What do we know about IMC

An early definition of integrated marketing communications (IMC), A more current definition of integrated marketing communications (IMC), What importance of IMC is growing, The four stages model of integrated marketing communications (IMC)

1. Chapter Two What we Know About IMC

2. Learning Objective An early definition of integrated marketing communications (IMC ) A more current definition of integrated marketing communications ( IMC) Why has IMC become more important? The four stages model of integrated marketing communications (IMC)

3. An early definition of integrated marketing communications (IMC ) The following definition is from 1989 and it was developed by the  American Association of Advertising Agencies : Integrated marketing communications is a concept of marketing communications planning that recognizes the added value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of variety of communication disciplines – for example, general advertising, direct response, sales promotion, and public relations – and combines these disciplines to deliver clarity, consistency, and maximum communications impact.

4. Let’s explore this definition a little further. Firstly, it lists the main communication tools are available at that time (obviously before the time of online marketing and social media). At the end of its definition, it highlights that the goal of IMC is to act effectively in a synergetic manner and deliver consistency and maximum impact. This is consistent with the first stage of IMC development, which is discussed in a separate note . It assesses the strategic impact of IMC, as highlighted in the first part of the definition, by stating “evaluates the strategic roles of variety of communication disciplines” – while this sounds strategic, and is really suggesting that each communication tool has a different role to play in an overall communications plan.

5. A more current definition of integrated marketing communications (IMC ) Here is an IMC definition provided by Don Schultz, which more accurately reflects the current understanding of integrated marketing communications: Integrated marketing communication is a strategic business process used to plan, develop, execute and evaluate coordinated, measurable, persuasive brand communications programs over time with consumers, customers, prospects, employees, associates and other targeted relevant external and internal audiences. The goal is to generate both short-term financial returns and build long-term brand and shareholder value .

6. Learning Objective How has the concept of integrated marketing communication evolved?

7. Broader than just consumers The audience is much broader than just consumers. While communicating to consumers obviously remains very important and probably the focus of communication for most firms – firms also need to consider internal marketing communication (employees), current and potential strategic partners, influencers , financiers , the media, lobby groups, and so on.

8. A more strategic process It operates at top level and is now considered a key strategic process. The goal of being “integrated” refers to much more than just a tactical coordination of various communication tools, but essentially becoming an organization that integrates marketing into its core operations and central strategy.

9. Data-driven, measured and provides a financial return Marketing communication strategy, which is obviously a subset of the overall marketing strategy for the organization, needs to be more analytical, data driven, utilizing marketing experiments – to enable clear decisions to be made (in regards to the media and message strategies) that are based on real consumer behavior.

10. Online shopping Behaviors

11. Long and short-term goals The end goal of IMC activities is to build both short and long-term value in primarily in terms of ongoing profitability, growth and brand equity.

12. How has the concept of integrated marketing communication evolved ? Therefore, we see the need to trade off short-term and long-term objectives (which can sometimes be in conflict) and we see the basis of profitability and growth stemming from a strong brand equity – where brand equity delivers high brand awareness, price premium, greater market share, stronger customer loyalty and so on.

13. Why has integrated marketing communications (IMC) become more important?

14. A wider choice of communication tools With the advent and adoption of the Internet and social media, business organizations have a much broader range of communication tools that can be effective. It is possible in today’s world to build a strong brand using online means without the aid of advertising support – and Google would be a good example of this phenomenon. This means that firms need to have a greater understanding of the array of communication tools available to them, understand their individual roles, understand how they can work together in synergy, and structure them together appropriately.

15. A wider choice of communication tools With the advent and adoption of the Internet and social media, business organizations have a much broader range of communication tools that can be effective. It is possible in today’s world to build a strong brand using online means without the aid of advertising support – and Google would be a good example of this phenomenon. This means that firms need to have a greater understanding of the array of communication tools available to them, understand their individual roles, understand how they can work together in synergy, and structure them together appropriately.

16. Less effective mass media Along with the shift towards other media and communication choices, the overall impact of mass media (primarily TV advertising) has reduced. In the old days, it was possible to have a TV commercial exposed to a large proportion of the overall population through TV advertising alone. media consumption has fragmented and people are consuming a greater diversity of media, this is no longer as effective and requires the use of additional communication tools.

