Integrated Marketing Communication for a Modern Company

The term "Integrated Marketing Communication" (IMC) is frequently used in a broad sense to describe various marketing communication processes and concepts. Although marketing communications is a broad field, IMC typically focuses on the following five marketing communication processes: Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Search Marketing, and Affiliate Marketing. Marketing Communications describes the use of many different communication channels and resources in combination to reach out to your target audience. Marketing communication channels include search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing, email marketing, and display advertising. Marketing communication goals include increasing brand and product awareness, building customer loyalty, increasing sales, and increasing company revenues.

The concept of integrated marketing communication is extremely effective because it combines traditional methods of direct marketing with the Internet and other online advertising techniques. When an integrated marketing communication process is properly integrated with existing advertising and other promotion methods, it is far more likely to be well received by your targeted end-users. Most Internet users have access to a wide variety of media, including search engines, social networking sites, email, instant messaging, and even video. Because of this, any marketing message is always well received by a targeted audience and can easily target the appropriate audience, resulting in a greater return on investment (ROI) for your company.

In order to effectively implement an integrated marketing communication strategy, you must first determine your brand message and what message best represents your brand. Your brand message will be everything from what your company does to who you are as a company. In many ways your brand is similar to your product or service. For example, if you sell repair services, your brand may represent yourself, your business, and perhaps a reference to a specific type of car. Your brand message should be consistent throughout your entire marketing communication and it is important to make sure that your brand message is consistent with what you are offering your consumers.

In the past, many companies adopted a one-for-a-time strategy when implementing an integrated marketing communication strategy. However, recent changes in how the marketplace approaches communications have made it necessary for businesses to adopt a more holistic marketing strategy. Holistic marketing consists of several elements; including cross promotional advertisements, providing value to your customers, providing information and entertainment to your consumers, as well as maintaining communication with your customers. Although all of these components are important, most businesses need channels that will generate the maximum return on investment for their marketing dollars.

In addition to an integrated marketing communication strategy, businesses need their other marketing efforts to mesh well with their integrated marketing strategy. Therefore, many companies now use multi-channel strategies to maximize their ROI. These multi-channel strategies often include an on-site location, such as a store or website, as well as on-line, as is often the case with video branding. Video branding helps to brand your organization by delivering your message in an entertaining format, as well as allowing consumers to easily remember your company's name.

Another example of integrated marketing communication tools includes the domino effect. The domino effect is when one tool causes another to happen. For example, if you take the example of integrated marketing communication with video branding, you would first create a positive association between your company and video. Consumers would then be more likely to purchase a product from your company based upon this positive association. The second step would be to establish a domino effect to affect people's purchasing decisions based upon the initial positive association.

One example of integrated marketing communication that utilizes the domino effect is mobile marketing. Mobile marketing is growing at a rapid pace, and businesses who adopt an integrated marketing communication approach can utilize this powerful new form of communications to boost their brand recognition and overall profits. By establishing a long-term relationship with mobile consumers, as well as offering consumers the opportunity to subscribe to mobile coupons, you can greatly increase your company's overall profit margin.

Finally, integrating your promotions with your long-term promotional plan can offer consumers a seamless way to enjoy all the benefits of mobile marketing without missing any of your company's promotions. This type of communication allows your brand to evolve and adapt with the consumer market. Implementing an integrated marketing communication plan will allow you to expand your business and increase your profits at the same time.