As marketers, we’re guilty of it. We forgo the use of traditional marketing and focus on integrated digital marketing strategies aimed at getting more Tweets, shares, pins, favorites, and ratings. We want higher search engine rankings, and we focus on the Internet behaviors of targeted consumers.
Unfortunately, in all that rush, we tend to forget the most important aspect of marketing: spreading our talents among all channels. This includes the use of traditional marketing.
One of the most effective marketing strategies out there is one that uses a combination of digital and traditional marketing methods. These incorporate elements of both into one powerful marketing package that drives results and targets a larger audience, says Enveritas Group.
So, how does one create an integrated digital marketing plan that includes the traditional offline?
It starts with appreciating how these two work together and then creating a strategy that incorporates both effectively.
Appreciating Old And New: How Digital And Traditional Complement One Another
Traditional, offline marketing is considered a passive approach. Digital marketing, on the other hand, has a targeted consumer. The two techniques will complement each other because they are spanning both variables.
Television and print advertisements are what help bring core information and incorporate a call-to-action. On the other hand, digital marketing encourages engagement as people discuss the print advertisements they have seen.
Spreading Across Multiple Channels
If you think about it, digital and offline marketing complement one another profoundly; they span to different channels that you cannot reach with just one approach.
Customers are exposed via multiple media outlets. While some customers are attracted via social media, there are others that are tuned into billboard advertisements and TV commercials.
Building A Better Relationship With Your Target Audience
Traditional media is the best way to reach a broader customer base, but digital is what will reach that target customer. You can use the digital aspect of marketing to build your relationship and get on a more personal level with those in your target audience.
To do this, you use your traditional advertisements to point customers to your site. Those that are interested in your products or services will go to the site. If the print ad tells them clearly how to get there and make a purchase, they will go if they are interested. The site will then be what has the relationship-building properties. For example, you will have social media, a blog, and possibly your fun side that showcases your brand’s personality.
Another way these channels complement one another is when digital feeds transition. For example, you have a digital landing page encouraging visitors to register. With that real registration information, you can create more personalized content for that customer exclusively. From there you can craft an email message that associates with their core concerns. You can also use digital marketing to fill the gap where you may not be able to reach all customers via traditional marketing.
5 Steps To Creating One Amazing Integrated Digital Marketing Plan
1. Be Consistent With Your Branding
No matter where you are advertising, you must be consistent in your approach and with delivering your brand to the public.
While you may think your brand is nothing more than a logo, your brand is your voice — and that voice is what customers identify with, trust, and remember.
Your brand should have personality, and that personality should shine through every channel you use for marketing. No matter what social media outlets you are using, your brand should be apparent from every angle. This is what drives loyalty to you over the competition.
When people recognize your brand, they are more inclined to purchase from you, according to Emma Vas at Business 2 Community. A good brand is what gains widespread recognition, more sales and a higher return on your marketing investment.
2. Identify Which Channels Will Drive Results
Not every business needs a Facebook page to drive their marketing, but some may.
It is all about finding which channels will drive the most results for your marketing campaign and your brand. That means understanding whom you are trying to reach and where they are likely to be found.
Assess each media channel and think about the strengths and weaknesses that come with them. Do not discount any channel either. You should be looking at the vast array of options for digital and traditional. These may include social media, billboards, prints in magazines, TV advertisements, and websites.
Jennifer Lonoff Schiff from CIO recommends being ruthless when you are assessing your channels. Your primary focus should be with those that are more efficient for your target audience. This will be more effective than trying to spread your marketing across multiple channels at once.
3. Build Your Content Strategies Together As One
Your content, offline, and digital strategies should be made in synergy.
According to Jim Yu at Marketing Land, your content should focus on all mediums. This includes email marketing, display advertisements, speaking engagements, events, videos, social media, content, organic search, and even white papers.
You will build the strategies together so that they complement one another. You will use one form of advertisement to drive to another, such as driving people from magazine ads to your website.
When everything is created in tandem, each form of marketing works together as one. This will drive significantly better results.
Before any content is created, you should have a style guide generated. Doing so will create the how, what, when, where, and why for your newly integrated strategy. You will have clear guides as to how content will be presented, what it will look like, and your core branding message. By aligning your email, print, and website advertisements as one, you will also help establish your brand.
4. Define The Buyer’s Journey And Sale Stages
Before creating any strategy, you must first identify the journey for the customer.
This journey essentially breaks down each stage the buyer will go through until they reach the final step (your desired outcome).
This step takes time, but it is what will help set your offline and online marketing plans apart from the competition. You and your marketing team just first agree on how the buyer’s journey will play out. You should have specific sale stages in mind that each customer will go through.
You can then chart these ideas by stage, activity, and then decide what team is responsible for creating the foundation of those sales pitches in that category. Also, any content that you create within those stages should be tailored to a particular buyer interest and persona.
If you have an extensive product line, you may have multiple stage charts for different marketing campaigns.
5. Bring In A Marketing Pro To Close The Loop And Connect The Dots
It can be difficult creating a campaign that focuses on the traditional and digital while keeping your brand’s core messages cohesive.
To help make the process easier, you may need to enlist the help of a marketing professional. A professional can help structure and align your marketing teams together. They know how to create a more cohesive marketing approach for all channels.
Then, with the right strategy in play, you can execute, optimize and measure the performance of your digital and traditional campaigns as they work in tandem. You will measure the performance of your stages for the buyer and adjust them when you notice customers are venturing to different paths. Additionally, a professional knows how to optimize your web content so that it complements offline passive advertisements.
While it is true that digital marketing is the wave of the future, traditional marketing is still one of the most cost-effective solutions for building your brand and taking your business further. So, never look at conventional and digital marketing as an either/or position. Instead, consider them as parallel channels that help you engage customers on numerous levels.
Lean On Thrive Internet Marketing For Your Integrated Digital Marketing Strategy
To create the campaign that attracts customers on multiple channels, let the team at Thrive Internet Marketing help.
We are here for your digital marketing needs and can help bring traditional and offline channels together more efficiently. We can also build your brand through conventional and digital advertising.
Our core services, SEO, web design, content writing, email marketing, social media, and more can help complement your existing offline strategy.
Contact Thrive Internet Marketing today to explore your options for a more cohesive marketing plan at 866-908-4748 or contact us online.
