Three Integrated Communications Tips

It's a chaotic world out there. You have a lot to say, with lots of places to say it, but nobody seems to pay attention.

You are not alone.

The best antidote is integrated communications — creating consistent messaging across all points of contact with your customers and stakeholders.

Here are three tips about integrated communications

Integrate your message with your strategy

If you are selling your product based on price, talk about price. If you selling your service because of a particular feature, talk about the feature. Make sure your message aligns with your marketing strategy.

Integrate your message across all channels

Advertising, events and point-of-sale promotions should convey a harmonious message, delivered in complementary ways over multiple channels — from print to social media to billboards. Encircle your customer with your message and reinforce your brand, value proposition and call to action.

Integrate your message across organizational lines

Your government relations positions shouldn't contradict your marketing message. What you tell the local chamber of commerce shouldn't be at odds with what you tell investors. What you tell the news media shouldn't be inconsistent with what you tell your employees. When you can't keep your message straight, there is a natural suspicion you aren't telling the truth. Consistent messaging builds trust.

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The Hole in Social Media

It only took moments for fans to learn R.E.M., an alternative rock band that began in Athens, Georgia in 1980 and became a mainstream favorite, was calling it quits. The news spread quickly on social media. But the story told and retold on Twitter and Facebook posts was quickly encased in reminisces and opinions. The back story of why they quit was lost in the shuffle.

The R.E.M. experience underlines an intriguing question — are social media sites good news sources?

The answer is "yes" and 'no."

Twitter is an excellent tool to stay on top of breaking news events. You can follow several news sources — a national publication, a local TV station, NPR — to monitor headlines.

Many people use their Facebook pages to share stories of interest from traditional media, blogs or special interest sources. Assuming your Facebook friends share fairly common interests, you can discover stories you might never see otherwise.

On the flip side, people accompany their tweets and Facebook posts with personal comments and opinions. After all, social media is intended to nourish engagement. But these personal perspectives and viewpoints frequently become the fuses of conversations that range far beyond the original story.

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The Marriage of Marketing and PR

Marketing and public relations are not strangers. They are essential parts of effective, integrated campaigns.A recent blog charted the differences between marketing and public relations. With all deference, the two have merged in a marriage of strengths. Whatever differences exist are mainly matters of tactics.

The marketing mindset is distinguished by

• Strong reliance on research;
• Targeting a specific audience;
• Shaping information for that audience; and
• Delivering the information in familiar channels for that audience.

The blog author suggested public relations is aimed more generally at anyone or everyone. Frankly, I don't know many clients who would accept a PR plan that seeks to launch its messages into the wide open spaces of the "general public." There is too much going on for Everyman and Everywoman to pay attention.

Marketing PR is the inevitable evolution of these two fields. The discipline of marketing remains; the tactics of PR add more breadth to the toolkit.

An advertising campaign without media relations or a social media campaign without solid branding are nonsensical in today's world. The best practice of marketers and PR professionals is to forge integrated communications campaigns that leverage the power of the tools that work for the intended audience.

Selling a product or solidifying a reputation don't require different disciplines. They demand campaigns with integrated parts.

Turning Social Media from a Distraction to a Tool

The advent of Google+ means more time devoted to yet another social media site. But blogger Corbett Barr says before spreading yourself thinner online, step back and ask what you are trying to accomplish.

"Do you clearly understand what problem or need your business is addressing?" Barr asks in a post on Thinktraffic.net.

Other questions he poses:

• Do you know what segment of the market you are aiming at?

• Do you have killer branding and design for your website or blog?

• Are you consistently producing epic content for your audience?

• Are you engaging your customers within your own platform?

"If you feel like you're spending half of your day on social media, but you haven't nailed these things," Barr says, "you should reset your priorities and probably lay off Twitter for a while."

Barr provides a timely reminder that social media is a tactic, not a strategy. Your target audience, not trends, should determine the critical elements of your strategy.

When you have a clearly differentiated product, service or idea and know who you want to reach, you are ready to design your strategy, which in many cases will involve social media. But social media is only an effective tactic if it helps you connect with your audience and convey your message. Social media is most effective when deeply integrated with your entire strategy.

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Be Yourself on Social Media

Creating fake online identities is no way to engage authentically and a good way to caught mouthing somebody's propaganda.Trying to hide behind fake identities on social media is like riding your bike naked. People won't be watching the spokes.

The Nebraska Energy Forum is the latest faker to be outed after it set up 14 phony Twitter accounts to tout the benefits of tar sands development in Alberta. Instead of expressing genuine personal perspectives, the Twitter feeds were propaganda mouthpieces for the American Petroleum Institute, which funds the Nebraska Energy Forum.

The Rainforest Action Network spotted the fakery, which led to the removal of all 14 Twitter accounts and another black eye for Big Oil.

There is room on social media for corporate engagement. In fact, it is a best practice for companies – and any organization, whether private, nonprofit or public – to have a social media presence, minimally to listen to what people are saying about you and optimally entering conversations to tell your story.

But there is little tolerance among social media users for sock-puppetry. And there are too many ways for fakers to get caught faking to try putting your hand into the puppet.

The Rainforest Action Network became suspicious about the pro-Tar sands Twitter posts because they all were "sent via the Netvibes Official Widget, which allows users to post to multiple Twitter accounts at the same time," says blogger Kirsten Korosec. "Looks like someone got a little lazy."

Lazy or just stupid, the lesson here is not to get cute. Engaging on social media can be rewarding, but only if you are yourself.