I believe that the following words will appear in every marketer and brand person’s resume and in their daily bragging: integrated marketing , cross-border marketing, word-of-mouth marketing , event marketing , entertainment marketing, etc. It sounds like it’s full of routines and the methodology seems very familiar! But when you really ask in detail what these methodologies mean and how to implement them, you will find that, embarrassingly, many people only know the name but not the meaning.

In order to avoid such embarrassment, I would like to share with you my understanding of these marketing tactics for your reference.

1. What shall we talk about today?

What is integrated marketing?

What is event marketing?

What is word-of-mouth marketing?

Today let’s talk about these three common marketing methods. I hope it will be helpful to you. Enjoy!

2. What is integrated marketing?

Many people would say that they will integrate resources from all parties to do marketing. So, what resources are being integrated? What to do?

Let’s first look at the background. The concept of “integrated marketing” was proposed by Mr. Don Schultz. The original intention was to integrate all marketing resources to jointly establish a brand image. The core is to integrate communication channel resources, say one thing together, and let consumers have a unified understanding. For example, Yuanfudao, which was previously highly promoted, has been saying the same message in elevator ads, bus station ads, subway ads, TV ads and other channels: "The total number of Yuanfudao online education users nationwide has exceeded 400 million."

Traditional "integrated marketing" is essentially the integration of information, where all touch points convey the same message and occupy the minds of consumers.

But nowadays, in this era where results are king, the traditional "integrated marketing" theory does not seem so attractive anymore, and few companies are willing to spend money simply to gain awareness. The boss wants more than quality. He says that brand is important and money needs to be spent, but he also demands that every penny spent must show a return, and ideally the ROI should be greater than 1. Every penny spent should not only create awareness, but also achieve traffic conversion and bring in revenue.

In this context, “integrated marketing” also needs to be upgraded from simple information integration to: information integration + link integration

Information integration (channel resource integration, content material integration): All touchpoints convey the same message, occupying the minds of consumers

Link integration (traffic link integration, marketing mechanism integration): guide traffic and convert traffic by designing marketing mechanisms

I personally think that the classic case is Luckin Coffee. Let’s briefly review it:

①. Information integration: from regional precision delivery (delivering elevator ads + WeChat Moments ads within a 1.5km radius of the store) to PR hype targeting Starbucks, to KOL seeding and implantation, etc. They all convey the same message: Luckin Coffee is professional in making coffee and is a new and fashionable coffee brand. No one can dislike this cup of coffee.

②. Link integration: The core of the above communications is to arouse consumers' interest, and then combine it with a clear call to action: Come, I'll buy you a free drink, come and try it. Direct traffic to the Luckin App for conversion (first item free for new customers, buy 2 get 1 free, etc.). In addition to conversion, there is one last step: fission sharing (invite friends, and you and your friends will get a free cup).

The above is my understanding of integrated marketing. In fact, I believe that "integrated marketing" is not only a marketing method, but also a systematic way of thinking about marketing. It is the underlying logic of marketing operations. All marketing is "integrated."

3. What is event marketing?

According to my own observation, when many parties make proposals or reports to party A, they always mention event marketing. Then, when you look at the plan, whether it is setting up a pop-up store, booking a subway station, or launching a joint product, it all seems like it is just self-satisfaction.

So what exactly is event marketing?

The essence of event marketing is to create events that are "news-worthy and communication-worthy", which have communication value to the public and the media, and they are willing to help you spread them spontaneously!

Let me emphasize the key point again: "It has news value and communication value"

The core logic of event marketing is: for the general public, you give them something to talk about, and they are willing to talk about it with others; for the media, you have material and hot spots, and they are willing to publish it as material. For example: "Vatti: France won the championship, Vatti refunded the full amount", "Black Myth: Wukong: A 3A masterpiece made by Chinese people", "Lao Xiangji: The chairman tore up the joint letter from employees" and so on.

So how to carry out event marketing? We start from the four elements of mass communication (communication content, communication subject, communication object, and communication media) :

①. Communication content: the event itself

1. Emotional insight + strong topicality: If an event wants to be spread by the whole nation, it needs to have a broad mass base and the public is willing to pay attention and discuss it. For example: "Tencent 99 Charity Day: Children's Gallery" uses mentally retarded children to hit the most vulnerable part of the public, which is both topical and can induce public emotions.

2. Associate brand and business characteristics: This is the most difficult step. Marketing has a purpose. The event itself is the content and still needs to carry marketing information.

②. Communication subject: opinion leaders

1. Guide public opinion: Everyone has a different interpretation of the same event. For example, in the video of “The Back Wave”, those born in the 1980s saw the fulfillment of the Back Wave, but many born in the 1990s said that after watching it, they felt they were not worthy of being the Back Wave. Therefore, during the first level of information dissemination, we need opinion leaders to help us guide the direction of public opinion and mobilize the public's emotions.

