Integrating Your Marketing Strategies Creatively
The best marketing strategy is one that encompasses multiple strategies and zips them up into one package. Integrated marketing isn’t a new and revolutionary idea anymore, but that doesn’t make it easy to implement once you get right down to it.
Print and social media, for instance: two very different marketing avenues. How do you make them work together to improve branding, circulation, and customer retention? Of course, you could treat them as separate campaigns…say, direct mail and a stronger Facebook ad campaign employed separately but simultaneously. That might work. You’re still reaching a broader audience than you would be with just one or the other. Many companies do this.
But sometimes it can be far more profitable to really integrate the aspects of your integrated marketing strategy. A little creativity can go a long way; especially in a day when everyone’s marketing strategy is a carbon copy of everyone else’s.
Here are four of the most promising ways of fully integrating print and social media marketing. Test these out and see how perfectly they can work together.
4 Ways to Make Print Work for Social Media Marketing Success
QR Codes: Facebook and Twitter are great places to promote discount codes and special offers because these pages tend to circulate more than your homepage does. Next time you execute a direct mail campaign, entice prospects with special offers there too, but give them a QR Code to take them to your social media page. Reason being: social media is often more interactive and interesting than your average website. If you can get customers curious about your vibrant Twitter page, there’s a good chance they’ll follow you. Now you can send them notifications from multiple places.
Clickable Paper: An up-and-coming alternative to QR Codes, clickable paper is a promising app that lets you capture a picture of an image in your smart phone without zooming in on a code or logo first. You just take the picture in the app, and you’re directed to a range of options, including an Amazon link, a YouTube video and a website. It even lets you tweet or share the information on social media channels.
Personalized URLs: Imagine reaching every prospect and customer and directing them to a customized, personalized website. Or directing them to your social media pages, depending on what you know about your target audience… That’s powerful marketing. With personalized URLs – used in conjunction with one of the first two options – you can as much as double response rates by creating relevant, personalized communications. And it’s a great way to further integrate print and social media.
On the Horizon Technology: For many available options, the technology is out there and easy to use, but there are a few creative innovations on the horizon of marketing that you should keep your eyes peeled for. For instance, a Brazilian fashion company recently put Facebook ‘Like’ pages directly into the pages of their magazine so that consumers could vote on what they liked the most. Just press the little icon on the physical page, and it goes digital. That’s a very literal application of print integrating with social media. That’s very creative marketing.
With these innovative tips I hope I’ve given you some ideas for a successful print plus social media campaign. If you have broader questions about print marketing or social media, our Superior Business Solutions sales reps are experts. So feel free to contact us HERE or call us at 800.968.1416.
