Think about it: We are the first to live in both a digital and physical world.

Technology inspires us, entertains us, and informs us. The best marketing should reflect this too. It should be seamless and enrich the everyday.

Great modern marketing embraces the potential of both spheres through integration. In fact, 72% of customers prefer integrated marketing. Integration aids sales, brand loyalty, profit, and efficient strategy. Integrated marketing is one of the best ways to optimize your marketing ROI.

The secret to successful integration is playing platforms to their strengths and consistency.

Social Media & Blogs

Social is the place to engage with customers in a casual context. It’s the place to sell your brand’s personality and to interact with customers in real time.

Incorporating your social marketing with more traditional marketing media means you’ll find those elusive customers who don’t see traditional television ads.

In the US, Netflix currently has over 40 million subscribers. That’s a huge potential audience that won’t see your advert through traditional means.

Notably, surveys report that a growing majority of smartphone users tweet, post statuses or look at articles whilst watching television. If you integrate your campaign across social platforms, then ta-da! You’ve found a way to add your voice where previously you would be missing out.

Social media should always be used to complement and extend your primary marketing. Hosting an event? Create a Facebook page for it. Giving a presentation? Create a twitter space for discussion.

Email

Email is the best way to keep your brand on the brain. Carefully curated emails are nudges to the consumer. They prompt action and encourage sales.

To get the best out of email integration you’ve got to be smart with your data. Effective emails reflect the interests and needs of your customers. Use the data you have to segment and target your emails. Personalization will help in ensuring your brand won’t be viewed as spam.  

Once these messages arrive in your customer’s inboxes, if they’re executed and timed well, they’ll be warmly received. Great emails have the power to brighten a morning commute or relieve the boredom of a rubbish telly show. Your messages should speak to your customer in a tone they recognize. Consistency is key to click-through.

Email is a personal way to communicate, and if combined with some kind of offer can be a true winner. Award exclusive offers to your customers catered to their purchasing or browsing history and use information like their name and birthday to make customers feel valued by your brand.

Optimize Campaign Efficiency

Your integrated campaigns should always link back towards one another to maximize campaign efficiency. For example, your print media should prompt customers to get online, make a purchase, tweet you or browse through your blog.

Boost your online marketing by making sure your call-to-action is a clear link.

Use a Style Guide

Whether you have multiple marketers, are taking on new staff, or do the marketing yourself, a style guide keeps your marketing telling the same story and speaking with the same voice.

Your style guide should detail your brand’s color palette, one or two fonts you use, the tone of your brand, your logo and any other important design details that are needed to reflect your brand. This is your “brand book” and should be readily available for all marketing staff.

Include a tick-list that prompts marketers to check whether the suitability of content and whether it uses each platform to its full potential.

Centralize and Restrict

It’s so important to make sure that there is one senior marketing personnel who provides approval for all communications. As your business grows you can’t do it all yourself, but if one individual oversees and approves everything, you stand a better chance of keeping it consistent. .