Seven Elements of a Successful Integrated Marketing Communication Strategy.

THE ULTIMATE SMALL BUSINESS PLAYBOOK BLOG

Author:  Priscilla L. Wright, CEO and President of Integrated Marketing Communication Technologies and Change Management Solutions for PLW Marketing Group, Inc.

You are strutting through the office, very excited because you have developed a terrific product for your market that will sell like tacos on Tuesdays.  You know the principles of research and development, quality assurance, and consumer feedback.  You have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that this product will fulfill your promise of solving your consumers’ and clients’ problems.  So, you, as the millennials would say, want to be “extra” and market this product to your mass target market to gain an increase in company revenues during the 1st quarter. 

Taking control of your extreme enthusiasm, you incorporate the Five “Ps” of Marketing into your strategy – focusing on product, price, place, promotion, and people.  As you think to yourself:  I will market the promise that my product will fulfill and how it will solve my consumers’ and clients’ problems as I write out my strategy.  Then, you say out loud: “I will develop an integrated marketing communication (IMC) strategy to create and implement a well-targeted consumer relations campaign that will generate a heightened visibility and favorability for this product.”  So, you have just stated your goal. 

Okay, great!!! Then, I will tell you about the seven elements for a successful integrated marketing communication strategy to create a well-targeted consumer relations campaign for your product - guaranteed to get your product noticed and flying off the shelves.  Consider this:

•  (E1.) The BACKGROUND OF YOUR COMPANY, especially its reputation must always be above reproach. Therefore, a well-respected, highly competitive company builds high-quality products.

• (E2.)  Your AUDIENCE must be given the utmost respect and appreciation.  You as a business must have a trustworthy and engaging relationship with your audience.  You must be sensitive and responsive to their needs, dispositions, values, morals, traditions, concerns, and expectations. Your product must cater to their needs and desires.  

• (E3.) Your GOALS for this product must be clearly and objectively written in terms that reflect your company mission, vision, shareholders, corporate social responsibility to your stakeholders, and constituents.  Your goals must be feasible with socio-economic considerations of the masses in your target market. The goal is to generate heightened visibility and favorability for this product.  Further, your goal must be stated in terms that are either short-term or long-term.  A short-term goal can be a three or six-month campaign.  A long-term goal can be a six-month to a year reorganization engagement for sustainability.  Whether the goal is short-term or long-term, it must be supported by clearly defined objectives.

• (E4.) The OBJECTIVES of your goal to generate heightened visibility and favorability for this product must be stated in terms of impact and output objectives.  For example, your impact statement would be written:  to create heightened visibility and favorability of the product in the Mid-West and South-Suburban regions of Illinois by 100 percent during the holiday season until January 1, 2021.  Wow, that would be a major impact!!!  It is measurable. Hint: you will use this data during Content Analysis. Your output statement will demonstrate the use of the product – how, when, where, and why; the types of promotion; the channels of distribution; and your pricing strategy for the audience.

• (E5.)  The PROGRAMMING is how you create an overall theme for the campaign, using elements 1 - 4.  During programming, you will implement the following:

• Create a meaningful, experiential, clear,  and consistent message strategy across all your media platforms and channels

• Use controlled media, i.e., any media that is planned for promotion such as television interviews, press conferences, direct mailers, billboards, product pitches, e-press releases, e-mail campaigns, blogs, vlogs, product displays, POPs.

• Use uncontrolled media including Twitter, Facebook Ads, Linked-in Business pages, and Influencers for word-of-mouth marketing.  Now, finally, you must always use a performance measurement tool to determine how your message and promotion efforts were received by your audience.  

• (E6.)  CONTENT ANALYSIS is very important to use during your campaign to measure audiences’ reactions and responses to your campaign.  Before the advent of social media, PR agents would use news clippings to determine whether their promotions were effective or invoked a negative impact on their company.  In the 1990s, I was a media relations intern assigned to the arduous task of gathering newspapers and magazines and clipping out editorial comments related to the various campaigns for the American Lung Association of Chicago.  Six positive comments out of ten meant we were doing well – hit or miss.  However, today, it is so much easier to get immediate reactions to a campaign from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram Live, Salesforce, Infusionsoft, and many other consumer relations management (CRM) technologies.  I will discuss content analysis and CRM in detail in upcoming blogs.  The last element for a successful integrated Marketing Communication Strategy is:

• (E7.)  MILESTONES, every CEO, of every small business structure, always refers to their mission and vision statements for their company at the start of each quarter.  They prepare and revise a list of their milestones – the things they want their business to achieve – their vision.  They go through this process because being a small business owner (SMB), they know they must maintain a competitive standing during each phase of their business and product life cycle.  Therefore, the milestones are always written in the Executive Summary of the business plan and included in the company Annual Report.  Here, you will find so many goals and objectives for new strategies in IMC, MCOM, business development, co-marketing, life-cycle marketing, affiliate, and channel marketing, "influencer marketing" and even re-branding. 

So, there you have it, the “Seven Elements for a Successful Integrated Marketing Communication Strategy.”  If you enjoyed this blog post, please consider subscribing to priscilla@plwmarketinggroup.com and leaving your contact information.  If you need any advice, please visit my website at http://www.plwmarketinggroup.com on the home page and enter your information. 

*Note:  During the discussion of the (E5.) Programing, I was giving you general advice on the strategies to use in your campaign.  Obviously, I am not aware of your specific product.  If you want to receive a summary of how I can assist you in your integrated marketing communication strategy or overall business strategy, then please leave me a comment below.

*Disclaimer, we will not sell products to you nor offer you immediate access to our monthly blogs and FREE consultations without your permission.  You can tweet or like us on Facebook.  Thank you for reading our post.  Until next time, we at PLW Marketing Group, Inc. bless your small business with BIG business success!!!   

Priscilla L. Wright is an expert in the fields of Public Relations, Integrated Marketing Communications, Entrepreneurship, Business Development, Strategic Management of Brands, Business Strategy, and Contract Administration.  As the principal author and publisher for The Ultimate Small Business Playbook Blog, Ms. Wright is curating topics on IMC strategy, publicity and media campaigns, consumer relations campaigns, small business development, business strategy, strategic management for the life-cycles of your business, steps to becoming an expert consultant, contract administration and management (public sector) – all in production for you and delivered February, April, June, August, October, and December.