Even small businesses need to think about advertising across multiple channels. With everything out there, though, it can be tough to tell which marketing channels will be the most effective for your specific business.
Your business size, industry, and location can change many of these specifics, but some general guidelines can be used to make sure you have a well-rounded campaign.
Why Use Integrated Campaigns?
An integrated campaign uses multiple channels, bringing them together to maximize ROI. The idea is to ensure that your message is consistent across all the marketing channels you are using, establish brand awareness, and provide customers with information about who you are and what you do that never appears to be contradictory.
These campaigns use both traditional and digital media. Often, small businesses will lean towards one or the other, and many make the mistake of abandoning traditional media in favor of all-digital campaigns.
This is a mistake.
Radio ads, in particular, can be useful to businesses of any size. Traditional and digital media capture different audiences (with some overlap). Combining the two will increase your reach.
What is a Well-Rounded Campaign?
The next step past an integrated campaign is a well-rounded campaign. These campaigns are designed to take advantage of the most effective marketing channels available, which may depend in part on the nature of your business.
They need to be integrated to ensure a consistent message across channels, and they need to be carefully designed. For most businesses, this means seeking expertise to put the campaign together.
What are the Elements of a Well-Rounded Campaign?
While exact details vary, a well-rounded campaign should be put together with consideration of the following:
Mixing Traditional and Digital Channels
The campaign should cover both traditional and digital marketing. Radio is a powerful medium for marketing your business, especially local businesses. Many people still listen to the radio while commuting or working, and they may absorb your ad without even thinking about it. And people who are working from home are also listening to the radio via their computer, smart speaker or smart phone.
Digital channels, meanwhile, capture those people who don't listen to the radio or who prefer internet streaming services and podcasts for their audio entertainment.
Mixing Social Media and Content Marketing
Every business needs a social media presence these days, and it needs to be where your target audience "lives" online. Whether you should focus on Facebook, Twitter, or some other service depends on your audience. Social media draws traffic to your site. However, in most cases, these are not customers ready to buy, but people who are merely curious about your offerings.
This is where content marketing comes in. If curious social media users land on your site and are presented with useful information, they are more likely to return.
Using Newer Marketing Channels
A well-rounded campaign also takes advantage of newer channels and new technologies. One area which is not saturated is podcast ads. These ads can be very useful to reach your target audience. Host-read podcast ads are up to 50% more effective in influencing purchase behavior.
A branded podcast is essentially a form of audio content marketing, encouraging consumers into the consumer’s journey. You can even consider trading ad spots with complementary businesses.
Including Measurable Assets
Finally, your well-rounded campaign needs to provide measurable assets to track your ROI. This particularly goes for traffic from traditional media, which can be hard to track. Text keywords in your ad are a great way to measure ROI by counting the number of people who sufficiently noticed your ad to text a keyword or go to a unique number. This does require some kind of incentive, which must also be measurable: consider a concert, special offer, or discount code.
Too many small businesses put together campaigns that rely on a single channel, fail to integrate properly, and forget about valuable channels such as traditional media and new technologies. Having a well-rounded campaign will help you reach traffic and draw customers to your site. However, it's key to ensure that you do so in a measurable way so you can track ROI and know what works for your next, well-rounded campaign.
