With the emergence over the past decade of a whole host of new digital marketing channels including Instagram, Snapchat and Pinterest, and also existing media networks such as Google, Facebook and Twitter, marketing channels integration has never been more difficult or more relevant.
What is Integrated Marketing?
Integrated marketing communication (IMC) refers to the incorporation of all brand advertising strategies for promoting a particular product or service within the target clients. All facets of marketing communication work together in integrated marketing communication for improved revenue and optimum cost-effectiveness.
Here are some examples of IMC Tools that companies utilise:
Public Relations
Public relations are used to create and cultivate connections. This also establishes a reputable reputation and appearance favorable. Media relationships are a growing PR strategy, but not the only one, particularly with the rise of social media. Social networking sites can be successful relationship builders and give you the ability to demonstrate how open you are.
Public relations help businesses cultivate the relationship between the company and the consumer to ensure that after buying the product they have the best service, as well as after sales service. Not only that, it also helps to keep track of what’s going on the different networks of publicity.
Sales Promotion
Techniques for sales promotion are elements which form part of your marketing and sales plan. Designing them to blend with the other elements of communication keeps the communications coherent and can improve your promotional efforts. Sales and promotion can help create brand recognition by offering consumers enticing discounts which can also help boost sales.
Electronic Direct Mail (EDM)
Direct mail targets particular markets, likely of a certain level of income or within specified regional boundaries, so that your efforts are more concentrated. This strategy calls for action within a given period of time using mail items such as expiry date coupons, or seasonal catalogues. Company will utilise EDM to reach out through the CRM network to their current customers to educate them about the brand’s campaign or new product.
Here’s an example of an EDM:
I often receive such emails from Starbucks regarding their latest promotion, as well as updates of their new menu and merchandise. Such emails appeal to me and I often make transactions when I see there is a great deal!
Now that you have a clear idea of what IMC marketing is, let us take a look at some examples from your favorite brands:
Great Integrated Marketing Strategy Examples
Apple Inc.
A good example to look at would be Apple Inc. Their brick and mortar locations look almost similar to their website. Apple has a dynamic brand identity which combines both its physical locations and its online presence. Customers get to enjoy their signature customer experience, whether they’re shopping online or in-store.
GoPro
Go Pro is also a significant example of marketing communications that comes to mind as it has made comprehensive and reliable use of IMC components.
GoPro has perfected the use of online content to catch its target audience’s attention. The company has a YouTube channel where it looks for a multitude of videos shot with the high-quality, mini-action cam including entertaining, special and simplistically beautiful shots taken by users and the company itself to attract its target audience.
They have hundreds of thousands of follow-ups and shares on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Furthermore, they’ve used the sites to catch their fan base’s attention by sharing short, visually engaging videos with cameras. To boost SEO, GoPro has an online contest nearly every day where entrants are given the chance to win one of every product they sell and the newest camera they sell.
To end off, Integrated Marketing Communication is evolving in the new digitization age. With the introduction of new technologies, marketing campaigns are becoming more and more personalized and paving the way for the future.
If you have any other ideas about how to build an effective IMC campaign, please share it with me!
XinRui's Blog 
Hi Xinrui! I love your examples for IMC! It’s fascinating to see how brands put efforts in advertising online and giving the best customer experiences offline. I think by using digital and traditional IMC, company can easily reach out to consumers in a short period of time. What do you think? Do you think that it’s wise to have both digital and traditional IMC?
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Thanks for commenting! Great that you love the examples! I agree with that digital and traditional IMC can work together to enable company to reach out to their consumers easily. I believe that companies should not heavily depend on either traditional and digital IMC to reach out to their consumers. I feel that businesses should use a multi-channel approach that takes advantage of the unique advantages of traditional IMC, making digital IMC more convenient and usable.
Pertaining to your question, I think it’s wise for companies to have both digital and traditional IMC. I think conventional marketing approaches facilitate digital marketing efforts. The two do not work mutually exclusive. Nonetheless, some small businesses are struggling to determine what kind of marketing to do, because their budget can only apply to one or the other, not to both. Thus, it is important for such businesses to decide which marketing method works for their brands and can help them reach out to customers easily in a short period of time.
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Hey xinrui! Good post here! What do you think is the most important IMC tool in this current digital world for business to focus more on?
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Thanks for commenting! Pertaining to your question, I actually think that all the IMC tools are equally important. IMC involves putting together a range of different communication mechanisms to convey a specific message and to influence the perceptions and behaviors of customers. Thus I believe it’s important for businesses to use a range of IMC tools when implementing their marketing activities.
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Nice post! I love the way you explain the different types of IMC tools and also the examples of IMC ! I certainly agree that IMC is important too. I believe that IMC requires a lot of effort and it delivers many benefits.
However, what limitations does IMC have? The rise of technology has made digital marketing a more popular strategy for brands. So do you think that digital IMC will replace traditional IMC in the future?
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Hi Ricky, thanks for commenting! Glad that you love the examples! Pertaining to your question, I think that digital IMC will not replace traditional IMC in the future.Although digital IMC is becoming increasingly prevalent as technology grows, enabling companies to communicate with their customers like never before, IMC still involves bringing together a variety of different communication channels to communicate a particular message and influence consumer attitudes and behaviors.
Market regulation and the rise of individualized segmentation of consumers ‘tastes and desires are ongoing. IMC is definitely not an easy process, and it has both internal and external challenges to tackle. Despite its many benefits, there are many drawbacks to IMC too. There are other barriers aside from the usual resistance to change, including lack of know-how and lack of commitment to IMC.
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Nice post! I do agree that IMC is a great way to help businesses reach out to their customers. To some businesses, however, IMC could be quite off-budget because it requires lots of resources and several startups and SMEs that think that implementing IMC is not feasible to them. So do you have some marketing campaign ideas that are affordable and ideal for small businesses?
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Thanks for commenting! I do agree that some IMC tools are way too expensive.
Pertaining to your question, Forbes has come up with 7 marketing strategy ideas that are affordable and appropriate for small business. Here are some examples:
1. Social Media
2. Website – Good website with specific business details, often enhance likelihood of appearing via SEO in search engine results.
3. Business Partnerships – Seek to partner up with other local businesses and promote each other’s businesses.
Alternatively, you can visit https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikekappel/2018/02/23/inexpensive-marketing-ideas-for-small-businesses/#303d3d1d353f for more information!
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Hi gxinrui, Interesting post! I do agree that IMC is important too. Although the rise of technology has made digital marketing a more popular strategy for brands but traditional media will not be completely obsolete. But is there any other downside to IMC apart from it being expensive?
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Thanks for commenting! Pertaining to your question, other than being expensive, there are other barriers such as resistance to change, lack of know-how and lack of commitment to IMC. I believe that it’s important for companies to plan meticulously before selecting the right approaches for the business, so it can achieve the best impact.
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