Go Beyond Digital to Fusion
Posted on Thursday, May 26, 2011 at 12:44 AM
Don't let digital gurus lead you astray. Here are 3 tips you can use
to advance toward a fusion approach.
By Jill Adams
So
much of the talk these days is about how publishers must adapt to
survive in our newly digitally driven world. That is equally true for
those in marketing communications, the field in which I work.
A
recent IBM study of global CMOs (chief marketing officers) found that
over 60 percent expect to continue increasing their interactive/online
spending and decrease their allocation to traditional advertising. No
doubt, it's a brave new world. But the brands and publications that will
truly rule in this new world order won't be led by digital gurus.
The
real champions will be the visionaries who advance "interactive"
communications to a new level -- where a fusion of tactics will power a
new era. That advancement to "fusion marketing" will require us all to
stop trailing after digital crazies, as well as to move beyond the
common stereotypes of integrated marketing communications.
Here
are 3 tips on what it will take for you to lead your organization into
this new Cosmos:
Tip 1
We need to go beyond
"multiple touch points" to seamless connections.
Too
many of us still plan and measure singular "transactions." How many
people read the magazine. Click on the banner. Follow us on Twitter.
Today,
consumers are driven by email to websites where they watch "TV spots"
that drive them to Facebook pages that link to feature articles
published in magazines whose ads feature QR codes that take readers to
YouTube videos.
That requires a new type of planning, one that
doesn't put each tactic into a separate box. Today we need organic
strategists -- people who can analyze each medium's specific strengths,
and synthesize how to turn those strengths to best work together to turn
consumer emotion into motion.
Stop viewing social media or any
media as a "tactic" and recognize it as just another channel in the
surround-sound that's essential to reaching today's B2B as well as B2C
audiences.
Tip 2
We need to go beyond Web
analytics to integrated analytics.
So much of the shift to
digital has been driven by the panic to prove ROI. But just because
digital advertising results are more measurable doesn't mean they are
more effective on their own.
With all the noise in the Websphere,
one timeless marketing principle is more timely than ever: People won't
want to talk to you unless they know of you. So if you are serious about
pursuing the new holy grail of "brand engagement" for your publication,
you'll also need to be smart about deploying public relations and
"transactional" advertising in a fresh way. And together you need to
develop better ways of measuring those integrated marketing results than
just clicks, likes, fans, or followers.
Tip 3
We
need to go beyond standing out to standing for something.
Of
course, getting readers and advertisers to know your publication, your
brand, is only the first step. Getting them to care about it takes
building trust -- something in very short supply these days. So
publication brands need to be more than memorable. They need to be
admirable. That means publishing organizations need to stand for
something. And publishers need to reach across the organization to work
with those involved in audience development, editorial, advertising
sales, public relations, and every other kind of relations to
collaborate on building -- and living -- your publication's brand.
These
three tips are examples of the new levels of fusion thinking that will
characterize the next generation of communication leaders.
Jill
Adams is CEO of Adams & Knight Inc. (www.adamsknight.com),
a marketing communications firm in Avon, CT, that provides strategic
research, advertising, public relations, and digital marketing services.
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