Over the past 20 years marketing has changed in an unprecedented fashion. It's hard for me to truly understand this dramatic change considering at the time of writing this I am 23 years old, but nevertheless, here I am. After listening to a few academics talk for a couple hours, mixed with a handful of open google tabs, I will be trying to unpack how our use of integrated marketing has changed in recent years. If we take a look back to the early 90's the way of connecting to the consumer was very linear. A business would try to find a gap in the market, put a few posters out and maybe a radio or tv ad (if the budget permitted) and you would wait for the sales figures to see if the campaign had worked. Now, in the age of the internet, things run a little differently. The way we communicate with the consumer has changed from a monologue to a dialogue. Instead of telling the consumer of our product and leaving it there, we have come to a point where businesses have no choice but to collaborate with the target audience. If a product stops listening to the consumer, the consumers will choose something else that does. Here are just a few stages modern businesses have to consider when interacting with a consumer that previously weren't considered.
Now, if it is so hard to keep a consumer engaged with a product, how hard is it to create an effective Integrated Marketing Campaign (IMC)? Well, here are my tips to ensure everything runs smoothly.
Find your Target Audience - how can you sell effectively if you don't know who wants your product?
Choose the right channels - with the new age of social media, it has become essential to have an online presence
Be consistent - make sure you follow the "One Sight, One Sound, One Sell" rule so people know your brand instantly
Produce content - all of your content must be as consistent and clear
Integrate EVERYTHING - if you have multiple channels, let people access all of them from each point of contact
Track your campaigns - how will you know if it's working if you don't look for results
People are spending an exponential amount of time online in comparison to 20 years ago. We are possibly living in the golden age of social media. As you can see below out of all the time spent on media 61% is online. To create a modern IMC it is crucial to pay attention to where your TA is and how they consume media.
If you're about to venture out and start your own IMC, follow these guides and make sure you're on track. Let me know what your favourite form of media is, maybe you're one of the few who still enjoys the newspaper.