Deliver a more powerful, on-point speech. Read on
Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC): Defined
Integrated marketing communications (IMC) is a concept “officially” formalized in 1989.
Although released 25 years ago, the buzzphrase is only now rising to the top of communications conversations. This has a lot of people asking, “What is IMC, and what does it mean?” It also has a lot of marketing, advertising and public relations wondering what their futures will look like, especially as the concept continues to build momentum.
Here’s my definition of integrated marketing communications, and where I see it’s role in the future.
IMC is an Overarching Philosophy
The easiest way to think of integrated marketing communications is as an overarching philosophy that unites marketing, advertising and public relations with centralized goals, strategies and brand consistency.
Tearing Down Traditional Walls
The above being said, this approach tears down the fortified, high-standing walls traditionally built between marketing, advertising and public relations professionals.
It’s not only common for companies to have separate departments for marketing, advertising and public relations, but terribly enough, these departments often have serious issues communicating with one other. This causes them to act independently from one another and can create serious brand messaging issues.
In the world of integrated marketing communications, marketing, advertising and public relations professionals exist in one department. They’re overseen by a managerial team that unifies the efforts and goals into a consistent, powerful stream.
Tactic Reinforcement
Unified efforts go even further–each set of tactics under the traditional three practices are built to reinforce and support one another.
Needs-Based
Integrated marketing communications is needs based. If your organization doesn’t require a particular tactic under the marketing umbrella then it won’t be recommended. If your needs and goals call for a tactic under the advertising umbrella then it will be utilized and sculpted consistently with other necessary strategies identified by thorough research.
Although it doesn’t always occur this way, some professionals who only practice one specialty–such as purely social media marketing–will try to sell you social media whether or not you actually need it.
You can always bet that an integrated marketing communications firm will “sell” you only what they feel is necessary based on your needs.
Serious Role and Mindset Shifts–High Accountability and ROI
A traditional viewpoint held by agencies is “low accountability” for their actions and work. Integrated marketing communications, however, transforms this mindset into one of high accountability.
And rather than regular compensation for services, it puts emphasis on performance-based compensation focused on your organization’s return on investment (ROI).
IMC is Here Now–It’s Just Informal
Every firm out there may not be advertising that they stem operations from an “integrated marketing communications perspective,” but that doesn’t mean that they don’t follow the philosophy. A high volume of firms serve clients this way without officially announcing it.
The buzzphrase hasn’t risen to the top of every conversation, but it’s being practiced by an abundance of professionals every day.
The Future Brings Abundance
Since many firms are practicing this already, I predict that more and more of them will rebrand themselves with more integrated marketing communications terminology, especially as the concept continues to become more prevalent.
5 Tips to More Successful Billboards
It’s worth mentioning that in the advertising world billboards happen to start at fairly expensive rates, especially when you place them in the right locations. That’s why it’s important to properly evaluate your budget and get the most out of your money by doing it correctly.
Here are five tips to more successful billboards:
1.) Less is More
This concept couldn’t be more relevant than with billboards.
You only have a few seconds to transfer your message to passerby’s viewing your advertisement. Most of them are driving past them at high speeds, which dramatically shrinks your window of opportunity.
Keep the following in mind:
- Keep your use of images down (1-2 featured images max)
- Make sure your background image isn’t distracting
- Keep your use of colors to a minimum
- Or make sure your colors blend together well, contrast against your font color and don’t take away from the message
- If you can’t say it in eight words then you need to reevaluate
- People don’t have time to read long sentences–remember, they’re usually driving by
2.) Refine Your Messaging to Perfection
Your messaging might make sense to your designers or marketing/advertising department. Ask yourself though, does it make sense to your target audience?
Make sure your message is immediately clear and the call to action is apparent–jargon will kill your messaging attempts. It’s always a good idea to support your efforts with a purpose statement. Even if it’s obvious, make sure you have a formalized declaration of why you’re doing this.
Also, as I said above, if you can’t transfer it in eight words or less then it isn’t refined enough. Go back to the drawing board and rework it.
