Digital Media in Integrated Marketing Communications

Integrated Marketing Communications, also known as IMC, is not something new to marketers. If you’re new to this, below is the quick definition:

Integrated Marketing Communications Definition

It is a process for managing the customer relationships that drive brand value.

– Duncan T. (2002). IMC. Using Advertising and Promotion to Build Brands (International Edition), Mc. Graw Hill, New York, 2002, p. 8.

It basically means IMC integrate the promotional tools so that they can work together in harmony. Note that Promotion is one of the 4Ps of the marketing mix. Promotions has its own mix of communications tools, which work better if they come together in harmony instead on working on its own.

Traditional marketing uses different campaigns as separate marketing streams (press release, advertisng, direct marketing and sales promotions etc). With IMC, it ensures that all these streams come together to form one big marketing machine, working together in harmony.

Digital Communications Rising in IMC

If you have been reading my previous blogs, you would have noticed the increased amount of internet users. Otherwise, you can look at the statistic below and observe the trend of digital internet users online. It has been increasing over the years and will only keep increasing. Hence from traditional media streams, marketers have to involve digital streams of communications into IMC as a whole.

According to Coulter & Starkis (Coulter & Starkis 2005), the factors for media selection includes quality, time, flexibility, coverage and costs. The table below provides guidance and serves as a useful tool for marketers to look at when matching its marketing objective to the types of campaigns they want to have according to the factors in consideration while coming up with marketing strategies.

Under Alternatives of communications available, now marketers have to consider digital communications available such as Google Ads, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or App.

How to Integrate Digital Communications into IMC?

According to Pickton & Broderick (Pickton & Broderick 2001), digital media will be more effective when used as part of an integrated approach in areas such as :

• Coherence: different communications are logically connected.
• Consistency: multiple messages support and reinforce, and are not contradictory
• Continuity: Communications are connected and consistent through time
• Complementary: synergistic, sum of parts is greater than the whole

Steps to Create Successful Integrated Marketing Campaign:

1. Have a clear understanding of who your target audience is.

• Who are your target customers?
• What are their motivations?
• How do they like being communicated to?
• Which newspapers or magazines do they read and which sites do they visit regularly?
• Which channels are they using?
• If they’re using social media, what are they talking about?

2. Pick your channels.

• Which channels do my customers use?
• What are the channels’ strengths and weaknesses?
• How will they help me reach my business objectives?

3. Have a consistent look.

• This ensures consistent visual identity which boost familiarity that audience will catch the company as quickly they see the campaigns.

4. Create clear, consistent content that can easily be adapted or repurposed to suit different media or channels.

• Communications [i.e., messaging and offers] must be clear [not filled with confusing in words/phrases],
• Compelling (interesting and/or topical to the receiver)
• Consistent (regardless of channel — Web, phone, in-store, mobile)

5. Ensure that your messaging is integrated.

• Make sure each element of your marketing campaign “is set up to drive traffic to your ultimate target”, this means includes links for sharing, press releases, and connecting or directing to online shop, depending what target the company wants.

6. Make sure your marketing teams/agencies are working in sync.

• Lauren Witte, associate director of Marketing at law firm JacksonWhite, P.C says “If you have multiple members of a team working on disparate projects within the same integrated marketing campaign, facilitate team meetings to ensure all members are on the same page, the message behind the campaign is consistent and to manage company brand standards across the campaign,”.
• This is to ensure overall company branding is consistent look and feel across the channels and campaigns.

7. Don’t forget to track your campaigns – and coupons..

• Dylan Whitman, cofounder, Brand Value Accelerator, a digital marketing agency, mentioned that tracking allows proper system in place to understand if the marketing is achieving conversions and results. It also allows company to receive data back from retailers via barcodes and coupon clearing houses about which corresponding campaign segments are performing best from an ROI standpoint.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, having Digital Media Communications and Channels in IMC is inevitable in this Web 2.0 era. With new 5G technology, marketers have to find new ways to improve and strategize to integrate and promptly update its marketing campaigns as a whole to keep up with the fast technology and customer behavior changes. After reading this post, have you seen a good example of Digital Media Communication being integrated into IMC? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!