IMC stands for Integrated Marketing Communication – put simply, it involves combining a variety of different communication tools and strategies to deliver a message and make the desired impact on consumers perceptions and behaviour.
In order to understand this better, let’s look at 7 ways to create a successful IMC.
1. Have a clear understanding of your target audience.
Who are your customers? What are their motivations? How do they like being communicated to? It is important to clearly identify this in order to help develop key messages and the best communication channels to reach them.
2. Choose your channels.
Work out what channels your customers are the most engaged with. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each channel and which one is going to work best to help achieve your business objectives?
3. Have a consistent look.
Ensure your visual identity is consistent. Consumers should be able to look at an advertisement or product and immediately make a direct link to your store or website.
4. Create clear, consistent content.
The use of the three C’s – Communication that is Compelling and Consistent – aids in creating content that can easily be adapted to suit different media channels.
5. Integration.
Ensure each element of your marketing campaign is set up for your target market. Use the same keywords and phrases throughout the marketing campaigns to ensure consistency in your messages.
6. Work in sync.
If there are multiple members of a team working on the same project, facilitate team meetings to ensure all members are on the same page, the message is consistent and company standards are maintained across the campaign.
7. Tracking.
Make use of proper analytic methods to analyse and track your campaigns to understand achievements. This will give you an insight into what is working well and what needs improvement.
An example of a successful IMC campaign is the Melbourne Metro Trains – Dumb Ways to Die campaign that was released in 2012. The campaign was created to highlight the importance of train station safety by using humour, music, and entertainment to grab consumers attention.
Within 24 hours of the campaign launch, the song created reached the top 10 charts of iTunes. Not only were the song and its characters a success, but they also achieved their goal of raising awareness for railway safety. Metro Trains noticed a 21% reduction in accidents and deaths on its networks as a result of the campaign.
Do you remember this campaign? Did it make a lasting impression and stand out?
Feel free to leave any comments or insights below – I would love to hear any of your feedback!
Great blog, loved the Dumbs way to die IMC. Looking forward to your other blogs!
Hey Xanthe! I remember the Dumb Ways to Die campaign fondly which I think is a great testament to their IMC approach. Super clear and concise steps, great post! - Steph
Great post! The breakdown of a successful IMC campaign was super clear. The dumb ways to die campaign was great and memorable which is definitely attributed to their IMC campaign. Look forward to your next post!