Marketing is the process of developing products and services, promoting them to targeted customers, completing sales, and providing follow up service activities. The promotional element is critical in attracting customer interest and persuading customers to buy your brand over competitors. Integration of promotional activities is critical to long-term brand building.
Consistency is one of two critical "c" concepts in integrating promotions. To build your brand, persuade customers, gain market share, and achieve long-term loyalty, you must present consistent messages. Your messages must consistently depict your core benefits, such as product quality or service, to avoid confusion. Subsequently, your products and services must deliver on the commitments in your promotions.
The other prominent "c" word in promotional integration is coordination. Marketing and promotions should be the result of clearly planned out strategies. The timing, selection and longevity of promotions through various media is critical to reaching customers and impacting them. As an example, a company promoting itself as wholesome and family-friendly can strengthen this perception by using public relations and community involvement to support advertising.
In developing a promotional plan, you also need to consider the reach of your target market and how media helps you gain coverage. Reach is the total number of customers you can get your message to through your media mix. The ability to get your message in front of a high percentage of your audience is critical to gaining recognition and sales. In some local markets, radio and newspapers offer affordable ways to reach much of a community, but those options aren't as selective as magazines and television, which are more expensive. Some companies opt for a concentrated media mix, while others use multiple media in an assorted mix to reach their audience.
Along with reach, it is important to gain repetition with each target customer. When developing promotional plans, you also have to budget to hit each customer multiple times. It usually takes several exposures to a message before it resonates with and impacts a buyer. Along with using paid advertising, you can use any available public relations activities to gain awareness without the expense.