17. Smaller market segments The traditional family structure has given way to a greater diversity of household and family structures – in addition, there are greater variations in lifestyles and consumer needs. This means that the average brand needs to more selectively target small market segments. This obviously creates the need to use more specialized media and communication tools to more directly target the end consumer.

18. Customer databases and marketing insights

19. Customer databases and marketing insights T echnology is not only provided people with broader access to information and alternatives to shopping behavior, but it has provided companies with an enormous amount of information and data about consumers, their behavior, and their responsiveness to marketing mix changes. This means that the communication strategy can be more based on research and database analysis, than a creative big idea as would have been the case in the past.

20. Two-way messages with customers influencing brand equity communication messages are essentially a two way interactive media in the current world. In the past, brands would push out appropriate communication messages to try and persuade consumers to buy and like their products . But in today’s world of social media, bloggers, forums and lobby groups – much of the forming of the brand has passed to consumers and influencers. Therefore, it is vital companies understand this and consider this new market structure when developing an integrated marketing communications plan . Mommy Bloggers

21. The four stages model of integrated marketing communications (IMC)

22. Stages of development

23. Tactical coordination of marketing communications The organization is primarily focused on using IMC to achieve “one sight, one sound, one voice” To delivery message more effectively To apply the strength of each communication discipline.

24. Tactical coordination of marketing communications The first stage in the progression towards integrated marketing communications approach inside a company is a simple coordination across specialist areas, where they agree upon the use of a standard logo, a company slogan, corporate colors, and a general message.

25. Tactical coordination of marketing communications It is likely that various areas of marketing communication – advertising , direct marketing, sales , online and social media, and public relations – still act quite independently, yet a similar look and feel and message.

26. Tactical coordination of marketing communications Each of these functional areas would have their own goals and targets to achieve. For example , the advertising function might seek to improve brand awareness, the direct marketing area may be focused upon sales conversion rates, the public relations area might be measured upon earned media, and so on . Despite these areas using a similar approach of message and brand elements, they still generally act independently and are not strategically integrated to achieve an overall goal.

27. Redefining the scope of marketing communications the company starts to consider a broader set of touch points than its main communication tools (several of which were mentioned above ). In the first stage, the company is mainly concentrating upon the main communication tools. Second phase is when the company considers how and where a potential or current customer can become exposed or engaged with the brand .

28. Redefining the scope of marketing communications to effectively understand brand contact or brand touch points, the company tries to look at the brand through the eyes of a consumer. So in this stage, the company might consider email contact, interaction with staff, sponsorships , unplanned media attention, competitive comparisons, Information and comparison websites, retail sales people, after sales service contacts, signage on buildings, staff uniforms, word-of-mouth , and so on.

29. Application of information technology The third stage is really trying to integrate the overall communications approach, as achieved in stages one and two, across the knowledge and practices of the organization. To do this, greater use of data and information is generated and shared across their distribution channels, even extending to their retailer and supplier partners . Probably the best example of this would be in the banking sector, where the banking customer databases allow them to track each customer’s progression – either towards or away from using the company and certain products.

30. Application of information technology Therefore , over time, with the use of information, a company can get very effective about understanding and even predicting the customer’s behavior when they come into contact with various marketing communications. Part of this knowledge is built through market testing and experiments, where different communication mediums and messages and combinations are tested on a small scale before being ramped up and exposed to larger numbers of customers. Therefore, we end up with a relatively scientific approach to marketing communications.

31. Financial and strategic integration The final stage really reflects that the overall marketing function inside a large company becomes strategically and financially integrated. The starting point for all marketing communications is essentially driven by the top-level strategic plan, which then feeds down to the marketing strategy and plan, which is then effectively executed through the marketing mix elements, including marketing communications. Contrast this to the first stage listed above, there are various marketing communication specialists act relatively independently to achieve their own targets and KPI’s.

32. Some renown KPI Return on Investment (ROI) Incremental Sales Traffic Sources Purchase Funnel Goal Completion Rate Cost Per Lead Email Marketing Engagement Score Social Interactions

33. Return on Investment (ROI ) Measure the ability of marketing campaigns to generate new revenue . o calculate ROI, you will need to track the number of leads generated through each of your marketing campaigns, such as a banner ad or AdWords campaign. Next, you will need to determine the opportunity value of each lead. To calculate this, find your average value per win and divide that value by your average lead to win ratio. For example, if you know that the average value of a win is $20, and your lead to win ratio is 10:1, then you can say that the average value of a lead is $2. This number will provide an approximate value to help you assess the performance of your campaign as you bring in each new lead.

