Some see the growth of digital as a killer of traditional ads. Much to the contrary, they actually offer yet another way for association and B2B publishers to promote their organizations and earn non-dues revenue. It also offers a great way to promote your offline marketing events and publications with cross-media integration

What Is Cross-Media Integration?

Consumers are surrounded with marketing messages. The number ranges anywhere from 5,000 to 13,000 messages per day depending on your source. With so many messages, marketers have gotten pretty adept at tuning them out. For a marketer to stand out, it is necessary for them to repeatedly communicate their message multiple times in different ways. In most cases we use digital sales tools to further promote conference or print ad sales.

In ad sales consulting sessions with customers, one of the first tasks Adboom Advertising’s ad sales manager and sales reps do is inventory the client’s current brand offerings. We assess the performance of that ad product. From there we make suggestions on how to cross-promote them across their channels.

We primarily do it by bundling ad products, combining two or more different ones together, as a package for your advertiser. For example, put your digital and print ad products together or include a conference sponsorship opportunity to print or digital advertisers.

 Using Digital Can Boost Offline Non-dues Revenue

Let’s say for example your association has an annual conference, a magazine, and a website, all for which they want to sell association sponsorships and advertising. To begin promoting the conference, the association may place house ads in their magazine and on their website. They may even use the website as the destination to register for and learn about the conference. Once the conference arrives, they promote their magazine with sample issues available throughout the show and in swag bags. In addition to promoting on these channels, they may also provide information about the conference or articles on their website on their social media channels and throughout the magazine.

 How Associations and Advertisers Benefit

Digital tools like search engines and social media make it easier to locate highly targeted organizations, specializing in their interest. The cross-media, or cross-channel integration, sales strategy facilitates the advertiser’s introduction to offline products where they can reach this very same targeted audience. Here are some other ways integrating your ad sales across media benefits your organization’s potential advertisers:

• Populations where the audience is not very digital, are still getting reached out to and not missed.
• More channels means higher frequency and ad repetition which can increase brand recall and likelihood their ad will be seen at some point.
• It allows your advertisers the ability to create cohesive promotions across channels, increasing their likelihood of reaching more potential customers.
• Tracking and measurement across channels allows advertisers to determine which ones garner the best and worst results.

Cross-media integration offers association and B2B publishers benefits as well:

• Brings in customers from the digital channel and introduces them to a highly targeted offline channel.
• Allows you to fill harder to place ad positions by bundling it or offering it with more premium positions or with a supplemental ad product offer.
• Studies have found that customers who are reached across mediums spend more than those reached only across one.
• Advertisers are more likely to return as customers when they feel they are getting more value for their money.

The biggest benefit cross-media integration offers your organization’s ad sales program is increased visibility. It doesn’t matter where they enter the funnel, whether it is print to digital, digital to conference, conference to print, the more people who can learn about your association. The more  knowledgeable people are about your association the more likely they are to come to you for information, a community and membership. Association growth can builds ad revenues, communities, and expertise levels. Cross-media integration is where you start.

Learn how cross-media integration can boost your association’s non-dues revenue. Contact AdBoom Advertising and speak with a member of our ad sales team.