Multi-channel marketing campaigns still not a reality

A new survey from Hotwire PR finds marketers struggling to integrate campaigns across marketing channels.

The survey of 300 senior marketing decision makers across industries found that nearly half (45.7 percent) generally admit that campaigns tend to work in isolation, with different channels being used to implement different campaigns. Only a third of companies think their campaigns work across channels, and over one third (35 percent) are developing specific campaigns for each channel.

"While this shows a clear focus on the channel, it can also point to the existence of silos in the department: once a campaign has been created, it is more difficult to adjust to fit other channels if everyone has started to use their budget and developed parallel campaigns," Hotwire wrote in the report.

The most common challenge companies say they face is that campaigns are not designed for multichannel integration (30 percent). Nearly the same percentage (29 percent) believe a lack of resources is to blame and 23 percent claim the difficulty to integrate campaigns is also due to the disconnect between teams implementing them. Other integration issues faced include: uncertainly of the appropriate channels to use, 21 percent; timing/planning issues, 20 percent; and too much disconnected data, 18 percent.

Multi-channel integration chart

Source: Hotwire

Asked how their marketing spend was split across channels, the leading areas were: online advertising, 52 percent; PR, 47 percent; and events, 40 percent. Rounding out the list were: offline adverting, 32 percent; social channels, 27 percent; SEO, 21 percent; and CRM, 20 percent.

Among the recommendations for creating multi-channel campaigns:

  • Plan multi-channel: Identify which channels are right for delivering a campaign. Wrote Hotwire, "If you can only think of one channel — think again, no one in the modern media landscape just consumes information from a single source."
  • Plan together: Encourage teams — including agencies — to work together at the planning stage so internal silos never get a chance to appear.
  • Tell a story: The story "makes or breaks a campaign" while channels sell it. The story should be able to be summarized in a tweet.
  • Allocate budget by needs, not by channel: All teams should understand how they can benefit from the activities on other channels or disciplines, and how to leverage them.
  • Track aggregate results: Add up the channels (cost, results) to gain a full picture of the marketing activity.

 

BrainTrust

"As the article states, it’s hard to create multi-channel marketing campaigns. The best way to overcome these difficulties is by telling a core story about the business across all channels."

Max Goldberg

President, Max Goldberg & Associates


"The problem is that marketing for most retailers is driven more by desperation than by design. Consequently they shout out all kinds of messages from any rooftop they can find hoping something sticks."

Ian Percy

President, The Ian Percy Corporation


Discussion Questions

How important is it for retailers to develop single campaigns that works across marketing channels? Do you have any suggestions beyond those mentioned in the article?

Poll

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Max Goldberg
Max Goldberg
8 years ago

As the article states, it’s hard to create multi-channel marketing campaigns. The best way to overcome these difficulties is by telling a core story about the business across all channels. Different channels require different communication. All communication should feature the same core message told in ways that best fit each channel. Getting everyone on the same page requires leadership, buy-in from all potential silos, and vigilance in tracking planning, execution and measurement.

Tom Redd
Tom Redd
8 years ago

Through the years we have faced the challenge in retail of creating a single version — a single version of inventory data, customer information and more. The same applies to campaigns and marketing efforts. No matter the campaign it must give the target audience a look at the retailer in a single vision — no matter the channel.

Key points: Plan together and allocate budget together. A strong online campaign with a weak in-store segment just trashes the whole effort.

Marketing in this new digitally-overdone world of retail demands a single-version mindset.

Mark Heckman
Mark Heckman
8 years ago

All too few retailers are able to look at the customer’s shopping patterns across multiple communication channels and touch points. Without this comprehensive view of the customer, it is very difficult to devise cogent campaign strategies that involve speaking to the shopper through their preferred venue and tailoring the message to that shopper’s activity, specifically associated with that communication channel.

