Integrated Campaigns

What are integrated campaigns?

Integrated campaigns a unified marketing message to a particular audience via a combination of different channels such as email, digital ads, blogs, and social media.

If you want a more in-depth understanding of this topic, check out the FAQ section below:

Question #1: Why are integrated campaigns important to marketing?

Integrated campaigns are important to marketing because unlike back in the day when there were very few ways a customer can encounter a brand (e.g., traditional ads), customers can now do so via a much wider variety of channels, including email, social media, and websites. 

This means that if you want to increase your odds of getting your brand in front of your target customers, you will have to tap as many of the channels they normally use.

Question #2: What are common channels of integrated campaigns?

There are many channels that you can use for your integrated campaigns, including:

1. TV
2. Out-of-home
3. Radio
4. Magazines
5. In-store displays
6. Websites
7. Social media
8. Apps

The exact channels you should use, however, would ultimately depend on how big your budget is and where your target customers are. At the end of the day, just because the channel is there does not mean you have to use it. The goal is to focus your resources on channels that have the potential to bring in the most substantial ROI.

Question #3: What are the advantages of launching these campaigns?

The biggest advantages of launching integrated campaigns are:

1. They are cost-effective

You only need one marketing team and creative team to launch integrated campaigns because all the materials you would use are supposed to have the exact same overall message, look, and tone but rendered for different channels.

1. They help improve brand awareness

Running an integrated campaign across various channels can help improve brand awareness because it significantly improves a brand’s visibility. Instead of focusing on a single channel and hoping for the best, it taps as many of the channels that the target customer might use.

1. They help improve brand recognition

The more your target customers encounter your brand, the more it becomes recognizable to them—and integrated campaigns do just that: get your target customers to encounter your brand (and marketing messages) more.

Keep in mind, however, that this only works if you use the exact same message and overall look, tone, and feel for your integrated campaign. Otherwise, you run the risk of obscuring your brand’s identity, making it more difficult for your target customers to recognise it.

Question #4: How do you create an integrated campaign?

To create an integrated campaign, you need to follow five simple steps: 

• Define your market

This is the most important step because it will serve as the basis for your message and execution. You need to have a clear understanding of who your target customers are, what their biggest pain points are, what solutions they are looking for, where they hang out, and what types of creative executions resonate with them the most.

• Define your objective

Once you have step one down, you will need to define a clear objective. What is the goal of your integrated campaign? Are you looking to capture leads? Do you want to promote a new product or service? Are you looking to increase sign-ups for your next event?

• Define your message

Once you have your objective, it is time to craft the marketing message that would allow you to hit it. The idea here is to angle your pitch in such a way that it makes your target customers feel as if you understand what they are going through and are genuinely interested in helping them make their pain point go away—which goes against what a lot of brands seem to be hard wired to do: talk about how awesome their products and services are.

• Identify the channels

Once you have your message, it is time to pick what channels to tap. As we have seen earlier, the goal here is to focus on channels with the potential to bring in the most returns.

• Prepare the creative materials

Once you know what channels you will tap, it is time to prepare the creative materials. Again, the goal here is to create a unified message, look, and feel, so your target customers get the exact same experience whatever channel they encounter your campaign on.

• Launch and measure

Finally, once everything is ready, it is time to roll out your integrated campaign. But do not forget to measure your results so you know how to do even better in your next one.