Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)
The 21st century provides a competitive environment for marketing managers. Various media, fragmentation of customers’ target, and technological innovation are the important things that marketing managers should consider before choosing the marketing communication channels to promote their products. (Kitchen, P. J., & Burgmann, 2010)
Integrated Marketing Communication is a method to distribute consistent messages to prospective consumers by utilizing various media such as Television, Radio, Magazines, Websites, Social Media, and Mobile phone applications. (University of Minnesota Libraries, 2015)
Why are integrated marketing communication plans so important to marketers?
Integrated Marketing Communication helps to distribute coordinated and consistent messages over various marketing communication channels. This concept emphasizes the importance of stakeholder groups and personalization of each consumer’s target market which builds strategic relationships that will increase customer loyalty (Kitchen, P. J., & Burgmann, I., 2010).
In this modern world, customers have access to gather information about the products from various media. By applying Integrated Marketing Communication, marketing managers can harmonize the messages to develop the brand images and strengthen the customer relationships (University of Minnesota Libraries, 2015).
Benefits of Integrated Marketing Communication
Improve Customer Relationships — The IMC helps customers to move through the marketing funnel stages effortlessly. IMC also facilitates real-time communication between the customers and sellers conveniently. Hence, this will support the marketing managers to establish and cultivate customer relationships (Reliving MBA Days, 2013).
Improve Cost Efficiency — By implementing the IMC, marketing managers don’t have to create different messages for each marketing channel, simply utilize the same message for the various platform to reduce the marketing cost (Joshua Lyons Marketing, 2021).
Improve Effectiveness — a consistent message is more impactful compared to jumbled multiple messages. Therefore, by using IMC, the consistent message through various channels might be able to attract the customers effectively (Reliving MBA Days, 2013).
Improve Brand Image — Sending a consistent brand message across various media, and having a uniform style guide, fonts, logo, voice, and brand characters will improve the consistency that will build customer trust (Joshua Lyons Marketing, 2021).
Improve ROI — The return on investment will be improved significantly by generating sales that come from the consistent uniform messages distribution by using various media (Joshua Lyons Marketing, 2021).
Challenges of Integrated Marketing Communication
Rapid Growth in Technology — The technology growth might fairly affect the internet and database marketing. The marketing managers should ensure that they have the necessary technology to implement the integrated marketing program for realizing the IMC itself (David, 2019).
Internal Conflict — A traditional organization that employs a hierarchy system might have issues to implement IMC due to disapproval by the top management. (David, 2019)
Complicated Implementation — Marketing managers need to create a comprehensive IMC plan that consists of various media management to get the right results (Agency Inc, 2020).
Hard to Measure — Measurements of success will be more complicated as the company work through many marketing communication channels (Agency Inc, 2020)
Identify a primary benefit of advertising online
Conforming to Leonard (2019), online advertising can target the right consumers effectively and efficiently by personalized ads that are catered based on the user’s internet habits such as their past search on Google and/or online purchasing history.
Major advertising decisions to promote a product
To make the right decision for advertising a product, Companies should do these practical steps:
- Identify the target market — Company A needs to know who will be their main market. For example, if they brand their product as an energy drink they might see the young people age 15–40 who love sports as their target market (Juneja, 2021).
- Build the branding — Companies should build branding for their products. The logo, style guide, color, brand message, and brand character, are essential for getting the customer attention (Juneja, 2021)
- Setting Advertising Objective — According to Principles of Marketing (2015), the company should determine the objective of the advertising based on its marketing mix, Product Life Cycle, or the purpose of the advertising itself whether it to educate, convince, or remind the customers
- Create the Advertising Plan — Companies can implement the IMC approach in this step. By looking at their target consumer's habit, the company might be able to determine which marketing communication channels that can reach the target market effectively and efficiently.
Conclusion
Integrated Marketing Communication is one of the relevant approaches to reach customers efficiently by sending a uniform, consistent message across various communication channels. The company needs to know its customers’ habits and behavior so that it can reach out to them accordingly.
References
David, J. (2019, January 13). Challenges of integrated marketing communication. EASY MANAGEMENT NOTES. https://www.easymanagementnotes.com/challenges-of-integrated-marketing-communication/
IMC — Benefits and challenges. (2013, June 2). Reliving MBA Days. https://relivingmbadays.wordpress.com/2013/06/02/imc-benefits-and-challenges/
Juneja, P. (2021). Creating integrated marketing communication plan. Management Study Guide — Courses for Students, Professionals & Faculty Members. https://www.managementstudyguide.com/creating-integrated-marketing-communication-plan.htm
Kitchen, P. J., & Burgmann, I. (2010, December 15). Integrated marketing communication. Wiley Online Library. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/9781444316568.wiem04001
Leonard, K. (2019, February 6). The advantages of advertising on the internet. Small Business — Chron.com. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-advertising-internet-4028.html
Principles of marketing. (2015). University of Minnesota Libraries
The pros and cons of integrated marketing. (2020, October 20). Agency Inc. https://www.agencyinc.co.uk/blog/pros-cons-integrated-marketing/
The importance of having integrated marketing communications. (2021, February 20). Joshua Lyons Marketing. https://jjlyonsmarketing.com/resources/the-importance-of-having-integrated-marketing-communications-imc/
Note:
This article is written based on University of The People Marketing Management (BUS 5112) written assignment by Fristy Tania in October 2021