2. Amplify the volume: Even good wine needs no bush. We need to rely on opinion leaders to amplify the volume of dissemination and help break the circle. For example, the "Qixi Frog" was the key to Yang Zi's posting of the picture, which became the key to this frog breaking the circle.

③. Communication target: the public

1. Strong UGC incentives: To turn an event into a hot topic, it requires both the public to watch the show and high-quality UGC to help spread it to more circles. Marketers should provide some UGC incentives to stimulate the public’s desire to create. For example: For young people, funny jokes that hit the funny spot are very good incentives. I believe everyone has seen many different versions of "light yellow skirt" and "Qixi frog".

2. Low participation threshold: In addition to inducing the public's desire to create, a low participation threshold is also necessary to achieve universal participation. For example: Children’s Gallery, you can donate 1 yuan to charity.

④. Communication media: communication channels

Mass media: When selecting channels, you should try to choose mass media. Forums and Tieba are actually vertical niche media, while Weibo and Douyin are mass media. Topics in mass media often spill over. Many hot topics on Weibo will spread to channels such as Zhihu and Bilibili.

The above is my understanding of event marketing. Event marketing is indeed a marketing method that can achieve great results with small investment. When your message is very hard to spread and your budget is not enough for large-scale delivery, you can use event marketing to make your message go viral. But don't use it easily, because it is too difficult. It requires strong overall coordination ability in practice, and it also requires the right time, place and people, plus a lot of luck.

4. What is word-of-mouth marketing?

Word-of-mouth marketing is not a new term, and it is not complicated to understand. Its essence is: let consumers speak for you and use a third party to advertise for you. It is a supplement to the brand's first-person advertising. What is often referred to as content seeding is actually a type of word-of-mouth marketing. After all, user recommendations are the best endorsement for a brand. Even if a user watches an ad 10 times, it is not as good as a recommendation from a friend.

But word-of-mouth marketing is not a panacea. I believe that only products (services) that are “easy to be discussed” can achieve twice the result with half the effort through word-of-mouth marketing. Think about it, would you rather recommend a “useful facial mask” or a “useful sex toy” to your friends?

Back to the topic, how to do word-of-mouth marketing? Simply put: word-of-mouth marketing is one party talking and the other party listening, which can be summarized into three major elements:

①. Word-of-mouth content: Design "planting points"

If you want others to praise you, the prerequisite is that you have to prepare topics to talk about. Simply put, you have to tell others how they should praise you to others. The content design of this part is created based on the differentiated advantages of its own products and brand positioning. Common ones are:

1. Ultimate products (services): "Haidilao's ultimate service", "Pinduoduo's cheap prices", "NetEase Yanxuan's big-name manufacturers of the same products", etc.

2. Touching stories: "SF Express's Wang Wei stands up for the courier", "Li Jiaqi's counterattack", "Haier's Zhang Ruimin smashes the refrigerator", etc.

②. Word-of-mouth communicators: building a word-of-mouth environment

From the consumer's perspective, word of mouth has three main sources: 1. Word of mouth from acquaintances; 2. Word of mouth from opinion leaders; 3. Word of mouth from public opinion. Through them, we can create an environment where everyone praises our products and everyone who uses them says they are good. The core of the enterprise needs to do these two things:

1. Provide motivation for dissemination: After all, no one is obligated to advertise for you. Provide some incentives to stimulate active sharing. For example: "Luckin Coffee: Old customers get one cup each when they bring new customers", "Many restaurants: Five-star reviews, free side dishes", etc.

2. Optimize long-tail searches: When consumers buy unfamiliar products, they will actively collect information. For example, girls may search on Xiaohongshu when buying skin care products, and boys may search on Zhihu when choosing headphones. Companies need to use influencers on these platforms to create multi-dimensional content, occupy consumers' search terms, and make consumers feel that everyone is praising them.

③. Word-of-mouth recipients: The experience lived up to expectations

A high-quality product (service) experience is the foundation of word-of-mouth marketing. If the core experience is not well done, conducting large-scale word-of-mouth marketing or growth activities will not only be unhelpful, but harmful. When the audience is tempted and comes to experience your product with high expectations, but the result is a complete mess, then this user may never trust you again.

The above is my understanding of word-of-mouth marketing. To summarize the core points: ①. Your product (service) should be "easy to discuss"; ②. Providing a good product (service) experience is the foundation; ③. Design good "grass-planting points" when disseminating, speak in human language, and make it look real.

The above only represents my own opinion. I hope it helps you and worth your time. Thank you.

Author: Sanjin classmate

Source: Sanjin Classmates