Integrated Marketing Communication

STP marketing is a three-step approach to building a targeted marketing plan. The "S" stands for segmenting, the "T" for targeting and the "P" for positioning.

Understanding Integrated Marketing Communications

Integrated Marketing Communications is a simple concept. It ensures that all forms of communications and messages are carefully linked together. At its most basic level, Integrated Marketing Communications, or IMC, as we'll call it, means integrating all the promotional tools, so that they work together in harmony.

Thematic Overview: STP and IMC

The themes of Unit 5 are STP and IMC. Make a journal entry that answers the following question: How can you use social media to build your personal brand? What steps should you take to ensure the best possible outcome? Provide the details, expected outcomes, metrics and timeline for your personal branding efforts.

Personal Experience with Social Media Advertising

Twice in the past six months, I have bought products from seeing it advertised on Facebook. The first one was a piece of exercise equipment that a friend that I trust “liked”. The second item was for a beauty product that was a one size fits all product. I have liked both purchases and am glad I found them.

The Power of Facebook Advertising

I think advertising on Facebook is a good idea. You can build your brand as my first example. You can target the groups on Facebook specific to your product. My friend that liked the piece of exercise equipment is someone that goes to the gym every day. She has an amazing figure and works hard at it. So when she liked this product, I took notice because I know she wouldn’t like equipment that wasn’t reputable. And because of the recommendation of her “like”, I bought it for my younger sister. Word of mouth and friend recommendations go a long way in building your brand.

Strategies for Building Your Brand Online

So, if I had my own product, I would join as many Facebook groups that relate to it. If the product was a safety item as an example, I would look for groups of safety personnel, and any groups related to safety issues and groups of where the safety product might be used (car, plane, park, etc.)

Content Creation and Engagement Plan

Besides joining Facebook groups, I would have a blog that I would update daily. The routine would probably be a blog in the morning, Twitter at least once a day, Instagram once a day, and video blogs once a week. I would text customers of any sales, maybe once a month or every 3 weeks. Not too much on texting or they might delete me. No one likes too many sales. I would also send an email every 2-3 weeks with information about safety and the product. I would include links to the web page to buy said safety product with all communication. I would offer a discount of 5 or 10% if they “liked” me on Facebook. I would offer a discount if they recommended my product to a friend and that friend bought from me.

Expected Outcomes and Metrics

I would expect the outcome to be sales, hopefully, lots and lots of sales. The metrics I would use would be how much traffic I get on Facebook and the conversion rates. I would look at the traffic numbers on Twitter and Instagram also. I would monitor how many times something was re-twitted or posted to see if Twitter or Instagram was worthy of the time put in to post on it. I would probably post contests and giveaways on Facebook also. I see a lot of traffic on giveaways.

Timeline Considerations for Branding

I’m not sure about the timeline for branding. It seems like with Facebook it can spread like wildfire or burn slowly. I would hope that my product would be something people would be interested in and would spread quickly. I looked online and found an article in Forbes that stated if you were a pioneer it could take a long time, but if you were a colonizer then it could be a short amount of time (Mourdoukoutas, 2014). So if my product is something new, then I should expect it to take years. If I’m not reinventing the wheel but just making a different style, then I can look for a shorter amount of time. I would think I would try for at least a year and then re-evaluate my passion, time and resources to see if I want to continue.