When deciding on a marketing strategy, a company will need to consider two variables – whether to take an integrated deliberate approach or whether to try to reach as many people as possible in a more arbitrary approach. The strategy that describes the first approach is Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) whereas the strategy for the latter is called and mass marketing. Here is a description of the differences between the two marketing strategies.
Integrated Marketing Communications
It ensures that types of messages and communications are linked together. At its simplest level, IMC means incorporating each of the promotional tools, to ensure they work together in harmony. Promotion is a fundamental communications tool. All of the communications tools operate better if they work in harmony instead of in isolation. That is, they work best in marketing under an integrated and cohesive approach.
Sometimes this marketing integration goes beyond the essential communications tools, however, the effort is always coordinated. There are several other degrees of integration including vertical, flat, internal, external, and data integration (Multimedia Marketing Staff).
Mass Marketing
Mass marketing – also called undifferentiated advertising – casts a very wide net into the advertising stratosphere. Businesses use different types of mass marketing without really identifying how various parts of the marketplace might react to advertise one service or product. They just want to get their message to as many people as possible.
The main difference between IMC and mass marketing is that the former is integrated whereas the latter is undifferentiated. Additionally, the former is deliberate whereas the latter is random. Knowing these differences, a business could choose the strategy that aligns with its mission statement. Some companies may choose to use a combination of these two marketing strategies.
Works Cited
Multimedia Marketing Staff. "Marketing Communications." Multimedia Marketing. N.p., 11 Jan. 2011. Web. 13 July 2015. <http://multimediamarketing.com/mkc/marketingcommunications>.