It begins with having a consolidated view of the shopper. Disparate databases that do not blend or speak to each other are the inhibitor here. Fix that first and the other suggested recommendations in the Hotwire study will be much easier to execute.

Anne Howe
Anne Howe
8 years ago

A singular view of the shopper’s path to purchase that exposes all of her/his touch points with the brand and retailers is essential to success in consistency of communication across channels. That said, not all communications have to be the same, rather each channel should have communications to enhance and help the shopper on the journey.

When a brand helps the shopper accomplish the mission in the way the customer actually behaves along the path, the cohesive impact can be stellar.

That takes integrated planning across silos both on the brand and agency side. Granted it’s very hard to accomplish, but those marketers who properly manage the task get the return on investment and, importantly, the return on relationship with the shopper.

Ian Percy
Ian Percy
8 years ago

The problem is that marketing for most retailers is driven more by desperation than by design. Consequently they shout out all kinds of messages from any rooftop they can find hoping something sticks. Some of those messages/stories aren’t even theirs! They’re plagiarized from other retailers.

The hardest part of marketing isn’t choosing channels for your campaign. It’s knowing what your story is. If your story is not unique and we’ve all heard it a million times, you’re in for a tough slog. But if your story is unique and you tell it with style as well as substance, the channels will work themselves out. The key is alignment. One true story, told well, in multiple channels.

Good advice in this article. Look at that graph and you’ll see that every factor points to a lack of alignment. My only quibble is that working out the story is bullet point three. And I think it’s time we dropped the “You have to tell it in a tweet” myth. There is one exception. The more boring and old your story, the shorter it should be.

Liz Crawford
Liz Crawford
8 years ago

I think that the hardest part is measuring results. Aggregating results so that they show the real progress against all stakeholder objectives is challenging.

A ray of hope: The single-source digital measures, which are coming through Kantar and Catalina/Nielsen, will help resolve these issues. Stay tuned.

Adrian Weidmann
Adrian Weidmann
8 years ago

It is imperative that retailers and brands design and activate all advertising, marketing and promotional (AMP) campaigns to be aligned across all channels available to shoppers.

Start with understanding who the target customer is for the particular product or service. Then determine the channels that this target audience uses for each segment of their shopping journey. Then make certain you create and publish the appropriate content to the appropriate channel.

It is critical to meet the shopper on their terms — not on yours.

Matt Schmitt
Matt Schmitt
8 years ago

Storytelling is great and it is definitely important to campaign strategies. But what about planning for effectively reaching the intended audience? The Hotwire study had a large percentage of respondents unsure of what the appropriate marketing channels are to use for a campaign. Seems like there needs to be a more pointed focus early in the planning for identifying the effectiveness of particular channels to yield results.

Ralph Jacobson
Ralph Jacobson
8 years ago

Even those survey respondents who thought their campaigns transcend channels may not have a complete picture of their execution. This is more easily said than done. It’s not impossible, by any means, as there are some great examples worldwide of merchants leveraging channels effectively. The key is to execute a strategy and define specific metrics to assess campaign effectiveness.

Michael Greenberg
Michael Greenberg
8 years ago

There is no way all campaigns work across most or all marketing channels. There is too much variation in objective, duration, and category. Anyone trying to stuff every campaign into all channels is doomed.

A much more interesting research piece would have been “What kinds of campaigns work across most or all marketing channels?” That way we can separate big, broad efforts from the metrics and cadence unique to each channel. (Try putting a TV team and a Twitter team in the same room and see what happens.)

Charles Whiteman
Charles Whiteman
8 years ago

Whether a campaign ought to be spread across multiple marketing channels depends on the campaign.

The precise behavior you’re trying to inspire will likely be different for each communication channel. Whether these different behaviors make sense tied together as a single campaign will again depend.

Finally, your ability to measure success will depend on your ability to aggregate data and distill from it attribution. This can be challenging and will certainly add cost/delay to your campaign execution. Whether it’s worth it will again depend on the campaign.