Holistic Marketing: The All-Rounder Approach
Holistic can seem like a buzzword today, but this method of solving problems has been around for centuries. It literally means to encompass the whole of something and treat it as one. Simply put, it means treating every part as a puzzle piece in a bigger picture. For example, it would include examining your patient as thoroughly as possible in healthcare. Then, a management plan should be created that considers physical and mental health, medicine, and lifestyle changes. In marketing, it means forming an interconnected strategy that brings together all the components of a business to create a consistent brand experience. In today’s digital marketing world, you need much more to stay in the game. That is why our marketers at bmymarketer are here to give you an overview of the future of digital marketing strategies.
Holistic Marketing: What is it?
Recent research shows that more than 86% of your customer’s decision to purchase depends on holistic marketing. So, all the other variables of hiking up your sales don’t make a huge dent in your sales strategy. Holistic marketing is based on the concept that everything matters in marketing. It integrates and combines all the elements of a business, such as consumers, employees, market, competitors, and society. You cannot just focus on one part.
For example, advertising cannot be successful without a good customer experience. Similarly, good customer service depends on your customer management system. SEO cannot rank your business high if you focus on on-page SEO and forget about off-page SEO. The most important part is that it has to fit together and create a cohesive picture of your brand. The 4Ps, i.e., product, place, promotion, and price, should flow together like peas in a pod!
Process of Holistic Marketing
Integrated Marketing
In integrated marketing, everything must match. You cannot advertise for fresh food if you are serving your customers a day-old salad. Your digital marketing strategies should all speak the same language. Whether you’re planning email campaigns and website content or updating customer service policies, you should not promise what you cannot deliver. We always emphasize the phrase ‘under-promise and over-deliver,’ which applies here too.
Relationship Marketing
Building long-lasting relationships isn’t just about getting something out of them. With holistic marketing, you will also develop long-term relationships with your consumers, employees, and stakeholders. For example, your regular consumer would feel appreciated and valued if the barista remembers their regular order in your coffee shop. Your employees will also be loyal to you if you treat them like partners. Your networking should also always focus on fostering a mutually beneficial relationship that doesn’t have to be only money-based.
Internal Marketing
Internal marketing simply means valuing your own employees. This includes solving their problems, offering help, providing a fair wage and insurance, etc. For example, if your team has many parents, you can consider offering on-site daycare service or a childcare allowance. Google offers its employees many services that other corporations don’t. Such as a merit-based system, free food, napping pods, preferable internal hiring, pet and child care services, and bonuses. It creates a very pleasant working environment, which can help your employee turnover and the quality of your services.
Social Responsibility
A great example of socially responsible marketing is Coca-Cola. ‘A world without waste,’ their message shows their commitment to sustainability and their role in reducing carbon footprint. In fact, their goal by 2030 is to minimize their carbon footprint by 25%. They also create all their packaging to be eco-friendly and recyclable. Additionally, they vowed to replace the amount of water they utilized in their production processes. It may not have been very popular in the olden days of traditional marketing. But, right now, it is of great importance to consumers. A poll showed that about 80% of consumers buy based on how sustainable a brand is. On top of that, ¾ of the consumers expressed boycotting brands if they are not ethical or socially responsible.
Performance Marketing
Since holistic marketing includes ‘everything,’ it also means numbers. You should never ignore your performance metrics because they show measurable results in your marketing strategies. These metrics are vital to your forward and upward growth. You can change, tweak, alter your plan, and even create a brand-new campaign. With the data, you can make evidence-based decisions that guarantee your success.
What Makes Holistic Marketing Special?
Holistic marketing is better than other methods of marketing, and the following are the reasons why:
Customer Comes First
Holistic Marketing is a user-centric and consumer-based approach. It looks at the needs and wants of your potential consumers, understands their behavior, and identifies any problems. The aim is to create a solution for them that they cannot refuse. This problem-solving method also creates a personalized solution for your target audience.
