Maximize Your Bang-for-the-Buck through Integrated Marketing
How integrated is your marketing?
You’ve established a website for your business. You conduct various marketing activities to promote your business. Now, do you connect the two, or do you instead leave the recipients of your marketing messages stranded?
If you want to maximize the bang for the buck from your marketing efforts, you should look to integrate your website into all of your marketing campaigns and tactics, whether online or offline.
Let’s say that you run a local retail store. If you are conducting a special sale, just as you promote the sale in the store itself, it’s important that you provide a parallel marketing message on your website. Announce the sale. Build drama. Explain the benefits. Offer special value-add on the website, such as additional offers, coupons or educational content.
The alternative is for someone to drive by your store, notice the sale, become intrigued, check out your site when she arrives home, only to be met with a completely disconnected experience. Needless to say, this is not going to drive sales.
Another example would be local events. Let’s say that you are a graphic designer planning a tour of seminars, providing small business owners with complimentary insights into how to leverage imagery to drive more sales. Do you mention this on your website? Do you promote it? Do you list all the tour dates, times and locations? Do you offer complementary videos on your site giving your prospective attendees a taste of your insights, leaving them thirsting for more? Do you offer an incentive for your site visitors to become seminar attendees, through a special value-add giveaway at the event?
The alternative? A small business owner in need of graphic design services sees a promotion for the seminars, becomes interested, visits your site, sees nothing about them, then forgets all about them… This quickly becomes a lost opportunity and a lost potential sale.
Your website is the glue that holds together all of your marketing. Whether it’s a sale at a local store, or a series of seminars—or an email blast, radio ad or event sponsorship—your website should be connecting the dots and providing your prospective customers with a holistic experience.
Do this, and you will get more bang for the buck from your marketing dollars!
April 9th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
I truly agree with this message! You can’t build your brand if everything isn’t connected. You should have a seamless message that should be carried out in all of your marketing. Good job!
April 10th, 2009 at 5:10 am
Thank you for the excellent advice. This is information that is practical and useful.