8 Challenges of Integrating Marketing Channels & How to Overcome Them

In the complex world of marketing integration, we’ve gathered insights from eight seasoned professionals, including digital marketing strategists and marketing managers. They delve into challenges ranging from attributing conversions to channels to integrating print with digital campaigns. Discover the specific obstacles they faced and the strategies that led to seamless channel integration.

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Attribute Conversions to Channels

The biggest hurdle in marketing is accurately attributing conversions and sales to specific channels. This is crucial for optimizing future marketing investments.

Digital channels excel at providing clear conversion attribution. However, gauging the effectiveness of Above-the-Line (ATL) marketing channels, like newspaper ads, billboards, and TV commercials, remains a challenge.

To address attribution difficulties in ATL marketing, consider a pilot program using pre- and post-sales analytics within a confined geographic area. This allows you to measure the impact of your ATL campaign on a controlled sample.

Shravan Sriram, Digital Marketing Strategist, Google

Identify Effective Marketing Metrics

Choosing the appropriate metrics to assess the success of our integrated marketing channels was one of the challenges I had to overcome. I was juggling a number of platforms and tactics, but it was difficult to determine what was effective and what needed improvement in the absence of clear measurements. 

I conducted a comprehensive research of our target audience’s behavior across several channels as part of the solution I developed. I found key performance indicators (KPIs) like conversion rates, customer engagement, and return on investment (ROI) that matched our overarching company objectives. I was able to make data-driven judgments and more precisely monitor the effects of each marketing channel by setting up these KPIs. 

Additionally, I put in place a consolidated reporting system that combined information from all sources to provide us a thorough understanding of our marketing efforts.

Kartik Ahuja, Digital Marketer, kartikahuja.com

Utilize Social Listening Insights

In my role as a marketing head, I’ve seen firsthand how social listening on Instagram can shape our marketing campaigns. One memorable example is when we noticed a surge in discussions about sustainability and eco-friendly practices among our audience. Seeing this trend, we quickly tweaked our campaign to highlight the eco-friendly aspects of our products.

The results were impressive. By aligning our campaign with what people were talking about on Instagram, we not only got more engagement but also saw a big jump in sales. This shows the power of paying attention to what’s happening on social media and using it to make our marketing efforts more effective.

Alex Taylor, Head of Marketing, CrownTV

Develop a Unified Content Calendar

Integrating marketing channels should be the goal for any marketing department and strategy; however, this is much easier said than done. 

As a small organization (with a marketing team of two), the biggest hurdle was to actually start planning content side by side. This involved creating an overview of each channel we use, the type of content we post on each, the purpose of this content, and who the audience is. Then, from there, we made a content calendar that includes all the outlined channels. The tricky part came in when actually learning to utilize this content calendar. 

By dedicating time to filling it out, planning monthly focuses, and keeping in mind our marketing KPIs that we want to influence with our marketing channels, we were able to get an overall picture of our goals and then the steps to actually reach them via different campaigns and channels. The bonus is, you get to reuse content, which saves time and energy in the creation department. 

Although it can be a tedious transition, it’s well worth taking the time to organize your marketing strategy to integrate your various marketing channels.

Amanda Drobek, Marketing Manager, Roots Interns

Craft Cohesive Cross-Channel Messaging

With so many marketing channels, crafting and executing a cohesive message that works across all channels and drives valuable calls-to-action can be overwhelming for the average business leader. Consequently, many leaders end up stifled.

So, stay focused on the brand’s value proposition and look to apply that message to the various touchpoints consistently, while universally offering a consistent call-to-action, which is to drive traffic to a particular landing page for conversion.

B Randall Willis, Marketing Strategist

Implement Centralized Brand Guidelines

One specific challenge of integrating marketing channels is maintaining consistent messaging and branding across different platforms. 

When utilizing multiple channels such as social media, email marketing, websites, and traditional advertising, there’s a risk of the message becoming fragmented or disjointed, potentially causing customer confusion and a diluted brand identity. One solution to this challenge is the implementation or reinforcement of Brand Style Guidelines and a centralized content management system. 

By ensuring that all channel communications have a consistent voice, tone, messaging, and design, and creating a centralized platform from which all marketing content is created, managed, and stored, marketers can foster consistency, efficiency, and efficacy in their efforts.

Tara Treffiletti, Marketing Communications Strategist, Clarkson University

Adopt an Omnichannel Marketing Approach

One of our biggest challenges was combining our offline and online marketing channels to create a consistent brand experience. This has been critical in keeping TP-Link at the top of the global Wi-Fi supply chain.

To address this, we adopted an all-encompassing omnichannel approach. This involved using data analytics to understand customer behavior across touchpoints.

This allowed us to tailor messaging and campaigns based on how customers engaged with our brand online and offline.

In addition, we used location-based targeting and promotions on our digital channels to drive traffic to our physical stores.

At the same time, our on-the-go displays and promotions were created to encourage online engagement.

For example, we scanned QR codes to access exclusive offers or view product demos on your mobile device.

By bridging the gaps between online and offline marketing and embracing an omnichannel strategy, we improved the overall customer experience. We saw a dramatic rise in brand engagement and conversions across all channels.

This omnichannel strategy has helped keep TP-Link at the forefront of the ever-changing Wi-Fi market.

Laviet Joaquin, Marketing Head, TP-Link Philippines

Integrate Print with Digital Campaigns

The pandemic led to a dramatic 70% surge in email traffic from 2020 to 2022. This increase was met with a challenging 10% drop in email click-through rates in 2023.

Additionally, Apple’s introduction of Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) complicated email marketing efforts by hindering the ability to measure open rates. MPP automatically downloads email content on Apple devices, blocking tracking pixels from gathering open rate data. As a result, over 40% of email open rates were obscured in 2023, posing significant obstacles for marketers in optimizing and evaluating email campaign effectiveness.

Since direct mail achieves open rates as high as 90% and is just as trackable as digital channels, this was a brilliant approach to solve the challenge of crowded inboxes and masked open rates.

To integrate print into marketing campaigns, try following an email campaign, identify those who didn’t open the email and send them a direct mail piece. This mail should feature a distinct QR code or URL exclusive to the mailpiece being delivered for tracking purposes.

Then, send a direct mail piece before an email campaign can be equally effective. Businesses reported a 63% increase in response rates when they sent a follow-up email one week after a direct mail campaign was delivered.

Doug Bondon, CEO & President, Artisan Colour

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