Integrated marketing

Yesterday, I was looking at a press release. It was an interesting subject. Like all good press releases, it gave the company's website address.

Hmm, I'd like to know more about that, I thought, so went to the company website. Guess what? There was not a word about the subject being promoted in the press release.

Yet another example of a company who don't integrate their marketing.

What impression did this give me of the company? Basically, that they weren't organized - if you can't even plan for your website to feature the same thing as your press release, then how good is your product?

Not only that, but how were they measuring the effectiveness of their press release? The website statistics would have told them a great deal. They should have had the product or service in a prominent position on their website with a link to read more. Then, it's remarkably easy to see how many people visited that page. how they got there, where they were coming from geographically, what company server they were using - and a wealth of additional information which would have made future marketing efforts much more effective.

What is a better way to track response than your website?

And yet you'll still see companies who spend thousands of dollars on magazine advertising and don't back it up - or evaluate it - with other marketing methods.

When you use an internet-based press release service, it will tell you how many people viewed it, but it won't tell you how many people visited your site for further information. The people who viewed your press release online can be classed as 'casual observers', the ones who then went to your website for further information are almost qualified leads.

Why don't companies integrate their marketing? Bad advice? Having too many companies performing different roles? Lack of attention? Lack of understanding about what marketing is? Whatever the reason, it isn't good marketing.

Most marketing efforts cost money, and those advertising dollars should be spent wisely; making sure that your campaign is truly integrated.