W
hen it comes to marketing, maximizing budget is always top of mind: How do we get the correct message to the target audience without overspending?
And that target audience is getting more difficult to convert. Economic pressures, such as budget constraints and tightening ROI expectations, are leading to shifts in buying behavior. B2B buying cycles are longer than ever, with spends being heavily scrutinized. B2C marketers are confronted with doubtful customers seeking trust and authenticity, along with better value.
On both sides of the marketing coin, every dollar and every impression need to work harder.
To reach these customers, many organizations divide their marketing efforts into separate paid, earned, owned and organic approaches, often allocating each of these channels to different departments and budgets. But an integrated strategy to approaching your media will unlock more value, with fewer resources, for both B2B and B2C marketers.
The good news? Today, we have the tools to make integration efficient and achievable! Paid media creates scalable visibility with precise targeting. Earned media provides customers with credibility and third-party validation. Organic media is cost-effective and long-lasting for customer engagement and loyalty. But when isolated, these channels can duplicate spend, fragment your measurement metrics, and create inefficiencies.
Below are four tips to help connect your paid, earned, owned and organic media to strengthen the reach of your message and efficiency of your marketing spend:
- Take a step back and assess: Sometimes, we’re a bit too close to the media channel we focus on. Take a step back and map where your brand currently invests in each channel and how that overlaps with other channels.
- Don’t reinvent the wheel: Content repurposing is the secret! It’s not cheating; it’s common sense. Repurposing content, such as converting white papers to infographics, into a media pitch, into a blog post, into a social post, is a great way to get your message (and hard work!) out to a larger audience.
- Look at the big picture: When reporting on the effectiveness of integrated campaigns, look at blended metrics that reflect the high-level goal, not individual channel silos, while evaluating ROI.
- Test and scale: Testing strategies and quickly (but effectively) scaling what works across your marketing channels will maximize your content and spends, especially during times of economic uncertainty.
Connecting your marketing efforts helps to maximize and reinforce the value in each channel, increasing both cost efficiency and brand trust. Ready to evaluate your brand strategy? Contact us to discuss your pain points in connecting your omni-channel efforts.
