Organizations seeking integrated marketing support sometimes ask: Are you in my industry? How many membership organizations (or schools or hospitals or consulting groups or food companies or construction companies or law offices) has your agency served with similar projects?

While often, we can offer an industry-specific portfolio, occasionally we can’t. Is that relevant? It depends what you believe a marketing agency needs to DO to achieve your objectives. Is a marketing agency most effective if the team….

  1. Replicates the model they used for another client for you, too?  Or
  2. Designs a communications campaign specific to your needs?

We opt for #2 every time. Here’s why: Integrated marketing is not about punching out widgets. One widget does not fit all audiences and objectives, even in like industries. If you aim to market just like everybody else, you’ll never leverage your competitive advantages. You’ll just be part of the noise.

Marketing Communications: 5 Questions

To build effective integrated marketing communications, we ask the same basic questions of any client, in any industry:

  1. Who are your audiences?
  2. What do they care about?
  3. Where can we connect? (E.g., social media, conventional media, website, advertising, professional networking, trade shows, business alliances, etc. Options abound.)
  4. What distinguishes your products/services in the marketplace? (The burning question is what your audiences perceive… and care about.)
  5. What’s our targeted call to action?

Those aren’t our only questions, but they are great starters! Now, ask yourself: Does every membership association have the same answers to those five questions? Does every school system? Does every hospital?

Marketing: The Value of Cross Pollination

Instead of replicating identical marketing solutions for clients across a single industry, we apply cross-pollination techniques. We can’t help it. For example, we devised our concept for an interactive school selector for audiences of the San Francisco School District based on a related concept we had developed for a software company years before. Our first idea spawned an all-new idea in an all-new industry, for all-new audiences. And it worked.

Here’s another example: Once we had created our most successful member login system, we were ready to apply what we’d learned to devising the user experience for customer login centers… and then online users’ groups—all in different industries, serving different audiences, with different core messages, and unique calls to action.

We’re solving problems with you.  The seed of a solution can be anywhere. In fact, immersion in multiple industries keeps doors open and ideas fresh.

Questions for Your Next Integrated Marketing RFP

If you feel tempted to limit yourself to a marketing agency “in my industry,” be prepared for canned solutions where one size does not fit all. Here’s an alternate starter list of questions for your next marketing communications RFP:

  • How will you define and target our audiences?
  • How will you persuade them?
  • How will you arrive at a branding platform – and how will you implement it to influence perceptions?
  • How will you select media based on our marketing budget?
  • What do you see as obstacles, and how can we overcome them?
  • How will you sequence and time a rollout – and why?
  • Show us examples of your agency’s development process – what did you do, and why?
  • What were the results of your agency’s last three integrated marketing communications projects?
  • How will you work with us and manage the project?

Look for a focused, curious thought process based on market analysis and metrics. Look for the willingness to share in your objectives, get to know your audiences, and deliver authentic communications. Look for someone who will work with you enthusiastically, openly, earnestly.