Marketing News – Oct 1, 2006 Issue
By Jackie Peters
Chief Creative Officer, Multi-Media
Heavybag Media (New Haven, CT)

The latest lingo is always good to know. However, when terms get overused they can get misinterpreted. Interactive Marketing is term that is getting a lot of lip service lately. However, as integrated marketing schemes blur categories, marketers need to redefine “interactive.�

Consider “interactive� in terms of the broader definition of the word. As a marketing strategy “interactive� is a two-way relationship. Interactive marketing should sponsor voluntary participation from the consumer to interact with a message. When implementing an interactive marketing strategy, the goal is to create the most effective program to encourage consumer involvement.

The difference between interactive marketing and other methods is that interactive marketing is a “pull� method. Traditional advertising would be considered a “push� method, due to the fact that the message is being “pushed� from the ad to the audience. In employing a pull method, the audience is enticed and encouraged to experience and interact with the message. In today’s climate of jaded and sophisticated, media-aware audiences it is no longer sufficient to simply push a message. Having pull components in which the audience chooses to experience messages fosters an atmosphere that features a brand at the forefront of something positive and valuable to the audience - what could be better? Push and pull methods can be a very effective when they are working in conjunction.

With so much free flowing information swirling, the marketers’ challenge is to unify the “soft-sell� pull tools as ingredients to drive audiences. An interactive strategy that uses a web-centric approach provides a resource hub of consistency for all of the pieces in the strategy. Creating the website is going to be the most valuable asset. It is the face of the business and in some instances, it is the first impression. It will be the place people will go to find detailed information about the business, the brand, and the message.

In addition, a web-centric approach has the incredible advantage of measurement. Sometimes an intangible in marketing, concrete numbers from website traffic, site stickiness (the time spent on a site per visitor), click paths (where the user goes), number of repeat visitors, and number of unique visitors can all be tracked, charted and calculated. The activity can be compiled for research, a source of the effectiveness of each method, and combined for individual or overall measurement.

Whether it is decided that print materials, advertising, mobile marketing, licensing, premium items, sponsorships, product placements, or anything else will be adopted, the customer’s WWW address is going to be the most immediate, easiest, and 24-hour available call-to-action participation and link to complete information. Specific to interactive marketing, items such as text messaging for wallpaper or advertising jingle ringtone downloads, branded mobile and online games, opt-in newsletter subscriptions, Blogs, or online contest submission forms, among other items, are all ways to invite participation through the website. Further, once a consumer begins to engage with a brand, CGC (consumer generated content) can form. Comments to Blogs, Vlogs, and video uploads, are all simple ways that provide more intimate interactivity with an audience. Importantly, CGC provides the brand with even more input to improve or constantly update the brand to change along with the consumer. The brand can continue to give the consumer what they want because the consumer is communicating exactly what he or she wants and expects. As the open communication increases with the audience, a brand immersion is formed.

Immersing a target audience in a customer’s messages assumes consumer activity on a regular basis and with personal interest, need, or want fulfilled. When an audience is immersed in a brand, it is on their phone, on their clothes, on their computer screen, in their inbox, and most importantly, it has become part of their lives. The result of interactive marketing is that the consumer has chosen to carry a message. The audience is now a reflection of the brand. It is the message personified.