey", it is important to imagine your target. Within that, define a model (persona) that will purchase and use the product. Create a "customer journey" by imagining, breaking down and mapping the actions of the defined persona.
If you are already implementing marketing strategies, you can also use this data to identify problems with your current strategies.
3. Consideration of media strategies
Actual measures are considered based on the "customer journey." By visualizing which media the target is in contact with and what their psychology is in using the "customer journey," it is possible to consider which measures are necessary. When considering measures, it is important to always be aware of the psychology of the target and to always convey a consistent message. Also, make sure that the measures you have considered are not inconsistent with each other or with your strategy.
4. Execution and effectiveness measurement
Once the measures have been considered, it is time to move on to the implementation phase. However, implementing the measures is not the end of the process. After implementation, it is important to measure the effectiveness and implement the PDCA cycle. Check whether each measure has achieved the set objectives, whether each measure is promoting a different brand image, etc.
Key Points of Integrated Marketing
The key points of "integrated marketing" are "organizational structure" and "story."
As we have seen, in "integrated marketing," it is important to ensure consistency in the messages sent to the target through each channel. However, advertising such as TV commercials is handled by the PR department, websites and online are handled by the digital business department, and in-store is handled by the sales department. Having different departments in charge of marketing measures leads to a lack of consistency. In order to avoid problems that arise from differences in organizational structures like these, it is effective to use frameworks that allow for thorough information sharing, such as the "customer journey," or to consider setting up a cross-sectional organization.
Also, when there was only one channel, such as mass media, it was fine for the brand message to be one-sided. However, as channels have become more complex and diverse, brand messages are no longer just something to be communicated. They have changed to something that is "spoken about" and "resonated with" by the target audience on social media and other platforms. This is where a brand story comes in handy. Examples of stories include how a product was developed and how it is used. As such, it will become even more important in the future to consider brand stories that can develop a brand in a multifaceted way, rather than one-sided.
Summary
"Integrated marketing" is a method for conducting consistent marketing across all channels, including mass media, digital, and offline, and is an essential concept for businesses today, where media is diversifying. The most important thing is to think from the perspective of the target. Always consider measures while keeping in mind how your target will feel.
Also, the implementation of the measures is not the end. Until now, we have been doing things online and offline.Comprehensive analysis of the effectiveness of measuresIt was thought to be difficult to achieve this. However, advances in technology have made it possible to measure the effectiveness of such combinations of measures. Let's consider the optimal combination of measures while carefully measuring the effectiveness of each measure.
Free download of case study
Gain knowledge of "statistics" and accelerate your marketing
- Introducing the basics and "MMM," a statistical analysis method that has recently been gaining attention again -
