In uncertain economic times, you need to find new ways to make integrated marketing work more effectively, get more out of marketing investments, and measure and account for marketing decisions. In short, you must make changes. Doing the same things and expecting the same results is, at best, a flawed strategy, and at worst, a definition of marketing insanity.

So how can marketing help drive growth in a weak economy? The following three strategies will help you allocate dollars to better-performing integrated marketing communication programs, which in turn will carry your company through the economic downturn and beyond:

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1. Get targeted. A fundamental marketing tenet that is sometimes overlooked is to fish where the fish are. In other words, invest in media that your customers and prospects are exposed to and have the best chance of attracting their attention. Research shows that virtually all engineering, technical, and industrial professionals rely heavily on the Internet at work, and the same holds true in most business-to-business markets. But the Internet is vast, so be sure to target sites that meet to your customers’ information needs.

2. Think integration. Integrated marketing means taking advantage of multiple media, resources, and customer touch points to create a whole that’s greater and more effective than the sum of its parts. The greater the integration, the greater the impact your efforts will have in boosting visibility in your market and increasing qualified leads and sales.

3. Push and pull your way to success. Most marketing can be classified as either push or pull: companies push their message out through tactics such as direct mail, advertisements, and e-newsletters, and pull customers in via online directories, microsites, and search engines. A tailored, integrated marketing solution takes advantage of both push and pull marketing techniques to help you better reach a target audience.

— Guy Maser, senior vice president of marketing, GlobalSpec (globalspec.com)

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