IMC is a complicated beast. After working on integrated marketing communications strategies for several years I still feel as if each new campaign is like a new romance novel, with unusual plot twists and surprise endings. Although a lot of people say they’re doing IMC, unfortunately most supposedly integrated campaigns are not really integrated in the true sense of the word.
The AMA defines IMC as “a planning process designed to assure that all brand contacts received by a customer or prospect for a product, service, or organization are relevant to that person and consistent over time.” The key words here are ALL, RELEVANT and CONSISTENT.
We’re all working on a continuum, gradually adding capability and components as we learn what mix works best for our brands. Making sure EVERY touchpoint is consistent with the other, and relevant to the message is nearly impossible in this fragmented communications world. So to borrow a phrase from a well-known 12-step group, it’s about progress, not perfection.
HOWEVER. And here comes the big BUT. I’m afraid there are a lot of people trying to catch the wave of IMC that have no idea what they’re doing. It’s really appalling and you need to make sure you’re not falling into the trap of a consultant who claims to make IMC “easy.”
To help you with these hucksters, and to help you grade your own work, here are 5 ways to know if your campaign is truly integrated:
1. You’ve articulated strategies that align with overall measurable goals. Most marketing plans, and IMC is no different, are either too theoretical or they just contain a checklist of tactics. To be integrated, a plan needs to include a set of overriding strategies that align your overall goals and objectives with tactics that can be linked, measured and adjusted as needed. A good IMC campaign is dependent on strategies. Strategies help identify the messaging channels (social media, broadcast advertising, email, etc.) you’ll be using as well as provide a strong direction so that you’re not running to and fro as you try out different methods. How do you know if something is a strategy and not a tactic? If you can execute it without any further detail, it’s a tactic. If you can envision several different ways of implementing it, it’s a strategy. Holding an event in February and inviting bloggers is a tactic. Creating an online influencer campaign that messages specific social media personalities over time is a strategy.
2. Your campaign contains an integrated strategy statement. Most people know about creative briefs that help drive advertising campaigns. IMC campaigns usually have a foundational statement that helps drive the message. Eventual messages are tested against this statement (which generally isn’t public and is usually fairly straightforward) to help maintain the RELEVANT requirement for your efforts. If there is not an underlying strategy statement or phrase, this probably isn’t IMC.
3. Your messages are translated to fit the medium or channel. If you’re seeing a brand tweet a bunch of advertising taglines, it’s not IMC. They’re simply applying advertising to social media. The best brands know how to take their underlying message and work it so it resonates with the audience in that particular channel. This is not necessarily rewritten for a different psychographic or demographic, but it’s translated so that it can be delivered in the way your audience has learned to absorb messages for that channel.
4. Speaking of audience, your target audience for an IMC campaign is necessarily VERY narrow. In order to learn how to link tactics and mix channels, you can’t achieve results with a broad audience. It would be too complicated. You’ve got to limit your possibilities to a fairly manageable number in terms of the message and the channel. This is how we achieve a CONSISTENT campaign. By keeping the audience narrow, you can target much more carefully and plan touch points over time. This helps ensure not only that the content is relevant and consistent, but the frequency is correct for the channel as well.
5. Your mix of tactics is evolving. I know of a consultant whose primary “IMC” toolkit consists of public relations and SEO. There really aren’t any other components in their arsenal, and they consider that IMC. It does involve integrating two channels, but IMC means that you’re synchronizing ALL brand contacts, not just two. And my experience has been that every brand has a relatively unique mix that delivers the most return and that the mix changes over time. As you operate your campaign, you should be constantly linking new tactics to existing combinations in order to see if that increases return.
There are a lot more factors that can help decide whether or not you’re moving toward a truly integrated campaign. Again, it’s a complicated beast. This list may help you decide whether to hire that IMC “expert” or continue to evolve your IMC skills at your own pace.