34. Success Indicator: Incremental sales are greater than campaign investment .

35. Incremental Sales Demonstrate how your marketing campaigns are resulting in increased sales revenue . For example, a banner campaign with a large volume of impressions may encourage people to complete what is called a "view through conversion." This means that a visitor may see an ad, visit the website in a separate browser tab or window, and then complete a goal without actually clicking on the banner ad. The result is the same, but the path and credit for the completion are very different.

36. Success indicators: a. Incremental sales that exceed the initial marketing investment. b. Indirect increase in sales that can be attributed to a marketing campaign.

37. Traffic Sources Understand which traffic sources are driving visitors to your website . The  Traffic Sources  metric measures which traffic sources are driving visitors to your website, and provides a comparison of each of those sources. The three main traffic sources are direct, referral, and search. a high volume of referral traffic shows that your brand or website is being talked about frequently by 3rd party websites or on social media sites.

38. Success indicators An increase in volume from any traffic source, while maintaining consistent traffic from other channels. A high or improving goal conversion rate related to any traffic source.

39. Purchase Funnel Understand your customer acquisition process from awareness to purchase . he  Purchase Funnel  analyzes your customer acquisition process to help you understand how potential customers discover your product or brand and, more importantly, how they eventually become a loyal customer. The purchase funnel (alternatively called the marketing funnel) is typically broken down into five stages: awareness, interest, consideration, preference, and purchase. 

40. Success indicators A high conversion rate through all stages of the funnel. High volume through each stage of the funnel. Improving conversion rates for stages performing poorly.

41. Goal Completion Rate The  Goal Completion Rate (GCR)  metric measures the number of people that complete a specified marketing goal, such as signing up for a trial or subscribing to a mailing list. Marketing metrics like GCR are an important part of the purchase funnel as it typically demonstrates your conversion rates from the awareness stage to the consideration stage. Similarly , GCR should be paired with sales KPIs such as your lead to win rate to provide an indicator as to the quality of leads your marketing efforts are attracting.

42. Success indicators A high goal GCR shows that your campaign is encouraging your target audience to act. A high lead to win rate shows that your campaign is generating highly qualified leads for your sales team.

43. Cost Per Lead Measure the cost-effectiveness of marketing campaigns . The  Cost per Lead  metric measures how cost-effective your marketing campaigns are when it comes to generating new leads for your sales team. This metric is closely related to other key business metrics such as the cost to acquire new customers. The purpose of this metric is to provide your marketing team with a tangible dollar figure so they understand how much money is appropriate to spend on acquiring new leads.

44. Success indicators A low cost per lead with a high volume of quality leads.

45. Email Marketing Engagement Score Measure how effective email marketing campaigns are at engaging your audience . The  Email Marketing Engagement Score  metric measures how effective your campaigns are at engaging your audience by tracking key metrics like open and click rates. Each of these metrics represents a different type of engagement which will help you assess the performance of your campaign. Open rates are linked to subject line performance, the credibility of the sender, and the time the campaign was sent; click rates, on the other hand, are indicative of how well the content resonates with the audience and the relevance of the message.

46. Success indicators A high and/or improving open rate. A high and/or improving click rate.

47. Social Interactions Measure the engagement levels of your social media campaigns. For example, one could argue that a "retweet" is more valuable than a " favourite " on Twitter because a retweet ensures the content stays in circulation longer. Similarly, different social media sites will have varying importance to your brand. One brand may find that Facebook is a hotbed of positive engagement, while another brand really hits its stride on Pinterest. As you can see, each social platform allows you to interact with your audience in a number of different ways.

48. Success indicators A high level of engagement that corresponds to the completion of key marketing objectives. Viral posts that require little or no nurturing on your behalf. Sustained engagement over a long period of time.

49. Financial and strategic integration At this level of the final stage, not only are all the improvements from the previous three stages being implemented, but the organization becomes very financially and marketing metric driven in terms of its overall marketing communications. This would mean it would look at the ROI, for example, of increasing brand awareness by 5 percentage points – and work out what impact that has over time trial rates and brand loyalty and therefore bottom line impact. This becomes increasingly challenging when companies have multiple target markets to pursue the need to consider a range of strategic initiatives. As pointed out earlier in the article, only explore percentage of organizations truly operate at the fourth stage of the model.

50. Question? CT? Presentation?