Is Integrated Marketing the Key

With the economic crunch, the changes in consumer behavior and the new advances in Web technology, marketers and advertisers see the opportunity of social media to not only reach but also engage consumers. So does that mean we should abandon traditional marketing tactics all together?

If you look at E*Trade’s Talking Baby Campaign, it seems integration is the key to their success. Sure, they use the holy grail of television advertising to get their message to the masses…a $3 million Super Bowl ad. But it was their pre- and post-game tactics that made the difference—integrating traditional marketing tactics with a strong online presence.

Prior to the Super Bowl, E-Trade showed “outtakes” of its upcoming Super Bowl ads on their YouTube (viewed over 3 million times in three weeks) and Facebook pages. They even “Twittered” about it to build anticipation. And when viewers turned to search engines and social media after the game to find out more, E*Trade was there with a unified message across all platforms.

As of today, E*Trade has 5,827 YouTube subscribers, 7,129 Facebook fans and 815 Twitter followers waiting for new updates from the E*Trade Baby...and they are adding new fans each day.

In fact, Reprise Media Search Marketing Scorecard noted the increased integration with many of the big Super Bowl advertisers:

•    95% were visible on the first page of organic search results
•    69% bought paid search against their brands and products
•    22% of ads included a specific call to action to their website (highest percentage ever)
•    25% linked their landing pages to social networks like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and YouTube
•    42% rewarded users with “bonus” site content such as behind-the-scenes footage or sweepstakes

So as the old saying goes, “don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater.” Traditional advertising still has a place in our marketing mix but there is real power in the integration.

Comments

[Tim McAlpine]

Great post. I absolutely agree that integration is the key. Social media is not a replacement, it's just one more tool in our marketing toolbox.