3.) Test Your Messaging
With your formalized purpose statement in mind, test your messaging.
It’s incredibly helpful to have a mock up of your billboard–maybe on a large-sized poster or an iPad. Have your employees take it home to test with their families, friends and associates.
What do outsiders say about your messaging and your design? Does it make sense to them? Do their impressions align with your purpose statement?
4.) Ask Yourself, “Is This Appropriate?”
Without a purpose statement and testing, billboards run the risk of stirring the wrong emotions.
This seems like common sense, but people still make egregious mistakes in this arena. Most of the time this is because, again, your organization finds it acceptable without testing the messaging.
While you’re running through testing, keep a specific notation of outsider impressions. Did someone say it offended them? Ask why. Treat it carefully and take action.
A general rule to keep in mind with your integrated marketing communications philosophy–the overall consistency surrounding your marketing, advertising and public relations efforts–is to unite your audience around your organization rather than divide them.
The above example might’ve made a few men laugh (some sleazy ones), but it made a whole lot of women angry (and rightfully so). This is an example of dividing an audience rather than uniting them. Avoid doing this at all costs.
5.) Measure Your Success
There’s no excuse for not measuring this medium.
Billboard companies may give you an estimate of impressions–or how many people see the billboard–but you need to take this a step further.
Chart your billboard’s active presence with website traffic, store visits, social media engagement and other factors. Evaluate this information to make better advertising decisions and discover the old age question: did it work?
Our 3 Favorite Ways to Celebrate Independence Day
A day earlier prior to this event, John Adams wrote the following to his wife Abigail.
“The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”
Much like Adams encouraged, we continue as a nation to celebrate and commemorate Independence Day with a variety of activities.
Here are our three personal favorite ways to spend the day:
1.) The Hall of Presidents in Disney’s Magic Kingdom
Housed in a 700-seat theater, Disney’s Hall of Presidents presents all 43 U.S. Presidents “on stage together in a patriotic celebration tracing the history of the United States.”
The presentation showcases a film and concludes by revealing a stage of all the presidents in “Audio-Animatronic” form. These human-like figures deliver speeches with startlingly realistic poise.
It’s not only a must-see for anyone visiting Disney’s Magic Kingdom in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, but is a great way to celebrate Independence Day.
2.) Fireworks by the Beach
It’s one thing to view fireworks, but it’s another experience entirely to see them while you’re staying at the beach.
One of our favorite vacation spots is a hidden gem known as Pawleys Island, South Carolina. Unlike a lot of other beach destinations, this particular location isn’t overpopulated or over-commericialized.
Murrells Inlet puts on a phenomenal show every July 4th starting at 10 p.m. that’s easily visible from the Marsh Walk. I recommend that you head up a few hours early to enjoy the wide selection of restaurants, bars and live music.
3.) Beer-Swap Cook Out
There are plenty of fun ways to celebrate right where you’re at.
Shake up your usual cook out by encouraging all of your guests to bring a different kind of beer. Also mandate that they bring varieties that strive from the norm–a.k.a more crafty kinds of beers.
When they all show up, you’ll have a diverse selection to enjoy and try to accompany your classic cook out.
What are your favorite ways to celebrated Independence Day?
4 Unique Quirks of Pittsburgh Marketing Firms
Most marketing firms are naturally composed of eclectic teams of quirky people.
Pittsburgh marketing firms, however, are an entirely different bunch. In addition to the idiosyncrasies expected of most eccentric professionals–including creativity superstitions and coffee addiction–we bring a few of our own unique to our location.
Here are four quirks of Pittsburgh marketing firms:
1.) We All Know Each Other in Some Way
A friend of mine recently said that most Pittsburgh marketing firms are “basically interconnected” and that “Pittsburgh’s size creates this feeling that we’re all on the same team.” Ask any marketing professional about any other and they’ll more than likely say yes or that they’ve at least heard of them.
