The Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog
There is a great case study here of how to use a multi channel media strategy to bring a product to market, and align everything around keywords and key messages supported by varied media types. I have seen this integrated marketing and PR strategy work very well for many of Viewstream’s clients. If played right, using this strategy creates significant competitive advantage.
As companies like google continue to dominate, vertical content sites are growing slower than the big content sites (Social Networks, YouTube, Google) – which means an integrated communication/search strategy is a better place to spend your dollars then on online advertising. From the data that I have seen, the long tail is beginning to look like The Stumpy-Tail Cattle Dog (a dog that has no tail).
I am simply amazed at how many times clients tell me that they got a call from someone who found them on Google and then closed a huge deal. By the same token, ROI from online advertising has never looked sadder – with a decline in online ad click through rates and the unreliable data from advertising properties. Search drives sales – we have always known that – and the data shows this more and more.
Viewstream is well positioned in this changing environment as we are able to work quickly in many mediums (integrated search, digital media, website, creative, messaging) to get companies to market faster, better and cheaper than the slower advertising conglomerates that companies have traditionally relied on.
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John, thanks for the blog posting on integrated marketing. I come from the PR side of things and I am seeing a lot of change in the PR industry.
From the days of Regis McKenna, Silicon Valley PR has been about messaging and positioning, aligning the pieces so that public perception becomes favorable and ultimately increases sales. However, I think that the value of traditional PR is coming under scrutiny. Most businesses want sales leads. We’re in a great time of change where our clients want metrics that point to business goals that ultimately lead to sales.
I’m exploring is a new partnership with an SEO firm and experimenting with using PR to support an SEO campaign, both Pay Per Click and organic search. Much of the material that is produced for PR can be repurposed into marketing assets that can then drive clicks. It seems that many marketing companies are marching along this lead generation and lead nurturing path together.
PR companies can bring sophisticated messaging and positioning to the game. They can help define the keywords that should be used in all outbound marketing material that ultimately drive search ranking.
There’s an opportunity to integrate many aspects of marketing to deliver better results for our clients. I’m excited by this and view economic recession as a way to force the PR business to change and offer clients services in new ways.
BTW, I just went through your web site. You’ve got a really solid service offering. You seem well positioned to take advantage of changes in consumer media consumption. Keep it up!
I think your strategy of integrating SEARCH with PR is a VERY smart one. I would extend the strategy beyond sales leads to include digital branding, owning differentiated language, and promotion.