Depending on what vendor is selling what product, cross media or cross channel marketing is presented differently. Most combine one, or at best two, media and claim to provide a “solution” to the cross media marketing challenge. The truth of the matter is that no special software is required to execute truly integrated cross media campaigns. They can help, certainly, but are not required. Do not feel obligated to spend thousands of dollars on software or services to begin a vibrant and effective cross media strategy.
Simply adding a Personalized URL (PURL) onto a printed piece does not a cross media marketer or solution make.
By taking a few moments to consider these easy to avoid mistakes when creating campaigns, marketers can greatly improve response rates, conversions, customer satisfaction and ROI.
x Not taking the first steps
It may be daunting to coordinate marketing efforts across channels. In small firms there just isn’t enough time and in large ones politics and cross departmental coordination makes any task difficult. The opportunity cost of not making this effort a priority is so high that it makes sense to avoid the following errors, most of which are quick and easy to execute.
x Not considering marketing efforts
across channels as related
Most marketers overlook the fact that every campaign can be coordinated with minimal effort and without a major overhaul to existing efforts. Use unique phone numbers, web addresses and landing pages to track response and collect all the response metrics in one place. Excel will do if there is no better option or the budget is just not available for a sophisticated solution. Managers with different areas of responsibility must be forced to coordinate their efforts across all product lines and channels. Every touch is valuable and too expensive to waste.
x Relying on one channel
In many cases marketers tend to focus on one or two channels. Even sophisticated organizations which utilize a broad spectrum of media tend to foucs their efforts on a few core medium. It is well established that customers are more likely to buy in their preferred channel if they have been touched by another. Direct mail drives internet sales and websites drive brick and mortar purchases. Coordinating channels, and putting a mechanism in place to allow customers to let you know their preference, will dramatically improve marketing effectiveness.
x Using a weak web address
Some firms will use a special web page on their main site, like www.acme.com/offer to try and track a specific offer but the “/offer” is often truncated by the respondent. By changing the web address to www.acmeoffers.com, relevant content is served. This is especially true of broadcast media where the link is not in front of the user.
x Ignoring the power of the landing page
What radio, TV, print, direct mail or email advertisement today does not include a web address? From NPR, Field & Stream, and the internet, copywriters casually throw in the company website as a response channel. There is no way to tell if the traffic came from SEO, paid search, or a printed piece. Additionally, the content seen by visitor is not specific to the advertisement that drove them to the site in the first place. The benefit of the driver is lost.