This may be the case in other cities, but I’m willing to go out on a limb and say that it’s not to the extent of the Pittsburgh scene. Competition naturally exists, but at the end of the day, we recognize and applaud each other’s work. This reflects the larger community of Pittsburgh. Because of its diversity of neighborhoods and people–as well as its smaller size–everyone seems to know everyone.
2.) We’re Late to Meetings Because of the “Tunnel Monster”
If we’re ever late to a meeting because of what we call the “Tunnel Monster,” I promise that we’re not making excuses.
Most cities experience heavy traffic patterns, but we only seem to truly suffer from one major obstacle on our commutes–the Squirrel Hill Tunnel.
For whatever the reason, drivers seem to start hitting the brakes when they approach this tunnel. Because of this, traffic will back up in tremendous volumes for no justifiable reason. This even happens at “off” times of day and causes a lot of Pittsburgh marketing firms to be late for meetings.
Oddly enough, as soon as you make it through the tunnel, traffic returns to a normal pace. It’s maddening to experience when you need to get somewhere.
This isn’t a new concept either. The photo below is an example of traffic back up before the tunnel in 1954.
3.) We Know Where the Closest Primantis is By Heart
Primanti Bros. is a famous Pittsburgh icon. The restaurant serves their “Almost Famous” sandwiches, which are composed of coleslaw, tick-cut fries and your choice of meat.
If you’re ever looking for amusement, ask a Pittsburgh marketing firm where the closest Primanti Bros. restaurant is. You’ll be surprised at how precise their answer is.
For example, I hosted a friend of mine a few months ago. Prior to his visit I told him that he had to try one of the sandwiches before his time in Pittsburgh was over.
He visited my office one day and asked me during the lunch hour where the closest location was.
Without even blinking I repeated, “4.8 miles.”
4.) Most of Our Company Outings Have to Do with Black and Gold
There’s no doubt about it–Pittsburgh is a city that is obsessed with its sport teams.
For this reason, most Pittsburgh marketing firms share their company outings with the Pirates, Steelers and/or Penguins.
Don’t believe me? Check any firm’s Facebook/Instagram accounts and you’ll see what I mean.
What are the marketing firms in your city unique for?
Differences Between Black Hat, Gray Hat & White Hat SEO
The truth of the matter is that not all SEO practitioners follow the same rules. This being said, it’s extremely important to understand the differences between the three major philosophies when exploring service providers.
Here are the differences between Black Hat, Gray Hat and White Hat SEO methods:
Black Hat SEO
Black Hat SEO is an aggressive, volatile and Google-discouraged method of approaching the SEO ranking process. Specific tactics are aimed primarily at quick–often non-stable–ranking results.
These tactics are designed for search engines and not human users and include:
- Keyword Stuffing
- Invisible text
- “Doorways”
- Changing a website entirely after it’s been ranked by search engines
Although you may experience a spurt of financial gain, Black Hat SEO is risky.
Beware: Black Hat SEO runs a high risk of getting your website banned by search engines.
Gray Hat SEO
The middle-ground philosophy between Black Hat and White Hat SEO techniques.
Gray Hat SEO pushes more than White Hat SEO, but not to the point where your website will get banned (in most cases) like you often find with Black Hat SEO. Regardless, you still need to be cautious of the employed tactics because they may still venture into Black Hat SEO territory and result in search engine penalties.
These tactics include:
- Unnaturally high keyword density
- Duplicated content across several websites (Google sees this as spam and punishes accordingly)
- Irrelevant link building
- Three-way linking
White Hat SEO
White Hat SEO is the most accepted and ethical route. It puts equal consideration on search engines and human users without risking penalties.
Although it’s considerably slower than Black Hat and Gray Hat SEO, it creates long-lasting marketing assets and results.
These are probably tactics you’ve heard of including:
- Keyword research
- Natural keyword inclusion in page titles, headings, anchor text, content and alt tags
- Monitoring and adapting to analytics
- Creating regular content
- Search engine optimized coding structures
- Site maps
It’s Important to Ask Where People Stand
When inquiring with an SEO company or professional, be sure to figure out exactly where they stand.
At the end of the day, you’re putting your brand on the line. Never forget that.