Integrated Marketing Improves the Customer Experience 

With today’s technology, there’s no shortage of ways for brands to interact with consumers. Integrated marketing involves coordinating cohesive and helpful brand messaging from different channels to ensure a productive customer journey. From direct mail to e-mail marketing and social media, well-executed integrated marketing is essential for streamlining communication channels in a way that helps consumers—not overwhelms them.  

What is integrated marketing? 

Integration in marketing utilizes technology to blend of sources of customer interaction into an organized consumer experience. Leveraging data, consumer history with your brand, and coordinated communication helps mitigate customer fatigue, gives you an edge above your competition, and lays the informational groundwork for developing more effective marketing campaigns in the future.  

Ideal integration coordinates messaging across the following channels: 

  • SMS text messaging 
  • E-mail blasts and newsletters 
  • Print advertising such as direct mail  
  • Landing pages 
  • Social media 

Why is integrated marketing necessary? 

Integrated marketing is necessary because having so many avenues for communication can become messy and cumbersome for consumers. Moreover, a consumer may interact with your brand through different channels at different stages of their consumer journey. Integrated marketing and the technology that powers it, helps brands identify customers across all channels and segment messages based on where these consumers land within their journey.  

Without integrated marketing, a consumer may be inundated with unhelpful, repetitive messaging that isn’t driving them toward making purchases. Imagine the following scenario: A consumer receives a piece of direct mail directing them to your website with a QR code. The website then displays a pop-up offering a 10% discount when he or she signs up for e-mail notifications. Then, the consumer receives an e-mail that is essentially a digital copy of the direct mail campaign that initiated their customer journey. This breakdown in messaging can actually become a roadblock to productive customer activity.  

Let’s juxtapose this scenario with how this could play out through integrated marketing. A customer is directed to a website or landing page via a QR code on direct mail. The customer is offered a discount for signing up for e-mail notifications. Their first e-mail offers a digital coupon with links that send them back to your website to shop for items. While your customer is simply receiving communication, clicking links, and perusing your website, integrated marketing software is collecting helpful data and building a consumer profile that will analyze demographic data, their habits, and more to help your brand tailor future messaging. With technology, integration can eliminate repetitive messaging and guide consumers through each stage of their customer journey.  

Pel Hughes is a full-service printing company that offers an array of services to help you develop effective integrated marketing including campaign automation, direct mail retargeting, database services, and cross media marketing. Visit our website or call (504) 486-8646 to request a quote with a friendly member of our team.