Marketing Communications, Social Media, PR and Advertising - Let’s Get Holistic and Get On With It!

My good friend Cathy Brooks asked my “Power BFF” Nicole Jordan and me to be a guest on her internet radio show, Social Media Hour last week, have a listen if you've got a spare hour. The show was a great opportunity for me to start verbalizing some of the thoughts I’ve been having lately regarding communications strategies, or rather, in many cases, lack thereof.

Too often marketing is approached as an ad-hoc jumble of tactics tossed against the wall in the hopes that one or two pieces will stick. I don't think the current economic situation is helping, people are in panic mode, they want results yesterday and are in such a rush and under so much pressure that they altogether forgo careful planning and strategy development. This panic-induced full on tactical assault just leads to poor ROI at best, if not complete and total disaster.

New sets of tools and key pieces of technology are fundamentally changing the way in which people communicate with each other and consume and interact with information. And yet, people are not really behaving any differently. It’s more that their behavior has a greater effect. Social tools, mobile devices and connected and intelligent systems have amplified and magnified the results of behaviors that people conduct naturally. Word of mouth has probably always been the most effective form of marketing. However, the social web has now amplified the power of WOM x 1,000. Before the social web I may have been speaking to four or five people in a room or over the phone. Now, I can speak just as easily to four or five thousand people.

Communications have become compartmentalized, with social media in the tightest, most cloistered compartment. We, as communications professionals, need to get our heads out of our silos and start doing some cross training. And our clients need to factor this into their agency selection and delegation processes. A good marcom strategy works like a well oiled machine; integrating platforms, tools, tactics and content into one seamless flowing piece of communication bliss. We need to take a look at how people go about their days; who and what do they come into contact with? What sorts of behaviors are they likely to display? How to they consume, aggregate and distribute content? What do they care about? Where do their passions lie? (These things are all subject to change at any moment, especially in the world of the social web.) For any given person, this process is seamless and without thought, with each piece being integrated into their lives as they go about their day. If this is how people consume and interact with communications shouldn’t it also be the basis for how we communicate with them?

Photo credit digicla

So what to do?

Research Research Research
This crucial step is often either overlooked or misunderstood. In the old days, research was based largely on demographics and relatively static opinions. Conducting research in the beginning, and on an ongoing basis is vital. It’s important to understand not just who your audience is, but where they spend their time, how they spend their time, what they care about, and what gets them excited. And in the era of social communications, these factors change daily. Staying on top of trends, movements and evolving conversations is key in order to position your brand and integrate into communities in a relevant way.

Solid Strategic Thinking
Don’t even start thinking tactics until you’ve first done your research and built a solid strategic foundation. You’ve done your research. You know your audience like the back of your hand. Now how do you position your brand? What did you learn during the research phase that will insure that your contributions and messaging will be enthusiastically received, interacted with and discussed among your audience?

Messaging
What did you learn about your audience during the research phase that can help you shape your messaging? Position yourself for success by starting with the people you want to reach and working backwards to form your messaging.

Tactical Plan
OK, now we can talk tactics. Based on your research, how do the people that you would like to reach go about finding, filtering, consuming, interacting with and sharing content and information? What sorts of tactics lend themselves to your strategy and your messaging? How can you apply the strategy and the messaging throughout a cohesive tactical plan? Tying each piece to every other piece using solid strategy fortifies and builds stronger communication.

Execution
Once we’ve got a solidly built plan it’s time for well-planned, solid execution. Making sure that everyone who’s going to be part of the team understands how the pieces will work together is vital. Who's going to be executing? Do they comprehend the strategy? Do they understand the goals and the steps that must be taken to achieve them? Are they capable of executing across media, or at least working closely with their counter parts? Is there someone managing the entire process who understands the overarching plan, can look at things from all angles and help those working on execution to stay integrated and focused?

Think Holistically
The lines between PR, advertising, traditional media and social media are blurring more and more each day. And yet we continue to try to shove them into their little compartments. This works against us. Take a deep breath, look at things from a higher vantage point and de-compartmentalize!

What are your thoughts? Do you have any examples of well-executed holistic marketing strategies? Why do you think so many communications professionals are so willing to forgo what can be the most important part of the process?