When asked to write a blog, I pondered where to start. Duh, the obvious! Other blogs!
As most of you, I was just trying to survive this Polar Vortex thing. When I saw sunshine and 25-degrees, I jumped at the opportunity to sit in an hour-long car wash line. While waiting to partake in the bathing ritual, I started to read what seemed like a hundred blogs on all facets of marketing in order to get some ideas. It made me nervous. There were a lot of bloggers out there…and a lot of them that did it well.
Could I do it better?
Probably not!
Then, BINGO!
My Blog Topic Was Born!
The one person that stood out in the crowd of bloggers was Brian Solis.
It could be because of my recent career change. I’ve been with a couple advertising agencies over the past 15 years, but I really liked the way this particular agency approached and excelled at Integrated Marketing Campaigns. When they asked me to join their team, I jumped at the opportunity.
In the past, direct marketing was a viable way to target consumers because the assumption was that all consumers followed the same buying pattern – Awareness. Knowledge. Evaluation. Purchase. With the continued growth in technology and purchasing platforms, consumers’ buying behaviors have become much more sophisticated. Let’s face it – what are you going to tell a consumer that he or she can’t find on Google?
And to add to the challenge, we now have a marketplace driven by consumers. Simply put, consumers have the ability to opt-out of pretty much anything!
Today, integrated marketing campaigns are more important than ever. Perhaps even more important though – the significant role social media plays in the equation. Social Media should be looked at as a main component in any integrated campaign, rather than an afterthought once the campaign has been developed and deployed.
Brian Solis speaks a lot about the keys to reaching consumers in today’s world. And I’ve determined that it has a lot to do with Social Media being a bigger part of our integrated efforts. You need to engage consumers. Give them an experience. Maintain brand consistency and provide value-added content.
Check out Brain Solis or follow him @briansolis for some insightful blogs on social media, customer experience and engagement. And, next time you think about campaign strategy, think about social media as the driver in your integrated campaign effort.
About the Author: Laurie Perduyn is an Account Manager at Anthony Thomas Advertising, and VP of Volunteers for the Cleveland American Marketing Association.
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