3 Steps to Fast-Tracking Your Marketing Efforts

Don’t you just love the feeling of accomplishment you get after you hit the send button on your completed newsletter? You've checked another task off your to-do list and are ready to move on to other marketing activities, such as brainstorming questions for a Facebook poll or writing and designing an event invitation.

If the process of tackling marketing projects one by one sounds familiar, it's time to change things up. Did you know there’s a lot to be gained when you tie your tasks together? Along with saving time, you’ll be able to more fully engage your customers and grow your business.

Bundling Things Up

But moving from individual marketing tasks to integrated campaigns requires a strategic and coordinated approach so that whenever a customer is looking for a product or service you offer, all roads will lead back to your business. For example, let's say you own a kitchen goods retail store. Here’s how you could execute an integrated marketing campaign that promotes in-store cooking lessons with a popular local chef while also showcasing the items in your store.

1. Start with email. The content in your newsletter may include a secret family recipe, cooking tips from the local chef, information on the class or an offer that inspires readers to try out the chef’s restaurant. In the confirmation email to class participants, include a special offer on your products that customers can redeem within a month of the cooking lesson. Also, don’t forget to always include a social sharing bar in your messages so subscribers can easily pass along your content through email and social media.

2. Move on to social media. Post a captivating image on your Pinterest board, such as an elegant dinner party showing delighted guests eating from place settings that are available in your store. When Pinterest members click on the dinnerware photo, they’ll be taken to your website, where they can buy your products. For Twitter followers who may not have seen your newsletter, tweet about the contest you've set up for customers to win a private cooking lesson with the chef. Be sure to include links back to the pages on your website where customers can learn more.

3. Add links on your website to engage customers. Once on your site, customers will learn more about your business and the upcoming cooking class. You might want to include cooking tips from the chef to pique their interest. If they click the Like button on your homepage, they’ll be taken to your Facebook business page where they can read the engaging dialog you have with customers and enter your contest.

This example illustrates how any small-business owner can ensure that all online and offline roads converge through integrated marketing efforts.

Three Steps to Start

At first, it may seem like a lot of work to include all these channels in one campaign. However, you’ll discover that over the long haul an integrated campaign saves you time and can yield stronger results, especially when you follow these three steps: 

1. Focus on a specific campaign as opposed to one-off marketing tactics. Think about the big picture instead of just small efforts to attract business.

2. Identify the specific marketing channels you’ll use. Choose the ones you think will work best for each campaign.

3. Consistently use your campaign theme in all your marketing efforts. This will reinforce your brand while eliminating the need to develop entirely fresh content. Just be sure to adjust your messages to reflect the medium you’re using. 

By putting just a little more thought into your marketing efforts, you can increase your reach and attract more business.

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