Marketing Channel Integration

One of the biggest issues from a managerial perspective is how to integrate different marketing channels for a company. In most cases this will include catalog distribution, e-commerce, etc. For the purposes of this article, lets look at this dilemma as an e-commerce integration. That is how to integrate strategy and design from separate channels including email marketing, use of shopping comparison engines, marketplaces like Amazon, search engine marketing, and site optimization.

The problem is, when a tactic is proven to work, is this tactic understood and used on the other marketing channels? If the person running a search engine marketing campaign with Google AdWords stumbles across a valuable keyword or phrase, is this also being integrated into site optimization? Is this integrated in comparison engines so it stands out in the product name or description?

For example, imagine one person finds that ‘Britanica Encyclopedia Set’ is incredibly more effective than the manufacturer name alone, or encyclopedia in tandem with set for example, then why not create an optimized landing page with this information? Why not try including this phrase in product titles on a comparison engine and perhaps as a subject line in email or newsletter correspondence.

Communication is key…and let me say this again…communication is key when building a truly integrated e-commerce campaign. Logistically it is impossible to run all of these initiatives by a single person. This creates even more havoc when a company may be using several third party vendors to operate different portions of the campaigns. There needs to be a node or an integrated network to ensure information travels freely within the company and necessarily outside between different technology vendors if being utilized. In this case, a good e-commerce director will make sure to create a flow of information between different units to encourage the growth and optimization of all marketing initiatives.

Valuable information can be rendered only partially effective if there is not enough information available.  For large scale retailers, even a small advantage spread across many channels can make a million dollar difference in a short time.

August 2nd, 2007