Is It Time To Revise Your Integrated Marketing Plan?

< Blog
Updated on: August 23rd, 2022Sharon Sexton6 min read
Is it time to revise your integrated marketing plan

As the calendar turns it is always wise to look back at the past year and compare your business plan and goals to your actualized success. As a top web development company we feel this is also the perfect time to revise your integrated marketing plan. A new year means new opportunities with no time to waste!

Why should you revise your plan?

One proven fact of business is that having a written plan leads to success. Statistics have shown that taking the time to formulate and write down a business plan and marketing strategy equals greater long term success, partially because that written plan ends up having more thought behind it and partially because once it is written out you have blueprints to follow.

However no plan is eternally perfect. Things change from business goals and business direction to technology and more which means the smart business is one that not only crafts an initial plan, such as an integrated marketing plan, but then revises it regularly to ensure it focuses on current business needs and will be effective.

With a marketing plan some of the common items to review are:

Objectives – Any marketing plan needs to have straightforward goals and objectives. These change over time as there are many variables related to your business that can change. Since there is no end-all-be-all integrated marketing plan you need to make sure your objectives are following the SMART standards (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant or time bound) while also meeting the current business objectives.

Unmapped Messaging – Marketing plans that use multiple channels or platforms tend to stray from the primary message over time. In some ways this is a result of growth and development which is okay as long as you periodically remember to rein things in to focus on the current message as consistency is a key in multi-channel marketing.

Tips for Creating or Revising a Successful Marketing Plan

  • Focus on the Target Audience – In order to develop a message that resonates with your audience first you need to identify with your audience from multiple aspects which includes attitudes, interests, demographic and behavior. This allows proper framing of messages and awareness of which channels most effectively reach them. What are your customer’s motivations? How do they like to get information? What do they read? Where do they read it and then what do they like to start conversations about or share.
  • Channel Selection – You need to consider which channels your customers are using along with the strengths and weaknesses of that channel in regards to the message you are sending. It makes little sense to just pick a channel due to popularity rather than considering if the channel has the ability to meet your actual business objectives. Take the time to concentrate on the most effective channels rather than using all of them just to be on all of them.
  • Consistency – Consistency on multiple levels is an important aspect of an integrated marketing plan. It is a combination of your logo, colors, graphics and even the typography that is used. You want people to look at an e-mail, a Facebook post, or a blog on your website and quickly recognize who it is from. For content, you need to develop items that can be used on multiple channels and that content needs to be clear, compelling and consistent in messaging.
  • Work Together – For some companies there is one person that spearheads a campaign, for others there might be teams or individuals with different aspects of coverage. No matter how you do business, everyone involved needs to be working together and on the same page to deliver a consistent campaign that meets your brand standard.
  • Make Your Messaging Integrated – Each campaign should have an ultimate target goal, for example increasing purchases or newsletter subscriptions. Whatever that ultimate goal is, each element of the campaign needs to do its part to drive traffic towards that goal. The reason for using integrated messaging in a marketing plan is to ensure that each platform is using the right keywords and phrases along with providing a consistent message that all works together towards that ultimate goal.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that the New Year is a great time to revise your integrated marketing plan. Integrated plans can take advantage of multiple mediums from print to social media all to help deliver your message to your target audience, but no plan lasts forever. That is why top businesses regularly review and revise plans to ensure they are focused and effective.

Be sure to check back every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for great new Lounge Lizard blog articles.

Published on: December 30th, 2016

Related articles

Bad ideas in mobile app design
5 min read

Bad Ideas In Mobile App Design

August 23rd, 2022

There are millions of apps on the market with some good, some great and plenty of bad ones out there. Of course nobody really sets out [...]

How has walmart dominated holiday videos on youtube
5 min read

How Has Walmart Dominated Holiday Videos On YouTube?

August 23rd, 2022

It is utterly astounding how Walmart has dominated holiday videos on YouTube. So far in the fourth quarter of 2016 the retailer has amassed over 75 [...]

What are the best types of content for seo
5 min read

What Are The Best Types Of Content For SEO?

August 23rd, 2022

By now you probably have heard that “Content is King” about a million times when talking about SEO, but what exactly does that mean? After all [...]

Should i be using a loyalty and rewards program
5 min read

Should I be using a Loyalty and Rewards Program?

August 23rd, 2022

Are you a fan of loyalty and reward programs? If you are like most people you probably feel somewhat “meh” about them because you have been [...]

Try these 5 tips for getting more instagram followers
5 min read

Try these 5 Tips for Getting More Instagram Followers

August 23rd, 2022

Instagram is one of the top five social media platforms that businesses use for marketing. Are you getting the most that you can from the fastest-growing [...]

The best lead generation ideas you should be using
6 min read

The Best Lead Generation Ideas You Should Be Using

August 23rd, 2022

Generating leads is a basic part of how many of us do business. The lead is the starting point for something we all need to survive; [...]

Is It Time To Revise Your Integrated Marketing Plan?
Share On:
Newsletter Sign Up

"*" indicates required fields

0 of 60 max characters
0 of 60 max characters

Request a Proposal

Fill Out Our Form & We’ll be in Touch Shortly

"*" indicates required fields

Name*
Type of Project**

New York City
112 West 34th Street
18th Floor
New York, NY 10120
Long Island
991 Main St.
Suite 200
Holbrook, NY 11741
Washington D.C.
1101 Connecticut Avenue NW
Suite 450
Washington, DC 20036
Nashville
424 Church St
Suite 2000
Nashville, TN 37219
Los Angeles
1100 Glendon Avenue
17th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Miami
1221 Brickell Ave
Suite 900
Miami, FL 33131
Charleston
170 Meeting Street
Charleston, SC 29401
Richmond
919 E. Main Street
Suite 1000
Richmond, VA 23219