5 KEYS TO INTEGRATING CONTENT

5 KEYS TO INTEGRATING CONTENT

Across the last three weeks, we’ve looked in depth at integrated content, why one channel isn’t enough and the brands who are getting it spot on. In this blog, we summarise what we’ve learned, so if you’re a marketer trying to nail integrated campaigns, listen up.

1. Get around
The key to the integrated approach and the secret to gaining traction is simple – be present at multiple touchpoints. The most successful examples we included were on at least three different platforms, most on many more. It makes sense – if you’re all over TV and print but have no mention of your campaign on your website or social, you’ve got a weak link. Which brings us to point two.

2. Wherever you are, be consistent and seamless
Not being consistent is a guaranteed conversion killer. It’s the easiest way to destroy your brand story and it’s proven to leave consumers confused.
There’s also another element to consistency – seamless transition between platforms. This is where Net-A-Porter truly excelled with their move to print. Rather than simply creating a magazine, they took it to the next level, making a shoppable magazine that was completely integrated with the website.

3. Plan excellent executions for each platform
It’s true what they say, prior planning does prevent poor performance. But your content needs to be planned from the outset with the nuances and maximum impact of each platform in mind. In other words, you need to bring it. Everywhere.
There’s no better example than that penguin that took over Christmas. There wasn’t just a tear-jerking advert, there was a tightly executed assault across social, DOOH, print, PR and in-store. Wherever you happened across Monty, the detailed planning was obvious and the execution of content matched to platform was just as good – and the corresponding customer response was immense.

4. Tell a story
Why did five million people compare fictional meerkats? Because Aleksandr Orlov was the protagonist in a super-compelling story. The similarities between Aleksandr the meerkat and your favourite cartoon character was no accident – the campaign was planned as a layered narrative where every platform had its own unique role to play. The storytelling aspect also helps keep people interested and engaged in those downtimes between campaigns – even though people only need car insurance once a year, ComparetheMarket used the meerkat story cleverly to keep themselves front-of-mind all year long.

5. Be genuine on social
Of the brands we have featured over the past three weeks, there was a clear thread of commonality – their social activity was genuine. Rather than pointless broadcasts, these brands had real people responding in real time across social channels. For instance ASOS answer queries in their brand voice round the clock, while ComparetheMeerkat asks for feedback and embeds the response into future iterations of their campaigns.
This engagement is also totally integrated with the other activity – the tone of voice and the content are tightly executed and aligned with content on other media platforms. And it’s this kind of attention to detail that sets the integration superbrands apart.

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