But how many marketing vehicles should I choose?

I certainly agree with Kitchen and Burgmann’s assertion that integrated marketing communication assists companies in coordinating consistent messages across various channels of communication (2010).  In addition, the authors write that the idea of integration is viewed by most marketing practitioners as “common sense.” (2010, p. 15).   However, I have found that the task of deciding exactly which elements to incorporate into the marketing mix can be overwhelming due to time and resource constraints.  For example, the relatively new category of social media provides a daunting landscape to pursue as illustrated in the diagram from Business Insider:

I set out to determine if there was statistical evidence as to the number of channels a tech marketer, like myself, should try to incorporate into an integrated marketing communications plan.  Fortunately, the analyst Daniel Klein of respected research firm, Forrester Research, wrote a blog that I found helpful and thought would be of interest to our class.

Klein’s research of over 100,000 tech marketers and clients uncovered “guiding principals” that led him to conclude that the average number of different sources of marketing vehicles used throughout the purchase funnel is 7.6 (2011). Forrester’s Wheel lists the variety of possible channels to consider:

Similar to the seven stages of consumer decision-making discussed in our video lecture from last week, Klein’s model contains three stages to summarize the buying process (awareness, consideration & purchase). Different vehicles should be used to move consumers from one stage to the next.  For example, potential buyers in the first phase, awareness, consume marketing from email, white papers and online forums.

Often I receive suggestions from fellow employees over the water cooler such as “we should advertise on bus stops” or “it would be great if we were featured in The Cheesecake Factory menus.”  Be they valid comments or not, most marketing budgets I have worked with in start-up ventures are extremely limited and require a very discerning selection from a variety of channels.  I hope that you find these charts and the 7.6 principal useful as well.

Kitchen, P. & Burgmann, I. (2010). Integrated marketing communication. Wiley International Encyclopedia of Marketing. John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Klein, D. (May 23, 2011). How many marketing vehicles do you need? Guiding principle number two. Forrester Research. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from http://blogs.forrester.com/daniel_klein/11-05-23-how_many_marketing_vehicles_do_you_need_guiding_principle_number_two

Minato, C (May 17, 2012). This INSANE Graphic Shows How Ludicrously Complicated Social Media Marketing Is Now. Business Insider Advertising.  Retrieved June 1, 2012 from http://www.businessinsider.com/social-media-marketing-landscape-complicated-2012-5%29#