Is Integrated Marketing Communication a good strategy for a business?
Marketing, an important component of any business, has permeated our digital and analog lives, assisting businesses in identifying, anticipating, and satisfying customer needs and wants. In general, it’s one of the most important skills for any business to have if they want to expand.
Integrated marketing, according to Belch (2013), is “an approach to creating a unified and seamless experience for consumers to interact with the brand/enterprise; it attempts to meld all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing, and social media, through their respective mix of tactics, methods, channels, media, and activities, so that all work together as a unified force.”
Integrated Marketing Communications
Integrated Marketing Communication or IMC refers to the integration of all aspects of marketing communications, such as advertising, promotions, public relations, direct marketing, and social media. This allows all aspects of marketing communications to work together as a unified force rather than a loose collection of ideas, ensuring that all messaging and communication strategies remain consistent across all channels, resulting in a seamless journey from one communication channel to the next.
Benefits of Integrated Marketing
There are numerous benefits of integrated marketing communications for your brand. The benefits of using IMC are improved brand image; using IMC will ensure that all of your brand’s elements are in sync. This cohesive strategy will increase your business impact and help you build out a niche or industry for yourself. The next benefit is to Increase morale for the employees; Morale can be boosted by a good IMC strategy. Your teams will need to communicate and understand each other more effectively to concentrate on quality and maintain continuity across the board, therefore they will be more solid. It is able to give cost-effectiveness, improved efficiency, and others benefit.
An IMC strategy has been designed in four steps. The first is that you must recognize various marketing communication methods, such as content marketing, email marketing, and others. The next step is to create a marketing communication plan that includes audience and content. Understanding the customer decision-making process necessitates the third step. The final steps are to put the marketing communication plan into action.
A strategic IMC plan can boost brand awareness while also establishing a clear and concise message and increasing media coverage across online and offline channels. As the examples above show, successful IMC plans usually result in a successful brand item. IMC strengthens consumer-brand relationships while also improving the brand’s image. In my opinion, IMC is very important for promoting a message for your brand; if done correctly, a successful IMC plan will attract a lot of attention and lead to profitability for any brand.
Steps to create a successful integrated marketing campaign
Integrated marketing campaigns allow you to send out personalized messages across multiple channels. Because many responses to integrated marketing campaigns are subconscious, the impact of this attention and awareness cannot be fully measured.
Here are certain steps to creating a successful integrated marketing campaign;
Step 1: Know exactly who your target audience is.
Step 2: Select your channels.
Step 3: Maintain a consistent appearance.
Step 4: Develop clear, consistent content that can be easily adapted for various media or channels.
Step 5: Ensure that your messaging is integrated.
Skills Required for Marketing Employers
Employers will be looking for certain qualities that will give them an indication of your potential and help them decide if you are worth taking a chance on, even if you have never worked in a marketing role before. To be successful in the market, you’ll need a diverse set of skills, and potential candidates must demonstrate the following;
- interpersonal skills
- good oral and written communication skills
- numeracy and analytical ability
- creativity and imagination
- influencing and negotiation skills
- teamwork
- organisational skills
- IT skills
Thus, through consistent messaging and advertising, integrated marketing helps a brand stand out from the competition. When a marketing department uses integrated marketing, it strengthens the brand’s identity and gives customers a more relatable experience. You can increase brand recognition and profitability by making your company’s brand relatable.