A complete guide to integrated marketing communications

Making an impact with integrated marketing communications

Having a great product accessible to your customers at a great price is pointless if your customers are unaware of it. That’s where promotion comes in. It connects with your target audiences and communicates what you have to give them. Promotion in today’s marketing climate entails integrated marketing communication (IMC). In a nutshell, IMC combines a variety of communication tools to convey a standard message and influence customer perceptions and behavior. You have been the target of IMC activities as an experienced consumer in the English-speaking world. Whenever you ‘like’ a TV program, an article, or a meme on Facebook, you contribute to the IMC effort.

What’s integrated marketing communication?

Integrated marketing communications (IMC) is a theory and a collection of business practices that enable consistent messaging across channels and provide customers with a unified brand experience. This fundamental marketing idea applies to all forms of business communication, not just advertising. Integrated marketing focuses on providing customers with a consistent and positive experience whenever they meet or interact with a brand.

Why is it important?

Every organization communicates with its audiences through a variety of methods. We’ve come a long way since only a few ‘traditional’ outlets like TV, radio, newspapers, out-of-home advertising, and mailboxes. It can take time to keep track of all the media you can use to reach out to potential customers in today’s digital world.

Many businesses must focus on numerous marketing channels at the same time. This omnichannel marketing requires a strategy to ensure everything works together to achieve marketing goals. It is where IMC steps in.

IMC is significant for four primary reasons-

• Need for consistency throughout the entire customer experience.
• Assistance with brand development.
• Combining marketing channels to improve campaign efficacy.
• IMC adds to marketing channels that reinforce one another.

The evolution 

The idea of integrated marketing communications has been around since the late 1980s when contemporary forms of communication were becoming more dynamic. Thanks to computers’ data-tracking capabilities, marketers can now comprehend purchasing behavior and track campaigns.

With the new understanding of consumer preferences and habits, marketing evolved from a one-way announcement to a two-way conversation. More communication channels lead to opportunities to engage with customers. Whereas advertising was once a distinct and separate department, marketing relevance started to saturate all forms of business communication.

Since then, integrated marketing has evolved into an area of academic study and a strategic approach to improving marketing operations through consistent and multichannel customer experiences. It will help increase brand recognition, confidence, and loyalty. It has become even more essential in the age of social media and mobile phones when consumers interact daily with brands they care about.

Nowadays, marketing is about the customer rather than the company, so communications must have coordination, consistency, target, and customization. As a result, integrated marketing is more than just uniform branding.

Five benefits of integrated marketing communications

Before devoting valuable time, effort, and resources to a marketing plan, it is critical to consider the advantages, which include-

1. Relationship building

IMC is customer-focused and adds credibility and legitimacy to the purchasing experience. The strategy validates the customer’s feelings and establishes a reputation in the consumer’s consciousness, leading to improved brand positioning.

2. Efficient and cost-effective

IMC is a cost-cutting strategy that involves developing and implementing multi-use materials for a campaign. This method’s ensured consistency organically builds confidence in your company and improves brand recognition.

3. Comprehensive

IMC establishes familiarity with consumers by being ever-present. As consumers’ exposure to a brand grows more consistent, the probability that they will choose it grows exponentially.

4. Memorability

When businesses deliver numerous messages across platforms, they are more effective. With up to 10,000 ads per day in 2022, people are more likely to recall those that make a consistent impression and appear across multiple platforms.

5. Loyalty

Understanding and responding to customers is an essential component of integrated marketing. People like to know what to anticipate. Customers return to a brand that consistently offers a positive experience at every interaction.

Approaches to integrated marketing communications

There are different interpretations of what IMC is and how to implement it. 

Consumer-oriented

This strategy begins with an attempt to comprehend the customer. The marketing team conducts a study before developing content or messaging. They determine the target population and use internal data to assess customers’ requirements and value. The results shape an integrated marketing communications strategy.

Horizontal

A horizontal strategy is a collection of departments collaborating on a single project. Management may promote an initiative across departments, such as sales, public relations, and corporate communications, or form a team and designate a project leader. From planning to execution to evaluation, you can organize the process into a workflow.

Outsourced

One possibility is hiring an outside team to conduct research, analytics, and content creation. The unit can examine what your business is attempting to achieve, how well it performs, and what it will take to integrate marketing communications. They can then put the plan into action.

Vertical

This top-down strategy needs to be customer-focused. A business may have a predetermined mission and message to convey. Starting at the top, leaders can instill enthusiasm about new initiatives or products in employees, who can then spread the word or direct the execution of an IMC plan.

Cross-functional

A popular strategy in the digital age is to begin by planning multiple touchpoints for consumers, both online and in person. It creates an interactive and engaging customer service experience.

Key takeaways

• The idea behind IMC is that consumers should have a consistent and seamless experience with your brand, whether they engage with it through your website, social media platforms, or in person.
• Using an integrated marketing plan can assist you in developing brand loyalty among a specific customer group to maximize profits.
• The five approaches to integrated marketing communications include consumer-oriented, horizontal, outsourced, vertical, and cross-functional.

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FAQs

Q1. What are the five primary means of integrated marketing communication?
Answer- Integrated marketing communications can work with the five main communication tools. The five means include advertising, direct marketing, online marketing, sales promotion, and public relations.

Q2. What is the golden triangle of IMC?

Answer- The Golden Triangle is a marketing model with three essential success factors: market, message, and media.

Q3. Who is the father of IMC?

Answer- Don E. Schultz, Emeritus Professor-in-Service at Northwestern University’s Medill School, is widely known as the founder of integrated marketing communication.