Get aligned, get results: 10 steps to an integrated marketing strategy

We don't need to tell you that we're living in competitive times.

You know it, we know it, your team knows it, your neighbor's cat knows it.

Standing out from the crowd takes something more these days; a lil extra magic, extra oomph, extra spice. 🌶️

Well, we might have something for you: it's called an integrated marketing strategy--and before you ask: no, you don't need to hire 100 more marketers, and no, it won't mean you have to beg for more budget.

In this post, we're going to outline the 10 step towards building a more integrated marketing strategy, but we'll start with the 'whys' first.

If you'd prefer an eBook, download your integrated marketing guide here.

Why integrated marketing is the future

Integrated marketing is the process of delivering consistency and relevance throughout your brand experience by aligning all your marketing channels, including:

• Content marketing
• Social media marketing
• Digital marketing
• Email marketing
• Paid marketing
• PR and comms

It's all about solidifying alignment across the team to not only benefit each marketer in the way they work, but to really play a part in a more streamlined and consistent customer experience, too.

In other words: we're talking about perfecting your omnichannel marketing to achieve that oh-so-sought-after 💫 brand omnipresence. 💫

8 key benefits of integrated marketing

By adopting an integrated approach to marketing, you strengthen the alignment between all departments in the marketing org, and have some cross-functional benefits too:

Check out our CMO guide on how to improve team alignment as a marketing leader.

10 steps to build an integrated marketing strategy

Now, let's run through the step-by-step to building an integrated marketing strategy, including tips on how to tick each box. ✅

Step 1: Clarify your overarching campaign and content goals

• Define your primary marketing goals and objectives
• Set specific KPIs eg. increasing website traffic, lead generation
• Make your goals SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound)
• Communicate goals clearly to your whole team (or even get them involved in the process)
• Plan for regular reporting and optimizations because, let's face it... things change

Step 2: Get everyone in your team aligned

• Define team values alongside marketing goals
• Clarify individual roles and responsibilities between key stakeholders
• Establish a common direction and theme for all work
• Acknowledge realistic timelines for specific work (eg. copy and design tasks)
• Share accessible content calendars between different teams
• Start ironing out those workflows so you never miss a deadline

Step 3: Create a team culture of transparency

• Foster open communication channels between all marketing subteams
• Schedule in regular cross-functional meetings to share insights and progress
• Create shared dashboards and reporting tools that are open to everyone
• Encourage honest feedback and constructive sessions (eg. retros) regularly
• Celebrate wins, but don't forget to discuss challenges or losses to learn from
• Use collaborative project management tools that provide real-time visibility into work 👀
• Ultimately, aim for a shared consciousness for better visibility, transparency and info sharing

Step 4: Define your buyer personas and ICPs

• Develop detailed buyer personas with specific demographic and psychographic information
• Identify ideal customer profiles (ICPs) that align with your most valuable customer segments
• Map out customer pain points, motivations, buyer behaviors, and decision-making triggers
• Validate personas through customer interviews, surveys, and data analysis
• Ensure personas are dynamic and regularly updated based on new insights
• Align personas with your marketing goals and content strategy

Step 5: Perform competitor analysis across the board

• Research both your direct and indirect competitors
• Map out competitors' marketing channels, content types, and messaging strategies
• Identify content gaps and opportunities for your brand's USPs and differentiation
• Analyze competitors' strengths and weaknesses in integrated marketing approach
• Use competitive insights to refine your own marketing strategy
• Make the most of tools and platforms for ongoing competitive intelligence

Step 6: Develop your messaging and key target areas

• Craft a unified brand messaging framework (big up, consistent messaging)
• Ensure consistent tone, voice, and value proposition across all channels
• Develop key messaging pillars that resonate with your buyer personas
• Create a messaging matrix that maps content to specific customer journey stages
• Test and refine messaging through A/B testing and audience feedback
• Align messaging with overall marketing and business objectives

Step 7: Optimize processes for content scalability

• Always be setting out to improve your content creation and repurposing workflows
• Create reusable templates for different content types or creatives
• Implement efficient content production and distribution systems
• Establish clear guidelines for content adaptation across channels
• Invest in tools that streamline content creation and repurposing (including AI)
• Train team on efficient content scalability techniques

Step 8: Adopt AI in the right way (and right way only)

• Identify specific AI use cases (or AI agents) that add genuine value
• Consider different AI tools for content ideation and research--or even better, embed them
• Always edit AI-generated content--AI is there to enhance, not replace, human creativity
• Establish ethical guidelines for AI usage in marketing
• Continuously evaluate how AI it contributes to your operational efficiency

Step 9: Monitor and track performance of your content and campaigns

• Set up comprehensive analytics and tracking systems
• Define key performance indicators (KPIs) for each marketing channel
• Use dashboards for real-time performance monitoring
• Conduct regular performance reviews and optimization sessions
• Implement attribution modeling to understand content impact
• Create feedback loops for continuous improvement

Step 10: DO sweat the small stuff

• Standardize email signatures across marketing team
• Optimize social sharing buttons and link placements
• Create internal linking strategies for content discovery
• Develop newsletter cross-promotion opportunities
• Ensure consistent branding in all touchpoints
• Pay attention to small details that enhance user experience (they'll love you for it)

Get more integrated with Optimizely Content Marketing Platform

If you've reached this part, the likelihood is that you like the sound of having a more integrated marketing team. And the best thing is, we can help.

Optimizely Content Marketing Platform (CMP) is a content marketing tool that combines project management, digital asset management, and content creation. Wild, right?

This all-in-one solution encourages more transparency, collaboration, efficiency, creativity, and productivity in your team. And do you know what that means? Better results.

Find out all about what Optimizely Content Marketing Platform can do for you.