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I have two young boys and as I watch their interaction, for the most part they get along and play well. But in a they can rocket towards extremes of “You are my best friend, I love you, let’s play together” to “It’s your fault, get out of my room, go play by yourself.” Any one who is reading this who has siblings is probably smiling.
My point is that there are many businesses, especially car dealerships, which love to remain in the extremes at times. For example a client who came to us had decided that by investing in online marketing (Digital Marketing) he had to cut out his offline marketing (traditional: TV, print, radio). Just as the siblings did, they went right to an extreme instead of mapping out a unified plan
Why do you need Unified marketing messages?
Marketing silos are killing your business. When one division of marketing does not speak to the other, money is wasted. If the offline marketers create a message without asking the online team where to drive the traffic, it may not be the best journey for the customer. On the other hand, if the online team is not using the same color scheme or look of the offline materials, then the marketing message again is confusing for the customer.
Every decision in one department of a business has an impact on another whether you are aware of it or not. Have you thought through how the decision will affect other departments? Do you know if it will be a positive or negative impact?
If you are getting more leads because of a new source of advertising, are you staffed correctly to handle? Have you factored in the expense of the new staffing on the cost per sale metric? Have you planned for higher expenses in the short term while the new advertising takes hold and business grows?
All of these questions need to be addressed before implementing a plan. Remember that you will need to have accurate reporting in order to monitor results. Being aware of results allows you to so tweak your processes and marketing efforts to maximize efficiencies.
How to create Unified Marketing Messages
Let’s give an example of how it should work if a new TV campaign is created offline.
- Offline team shows ad to online team.
- Online team creates a specific landing page for ad with same look and feel as TV campaign.
- Gives the correct URL to the offline team to place in the ad.
- Give the offline team a tracking phone number specifically for campaign
- Staff is notified internally of the ad campaign so if customers come in and mention it they understand what they are talking about
- Internal Internet or BDC department is given the phone number that will ring for this campaign.
- They are provided a specific script/messaging to deliver to those who call that specific number.
- If calls reach a certain pre-determined level, extra staffing may have to be added.
Lastly, Results are discussed at weekly meetings to monitor progress with all teams at the table. In order for a campaign to be successful, you must map out the journey the customer takes and prepare all of your team to work together towards the common success of the effort.
Siblings (or departments) should take pride in being part of the same family. There will be times where arguments are had but working together unifies the success of each other. Make sure your marketing partners share the same unified vision of working together.
If I can be of service or you would like to bounce ideas around feel free to reach out to me. I will be more than willing to help.
Glenn Pasch is the current CEO of PCG Digital Marketing as well as a writer, National Speaker and Management Trainer.
If you liked this article, please share with others and connect with me @glennpasch