Advancements in tech greatly affect the role of markers. Marketing has become highly technical requiring such a broad range of skills.

These components are often managed by different members of the marketing team so it's easy to see how print and digital marketing strategies can become misaligned. Strong teams may have tech savvy, data-focused marketers managing digital media including social, paid, content, etc., and designers, wordsmiths, layout-conscious artists preparing catalogs, brochures, and other print items. If the marketing department is like a brain, we may see one group good at math and the other good at language; one processing data and the other creating art. An effective marketing strategy includes both parts.

The most efficient arrangement is to assign tasks and responsibilities around skill sets. This means that layout for a brochure will likely be performed by someone with graphic design background and experience while analytics for a campaign will be handled by whoever understands data best. This is a highly productive approach and maximizes employee output. The drawback, however, is that once separation sets in, you can start to see strategies of digital and print media each take on their own individual identity. Sometimes it leads to the over indulgence in one set of activities and the minimizing of others to the detriment of the overall strategy and customer experience.

So how to we get the left brain to communicate with the right brain? How do we get the different parts of the marketing team to produce together? It all comes down to focusing on the client journey. All parts of the strategy, both digital and print, touch the client at various points in their journey. It's all the same customer, so the experience needs to be consistent.

Aligning digital and print marketing strategy around the customer experience.

Get the marketing team, including all skill sets, in the same room so you can dive into the process together. By collaborating at the same table to get this done you can make connections between various abilities in the group.
Explore and lay out the customer journey, from stranger to customer and beyond to fan. Making this the backbone of the marketing strategy keeps everyone properly focused.
Develop the various touch points and ensure it all flows as one single strategy, always moving the customer further into their journey with your brand. Identify moments where marketing material is needed to nurture the customer.
Establish elements of print and digital as they pertain to each point ensuring they are relevant to the customer experience. Consistent messaging across media, both with content and design, help keep strategy aligned.
Visualize the entire customer journey and eliminate or redesign any components that are out of sync. Go through each step with the individual elements presented as the customer will see them until it is clearly all part of the same strategy.

A marketer's work is never done, and of course, you will need to continuously adjust campaigns and individual components, but having a solid framework to base the strategy on will keep your marketing team working together as your brand grows and evolves.

With your digital and print marketing strategy aligned your customers will have a satisfying customer experience. Contact us for more information on aligning print and digital marketing.