Converged Media

Integrated Converged Media Strategy

 
 

Improve your customer experience & boost your brand reputation.

Whilst every business will need a dedicated, customized Converged Media Strategy, as a marketing leader there are a few basic processes to ensure a successful outcome for your company.

 

 

Road map to a Converged Media Strategy

 

Step 1 – Identifying existing audience touch points

Preparation, preparation, preparation is key to maximizing your efforts. Establishing and identifying your existing customer touch points (often unknown) enables you to identify existing hotspots in the customer experience route to your brand. Equally those touch points that do not shine can be tweaked or dis-guarded.

 

 

Step 2 – Examine and Audit your existing Owned Media

Established Business – It is most likely that you have a multitude of Owned Media assets within your organization. These are your most valuable assets as they will be the core messaging collateral, for any converged media campaign. Once an audit of your existing assets is complete, create a database of all assets and categorize them all to enable easy searching for future Converged Media campaigns. These Owned Media assets will become one of the destinations of social connections, so ensure your visual and messaging branding is perfect.   Startup Business – Here you have the perfect opportunity to create a perfectly aligned visual and messaging collateral which if made part of your initial startup marketing plan will give you a leap on the competition.

 

 

Step 3 – Generating Earned Media

This element has been around for a few years now as agencies that specialize in Social Media have provided these services. It is no longer a single entity, and as marketers this should be given the highest priority in the roadmap to a successful Converged Media campaign. Ensure that existing marketing campaigns, product launches and promotions include the ‘social connections’ and links to owned assets.

 

 

Step 4 – Energizing Owned and Earned Media

Once you have harnessed and perfected both your owned media and Earned Media you can now start to drive traffic to these assets with paid advertising. Be it Broadcast (TV, Radio), Print (Newspaper, Magazine) or Digital ( Email, Website) ensure your Earned Media and Owned Media assets are connected. For example if you have a campaign that has a microsite/landing page and a Twitter hashtag ensure that they are prominently displayed.   Choosing your medium for Paid Media advertising:

  • Broadcast – TV , Radio remain powerful but not always available for specific marketing campaigns
  • Print – Newspaper, Magazines etc are suited for targeting particular audiences
  • Digital – Facebook and Twitter Advertising meets the B2C audience whilst LinkedIN attracts the B2B marketplace.
 

Implementing your Converged Media Strategy Roadmap

To enable your converged media strategy road map there are number of skill sets that are fundamental to achieve a customer centric team.   To leverage the paid, owned and earned media a team should consist of:

  • Editors
  • Developers
  • Data specialists
  • Creatives
  • Channel experts
  • Community managers
  • Public relations managers

Whilst all or some of these skill sets are available within organizations, it is likely they sit in different departments and bringing them together on a new project can sometimes be a hurdle to progress. Turning to the Digital Marketing Agency provides speed and commitment to achieve the goal. The Digital Marketing Agency space is a crowded one often coined by the phrase ‘Full Service Agency’. In the Converged Media Strategy landscape no one agency can provide the expertise in house. The skill sets are extremely varied and specialized. The agency should be a specialized agency that can create strategies and project manage those skill sets to enable excellence in delivery.

 
 
Definitions: Converged Media Strategy – The process of combining Owned, Earned and Paid Channels.