Making words work…
integrated multimedia campaigns

Is it all coming together for your business and brand communication?
Digital advertising spending is still on the rise, both for blue chip brands and small and medium businesses. Online publishers like AOL are investing more and more in developing better and more engaging online advertising devices and positions. Yet while as you'd expect some established communications media (such as listings directories) are falling in popularity, DM is alive and well, with many consumer and B2B brands planning to spend more on it, according to research last year by SME marketing specialists B2 Group.

Rumours of the death of print advertising and communication have certainly been exaggerated. Because online promotional media - from Google to brand and company websites to YouTube to Facebook ads and pages to emailshots - are so accessible for brands and businesses of all sectors and sizes, launching digital campaigns can provide inspiration and new direction for communications via traditional media alongside them.

Big brands are leading the way
The Institute of Professionals in Advertising (IPA) reports this month that multi-channel campaigns that focus on a central brand theme deliver the best return on investment.
According to the IPA, the name of the game is orchestration. This summer's nma awards recognised high profile, high budget cross-platform campaigns for the likes of Starbucks, Dulux, ASOS and Virgin Trains. This award-winning work focused on bringing together online and offline communication to merge web, mobile and local audiences and drive sales and loyalty. Diverse techniques combined to produce winning results, ranging from radio, press, outdoor and on-screen advertising, online and newspaper voucher distribution, original mobile apps and games, online and mobile discount codes, competitions and knowledge-sharing through social media and customised interactive decision-making help.

You might not have the seven figure budgets or national profile of these trailblazers, but bringing together your online and offline communication and giving your customers a way to get involved can be just as effective and is achievable even for small businesses with limited resources. The IPA's report found that advertising paired with direct marketing or sales promotion is the best way to boost sales and profit. There's a range of tools and media out there to suit every budget and ambition.

Engage your customers with interaction, even on a small budget
Being consistent and relevant is nothing new in the world of customer communication - they're watchwords worth remembering when we're looking at the vast range of innovative, exciting and sometimes off-the-wall online devices we can sign up to use to promote our businesses in just a few keystrokes or clicks. Smart media owners like AOL are helping marketers harness the power of digital media in a way that their customers truly want. With large-scale research budgets and access to a huge number of consumers and businesses, they've refined their online media ad spaces in Project Devil to deliver the best experience for customers and the best response for advertisers. The new ads appear as the sole paid for feature of decluttered pages and have a much more editorial feel. According to aol, they're designed not to distract but, as in other media, "ads are part of the experience. Far from detracting from the writing or programming, they contribute to it." They offer three engaging messages or content options (such as a product image, a quiz and an opportunity to find out more) and encourage the viewer to interact with the ad in a way that's useful and enjoyable to them. The style isn't gimmicky or flashy - it reflects recognisable brand values and presents the content as authoritative, trustworthy and relevant. There's scope for more meaningful copy in a clear layout that the site user will quickly come to know.

Backing campaigns like these with direct mails and referring on- and offline customers to event, product or brand websites is now standard practice. Business directories are in decline because the vast majority of product and service buyers, whether consumer or business, will seek more information online about the things they want or have heard about offline. Keeping the message, the approach and the style consistent across these media, and offering engaging and relevant content, is more important than ever, as customers swap effortlessly between different communication channels.

Plan communications with overlap in mind
With so many tools and channels at your disposal, it's vital to come up with a clear overall plan and to look at the relationships between all of your communications media. Cross-pollination from one channel to another will give your products, brand or services more presence and reinforce their credibility and desirability. To get the most from your investment, whether it's a few pounds or tens of thousands, you'll want to provide original and relevant content and offer the opportunity to participate using the strengths of interactive media, all the while making sure everything is clearly unified around your brand or message.

Adapting your approach for different media is key
There are challenges in executing multi-media campaigns successfully. There's a big difference between the language and style you'd use in an online ad, on a social media page and in a four page direct mail. Making sure that they're still on-brand and consistent with your messages and positioning is something a good copywriter can use their experience of working with many different media to do. A writer who is commercially and customer-focused will be able to help you create new content that's right for the channels it's used in, whether that means data-led papers, discussion and commentary in the B2B sector or competitions, light-hearted quizzes, recommendations and reviews for consumer products. They can tailor your messages for different audiences who are likely to engage first through different media - for instance an emailshot to existing customers, targeted online ad copy for new customers, Facebook page content, blog posts, your basic webpage content and news updates, a customer newsletter on- or offline and ongoing customer communications about orders placed and work in progress.

Affordable, expert help with original, on-target content is at hand
Whatever the size of your business, I can help you get your communications working together. I can recommend and research content and turn it into copy that'll extend your current marketing activities into new channels and engage customers with information and activities that are useful and appealing. However your customers and prospects choose to interact with you, a well orchestrated, integrated campaign will keep your brand, products and services in their minds and make sure they always have a positive reason to come back to your business.

View the IPA report preview on YouTube

Charlie Hobson
July 2011