7 Steps to Create an Integrated Marketing Campaign
Omnichannel marketing is pretty much expected among consumers these days. Purchase frequency is an eye-opening 250% higher on omnichannel compared to single channel. But simply putting your brand on different channels isn’t enough to bring in those numbers alone – you also need to have an integrated marketing campaign.
This type of marketing campaign is designed to create branded, adaptable assets across a wide range of channels for maximum reach and impact. This step-by-step guide will show you how to create an integrated marketing campaign for your brand.
Key Takeaways:
- An integrated marketing campaign is an omnichannel marketing approach.
- Brands that use an integrated marketing campaign see many benefits, including reach, brand awareness, and consumer trust.
- Create an integrated marketing campaign in 7 steps from the planning phase, to delegating and execution, and finally to data analysis afterward.
What is an Integrated Marketing Campaign?
An integrated marketing campaign is an omnichannel marketing strategy that focuses on creating a cohesive message with unified branding across multiple different platforms.
Integrated marketing establishes a strong brand identity by delivering a consistent experience no matter where a customer interacts with content. This is especially critical in today’s digital world, since most customers aren’t tied to a single channel and are likely to encounter your brand in several different places.
Benefits of an Integrated Marketing Campaign
Brand awareness is a key component in modern-day marketing. There’s a lot of competition, and consumers are more distracted than ever before with a bombardment of content and ads – anywhere between 6,500 and 11,000 per day.
With this in mind, it’s no surprise that a brand lacking consistency in messaging, products, colors, fonts, and the like will fail to connect with consumers.
In contrast, a brand with a strong integrated marketing campaign is much more likely to catch attention. At the very least, it will help establish brand awareness.
The benefits of integrated marketing include:
- Increased reach
- Consistent messaging and repetition
- Higher consumer trust
- Cost-effective and adaptable assets
- Relevancy to stay top-of-mind
- Higher conversions with less friction for consumers
How to Create an Integrated Marketing Campaign in 7 Steps
Integrated marketing campaigns should always present a united brand image. The campaign starts with:
Step 1: Set a Common Campaign Goal
Determine a measurable overarching goal that can be tracked across all channels and analyzed to determine whether the campaign was successful.
Some of the most common key performance indicators (KPIs) for integrated marketing campaigns include:
- Website traffic and unique page views
- Engagement
- Highest performing content
- Lowest performing content
- Click-throughs and conversions
- Backlinks
- Comments and social shares
- Lead generation
- Sales and revenue
Look at the big picture and determine what you want to accomplish. Are you trying to spread the word about a new product? Test a recent rebrand to see how it resonates with your audience? Increase brand awareness?
Step 2: Choose Your Marketing Channels
Once you know your goal and how you’re going to measure whether or not you reach it, it’s time to decide which channels to target.
Consider the opportunities available on earned (organic), owned (corporate), and paid (ad) media.
If, for example, the primary goal of your integrated marketing campaign is to show off the rebranding of your company, including a new logo, fonts, and color scheme, it doesn’t make sense to have podcast and radio ads in your marketing plan.
Tip: Don’t go overboard and include every single channel you can think of. It’s always better to start with a small batch as a test run, and then expand later with your next campaign.
Step 3: Define Your Audience and Set Channel-Specific KPIs
Each channel is likely going to target a predominantly different demographic.
Even if you’re focused on a single platform with different channels, such as social media, there will still be variation. The audiences on Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok, for example, all have different needs, desires, and expectations.
Take note of which platforms will have some overlap and which ones will require different messaging. Your assets will need to be tailored appropriately, as will your KPIs.
Step 4: Assign Channel Campaign Managers
Depending on the size of your company and marketing team, you’ll likely have different people managing different channels.
Breaking up integrated marketing campaign tasks is beneficial for two major reasons:
- There’s a lot of work involved. One person can easily become overwhelmed, which will cause the campaign to suffer.
- Individual managers in charge of specific channels already know their audience, how to optimize the content, the best ways to gather and understand analytical data, etc.
When multiple leaders are in charge of an overall marketing campaign, make sure everyone is on the same page and understands the primary goals and KPIs.
Step 5: Create Adaptable Messaging and Assets
The most important part of an integrated marketing campaign is presenting a consistent brand experience.
As you create assets, make sure the copywriting, imagery, graphic design, tone, messaging, and brand colors are a packaged deal working in tandem. Everything your teams produce should be in line with the campaign and adaptable to work on different channels.
Step 6: Launch Your Campaign
Once your assets are ready and your teams are prepared, it’s time to put all of your hard work to the test with a synchronized launch.
This is important if you want to get an accurate picture of which channels are performing best for the campaign – you won’t have that reliable data if you take a haphazard approach and launch on different platforms at different times.
Step 7: Track Your Metrics & Analyze the Data
When your integrated marketing campaign ends, the work isn’t done yet. Don’t forget to gather all of the final data and compile it in visual reports to examine the trends.
Did you meet your KPI goals? Which channels and content performed the best? Which ones had the worst performance?
How can you use this information when you’re planning your next integrated marketing campaign? Every campaign should provide takeaways to help you be smarter and more strategic with the next marketing initiative.
Grow Your Brand with Integrated Marketing Campaigns
Omnichannel marketing is an important part of any brand’s strategy, and having an integrated marketing campaign can make or break omnichannel success.
Today’s consumers interact with brands on different platforms, channels, and devices every single day. If you implement the steps and tips outlined above, you’ll be setting your brand up for a successful marketing campaign. Contact Televerde today to see how we can help.
