To make the most of your online and offline marketing efforts, you have to bridge the gap between them. Download "Mind the Gap: The Do's and Don'ts of Integrating Digital and Traditional Marketing," and learn how your business benefits from integrating these two campaign styles into one. For more information about OneIMS and our integrated marketing strategies, visit www.oneims.com.

1. MIND THE GAP:
The Do’s and Don’ts of Integrating
Digital and Traditional Marketing

2. Mind the Gap: The Do’s and Don’ts of Integrating Digital and Traditional Marketing
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In many ways, new technology makes the old way of doing
things seem, well, old. Cell phones replace landlines, laptops
replace desktops and hundreds of thousands of 8-Track
tapes will never be listened to again. Does the consistent
migration from analog to digital media spell the end of
traditional marketing?
Not even close—you just have to change how you see them. Traditional marketing like
television and print ads, direct mailers, billboards and more all have a valuable place in
the savvy marketer’s strategy, but they no longer exist in a vacuum. You have to integrate
your traditional and your digital campaigns, creating a dynamic duo that functions more
effectively together than either one does alone. As you bridge that gap between the old
and the new, though, you have to be careful—a few easy-to-make mistakes will sink your
strategy and your ROI.

3. Mind the Gap: The Do’s and Don’ts of Integrating Digital and Traditional Marketing
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Traditional advertising requires very little consumer engagement—your audience
watches a TV ad, looks at a billboard or reads a print ad, ideally absorbing and retaining
information. But then what? Sure, you’ve theoretically taught them something—what
some call “brand awareness”—but you invite very little interaction from them. In an age
when even some toilets have touch screens, consumers place a high value on interactivity.
This is how digital marketing is a serious complement to your traditional strategies:
Opportunities for engagement. Include a call to action in your traditional marketing—
one that incorporates your digital presence—and you effectively turn a passive message
into an active one. For example, include a special discount for online shoppers that
use a coupon code from your direct mailers, or send them to your Facebook page by
offering exclusive specials. By using traditional marketing to direct people to your online
marketing, you directly engage consumers.
DO: INCREASE THE VALUE OF
YOUR TRADITIONAL STRATEGIES

4. Mind the Gap: The Do’s and Don’ts of Integrating Digital and Traditional Marketing
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When you use traditional marketing to direct consumers to your digital marketing
outlets, it may initially seem like an unnecessary step. After all, isn’t it easier to just focus
on the digital aspect and allow people to find you on their own?
Not really. Remember, your marketing’s purpose is to engage as many quality leads
as possible, and cutting back on your outreach efforts only cuts ties with consumers.
Whether you’re appealing to consumers that typically avoid engaging online or those
that simply haven’t found you yet, a compelling call to action in your traditional campaign
can be just the push they need to engage with you online. Without it, you’re rolling the
dice, and that’s a potentially costly gamble.
DON’T: ELIMINATE YOUR
TRADITIONAL MARKETING

5. Mind the Gap: The Do’s and Don’ts of Integrating Digital and Traditional Marketing
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You know that digital marketing creates a wealth of consumer data, making it easier
than ever to get to know the people growing your business. By integrating traditional
marketing with your digital efforts, you give yourself the opportunity to create even
more—and more specific—data explaining consumer behavior.
For example, think of the direct mail campaign described earlier, in which you send users
to your website with a coupon code printed on the mailer. Using digital printing, you can
create a series of different codes that offer the same discount, then determine where to
send them based on neighborhood. By measuring the volume of each code redeemed,
you create new data breaking down consumer response by geographic area. And this is
just one way that you can combine traditional and digital marketing to generate data—
the possibilities are virtually endless.
DO: CREATE NEW DATA

6. Mind the Gap: The Do’s and Don’ts of Integrating Digital and Traditional Marketing
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Not all data is particularly useful, so don’t waste your efforts collecting data that doesn’t
benefit you. Data culled from digital campaigns can be particularly nebulous and
abstract—what does a Facebook “Like” translate to in ROI? While intangibles like these
are useful in the long run, the data itself doesn’t tell you much. When you’re deciding
what data is useful and what isn’t, focus on real, tangible numbers, like those related
directly to your conversion rates and behavioral tracking.
DON’T: CREATE USELESS DATA

7. Mind the Gap: The Do’s and Don’ts of Integrating Digital and Traditional Marketing
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More than half of all mobile users in the U.S. have smart phones, and you can’t afford to
ignore them. Marketing efforts like mobile PPC are useful, but to really engage mobile
users, you should make your mobile marketing interact directly with your traditional
methods. Mobile calls to action should entice consumers to text, scan QR codes or
otherwise take action. This will make your traditional marketing immediately engaging,
compelling consumers to become responsive even before they go near a computer. This
type of interactivity is exactly what the continually growing mobile audience demands,
and you can easily give it to them.
DO: GO MOBILE

8. Mind the Gap: The Do’s and Don’ts of Integrating Digital and Traditional Marketing
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More isn’t always better, especially when it comes to your marketing. When you integrate
traditional and digital strategies, you run the risk of constructing an overwhelming,
unwieldy campaign. Before you start planning special offers, digital codes, cross-
medium calls to action and more, you need to develop a cohesive, compelling
integrated marketing strategy that you can manage and measure. Plan the consumer’s
engagement and interaction from start to finish. Determine the most efficient modes
of communication and the most enticing incentives. If you aren’t sure how to proceed,
work with a consulting or marketing agency that specializes in integrated marketing
solutions like these—it makes managing your time and your budget simpler, ensuring
that you work toward usable data and tangible ROI.
DON’T: THINK THAT MORE
IS BETTER

9. Mind the Gap: The Do’s and Don’ts of Integrating Digital and Traditional Marketing
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The role of traditional marketing may have changed, but it’s far from obsolete. Instead
of considering it and digital marketing as competitors, think of them as partners that
belong together. Vastly different but equally valuable, these strategies have plenty to
offer—when they’re well integrated, they’re worth far more than the sum of their parts.
The New Role of
Traditional Marketing