Cross media marketing increases both the frequency and the reach of a brand’s message by using multiple forms of communication to reach a target audience — from email to direct mail to mobile messaging — every member of a brand’s target audience will more likely be exposed to one or more of the brand’s messages.  Each marketing touch point used in cross media communication is valuable and each of the messages sent out should complement one another to create a consistent overall brand image.

Cross media allows marketers to spread their message to their target audience by engaging people through multiple levels of communication through various consumer touch points.  Using more than one consumer touch point to establish a relationship also gives the recipients of the messages different options to respond to your call-to-action.  Through automation, marketers are able to collect their responses and generate a two-way dialogue with the respondents.  In turn, a bond is established between brand and consumer.

Each element of cross media has its unique benefits.  Email can be personalized and sent out almost instantaneously and direct mail is capable of breaking through the digital clutter and can offer the recipient a personalized invitation to your brand’s mobile landing page by including a QR code on the direct mail piece.  When a member of your core audience takes the time to interact with your brand via its mobile landing page, their engagement is higher and you’re able to communicate more detailed messages to your consumer.

Furthermore, multiple studies have shown that cross media marketing can gain response rates of five times higher than that of generic marketing campaigns.  Not only do the campaign’s response rates increase, but the conversion rate has also been shown to increase.  The conversion rates increase because cross media marketing allows a brand communicate and collect more information to and from its potential customer through the multiple consumer touch points a brand establishes with its target audience.

Timothy Freeman

President

Print & Graphic Communications Association