Integrated Marketing Reaps Huge Rewards

While the term “integrated marketing” might be a buzzword thought to be limited to those who live and work on Madison Avenue, the truth is that most business professionals practice it on a regular basis. Like most things in life, marketing doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Every time you speak to someone, answer the phone, post on social media, or make an update to the company website, you’re marketing—and the likelihood is that you’re doing all of those things. The question then is: Are your marketing efforts integrated?

Branding is a huge component of marketing, and the company brand should be consistent no matter how customers are interacting with the company. That impression may start, or be supported by, your customer service professionals on the phone. If you’re in a busy company, you’re probably putting customers on hold—maybe for a few seconds up to a couple of minutes. The mistake many companies make, however, is that they let that time just pass by…silently.

On-hold messages can bring that marketing message to the phones, where companies have a captive audience. The brand message can be carried through in bite-sized nuggets to share extra services, specials, and even answers to frequently asked questions. The point is that you don’t want customers to be waiting in silence. In fact, studies have shown that callers will wait on hold longer AND ask about the promotion they just heard when offered some on-hold messaging.

So make a 2012 resolution to integrate your marketing by including on-hold messaging. It’s cost effective and will give your customers something more than silence, because sometimes, it’s NOT golden. Call us at 866-800-HOLD to get started.