Consistency All Across
Consistency is what makes you different from your competitors. It also highlights your brand in your niche market. For example, McDonald’s prominent yellow M and Colonel Sander’s sketch of KFC instantly make them recognizable worldwide. Their branding and logos have the same global coloring, fonts, graphic design, packaging, and basic menu items. That is why, no matter where you travel, you can trust either of these fast food places not to let you go hungry. Due to their consistency, their consumers trust them. And that is how consistency builds your brand’s trust in your audience and creates authority in the digital market.
Everything Goes Together
To make a delicious lemonade, you need the right ratio of lemon juice, sugar, salt, and water. Integration within holistic marketing creates this harmony among all the elements that make up your strategy. In a recipe, all ingredients hold their value on their own. But you can only create a delicious dish out of them if you follow the right ratios at the right cooking stage. Integration is a huge part of holistic marketing, making it better than traditional strategies.
Playing the Long Game
With long-lasting relationship building, holistic marketing aims to leave a permanent and positive impression of your brand. It instills loyalty in your target audience. It also creates a dedicated workforce and passionate partners for your business. It forms an environment in which your business can truly grow and thrive. This is true for both tangible and intangible outcomes of your business’s performance.
Being Socially Responsible
Your brand’s values should reflect your promise of social and ethical responsibility for the environment and society. By looking at sustainable development goals, you can decide what values align with your beliefs. It is important not just to adopt every trend that goes viral. Instead, your brand’s social responsibility should tie in with your belief system. Helping the environment and your community and building a loyal consumer base is a win-win situation.
Brands Implementing Holistic Marketing
Let’s look at the examples of famous brands that have successfully adopted holistic marketing in their digital marketing strategy.
For Example, Nike’s ‘Move to Zero’ campaign promises to make the world a better place. This campaign focuses on reducing waste and making its products more sustainable. Whether it’s their ads, website, or in-store experience, you can see their commitment to the environment. Even their employees take part in this mission. Not a lot of their budget goes into maintaining these practices. However, this makes their customers feel good about supporting a brand that cares about the planet.
Another brand that is an example of holistic marketing is Lush. It is an incredibly famous bath and personal care product brand that focuses on sustainability. Their stores provide an interactive experience. Customers can watch their employees mixing and packaging products such as bath salts, body scrubs, etc. They can also take part in this experience or request a custom blend. Their packaging is also eco-friendly, and their products are fully organic. They also offer discounts if you return empty packaging of your Lush products to the store for recycling. With holistic marketing, their products are not only harmless to the environment but also transparent about their ingredients. That is how they have created such a cult-like fan following of their brand.
Finally, let us explore TOMS, a well-known shoe brand. Initially, TOMS launched a marketing campaign in which if anyone bought a pair of shoes, they would donate one pair to those in need from their side. In this way, they sold over 95 million shoes and also donated the same amount. However, they were criticized for creating unfair competition in the market. They were also criticized for tying their social responsibility directly with their ROI. Therefore, they changed their entire strategy. They don’t give away donations in the form of shoes anymore. Instead, they donate 33.3% of their profits to campaigns related to curbing gun violence, improving mental health, and accessibility of opportunities. Their exceptional response to the initial criticism ensured they stayed relevant in the market. Not only that, they also won the hearts of their loyal consumers and their community. Due to this, they have also experienced consistent brand growth in measurable and non-measurable performance metrics. Every brand should take a page out of their holistic marketing book!
Final Verdict
The real-life examples of successful holistic marketing prove that this strategy works the best. When done right, holistic marketing leads to a stronger brand image, better customer experiences, and long-term loyalty. Plus, you get the bonus of being a business that does good for the world. It provides you an opportunity to make your mark along with making a buck out of your services and products. You get the best of both worlds and create your legacy for generations. Maybe, next time, your brand could serve as a successful example of holistic marketing. What do you think? If you are still unconvinced or have questions, contact one of bmymarketer’s digital marketing experts today. We offer free consultation for any area of concern for creating, marketing, or establishing your online brand.
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