3 Roadblocks to Integrated Marketing -- and How to Bust Through Them

Integrated marketing sounds like a no-brainer. Of course you want your marketing efforts to work together, to powerfully and efficiently funnel customers toward a common goal – buy, join, give, register, whatever. If only it were that simple.

Here are a few roadblocks to integrated marketing and how to bust through them.

Silos

Integrated marketing begins by getting all the right people at the same table. That typically means looping in someonefrom marketing, sales, corporate communications, public relations, event marketing, customer service and IT.

If you’re not sure who to include, make a list of all your customer touch points – all the ways people come in contact with your brand. Your list might include billboards, emails, websites, commercials, in-store signage, events, trade shows, sales materials, social media platforms, search, vehicle graphics, packaging, etc. Next to each item on the list, write down the person or department responsible for it. That’s your silo-busting invitation list.  

Competing Strategies

Once you have all the players assembled, it’s important to agree on common goals and measurable conversions. For example,your goal might be to drive more people to your website and get them to buywidgets online. But how does that affect your company’s brick-and-mortar stores? Ironing those things out together will set everyone up for success.

Sacred Cows

If your marketing has never been integrated, you’ll inevitably have to slay some sacred cows to get it that way. “Because we’ve always done it that way” isn’t an acceptable rationale for making marketing decisions. Base your decisions on customer behaviors – and these are changing drastically for most brands. Every situation is unique, but in general, consumers are more likely to research online before any purchase – often from their mobile phones. They’re also more active on social media and value the opinions of other consumers above traditional advertising.

If it sounds like a lot of work, well, it is. But the payoff is worth it. You’ll have an arsenal of weapons working toward the same goal across multiple touch points. Billboards, banner ads and search campaigns coincide with emails, Facebook posts and store graphics. While integrated marketing takes a bit more time on the front end, the results on the back end make it all worthwhile.