Integrated marketing communications – these three words are some of the most important words to be familiar with to successfully move your brand’s marketing strategies forward. However, if you are not currently familiar with the phrase, you don’t need to panic. I will explain to you not only what integrated marketing communications is, but also why it is so important to your business, as well as what you can do to utilize it within your own marketing plan.

What is Integrated Marketing Communications?

Integrating your brand’s marketing communication can lead to greater brand loyalty, higher profits, and greater competitive advantages over other brands. However, first understanding the meaning of integrated marketing communications (IMC) is essential to your brand in order to successfully integrate this system into your marketing strategy. Integrated marketing communications is a synchronized system that essentially links all of a brand’s marketing communications together for maximum total impact on the consumer. This marketing strategy ensures that every part of the brand’s image is not only cohesive, but also effective. When an integrated marketing communications strategy is used correctly, it creates consistency throughout all of a brand’s marketing tools. Brands like to use the integrated marketing process often because it leads to the greater success of their overall marketing strategies.

Why is Integrated Marketing Communications Important to YOU?

As previously stated, integrating your brand’s marketing communications can be beneficial. This communication strategy continues to increase its value as time goes on. In the past, many companies didn’t feel the need to link all of their forms of communication into an integrated marketing strategy. However, because there is so much media clutter in the present day, it’s more important than ever to include integrated marketing communication into your brand’s marketing strategy. This is not limited to online media. Any marketing tool from your brand’s logo, to your social media pages, as well as press releases your company publishes need to be integrated to form one cohesive brand image.   According to Forbes, marketers overall are continuing to shift their marketing strategies over from more traditional media such as newspaper and television over to digital marketing channels^[1]. In fact companies are turning to website, SEO, email, and social media marketing over older more traditional media. However, this shift in marketing strategy does not indicate that other forms of media are no longer crucial to a brand’s integrated marketing communication, and finding the best ways to implement these strategies is what will define your brand and how it is distinctive from its competitors.

How Can You Use Integrated Marketing Communications To Your Advantage?

If used correctly, integrated marketing communications can distinguish your brand above your competition and lead to greater success. IMC can increase profits, brand loyalty, and lower company spending. In order to successfully integrate this communication strategy as a part of your company’s marketing plan, you need to know what to do. All of your brand’s marketing tools must be cohesive for a successful IMC plan. Firstly, all social media pages should have the same theme. This does not necessarily mean that your marketing specialist should post the same things to every site. Different social media platforms attract different audiences and therefore require individual posts. The same goes for television, radio, and other traditional media. The goal is for all of your brand’s communication to remain synchronized so that it is recognizable above its competitors. Anything that your company publishes, whether it be press releases, blogs, emails, television advertisements, or social media posts, it all needs to be linked together. Even things such as logos, color schemes, and templates should be cohesive. Assembling an integrated marketing communication plan may seem to be a daunting task. But this communication strategy is extremely important to understand if you want to be successful in the world of marketing. Although the companies of yesteryear did not value integrated marketing communications as a helpful tool, this system has become integral to modern-day marketers. In a world where consumers are constantly surrounded by advertisements, having a marketing strategy that sets your brand apart from the rest can lead to great benefits for the company overall. Linking the brand’s social media and online platforms as well as traditional media tools together to create one cohesive brand image will increase profits as well as brand recognition in the future.

1. http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveolenski/2014/08/04/integrated-marketing-remains-the-holy-grail-for-marketers-and-consumers/2/#61d489423747

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