Some interesting research came out recently that validates the importance of a completely integrated marketing and advertising effort. Crown Peak conducted a study of holiday advertisers and discovered that 66% percent of online ads simply redirect users to the website home page, or a generic search result page rather than a landing page specifically tied to the ad content, message or call to action.

“By driving traffic to irrelevant content or the company’s home page, marketers are virtually guaranteeing that they aren’t going to convert Web visitors to buyers through online ads. On the other hand, tying campaigns to landing pages with a specific and relevant call to action can improve lift by up to 40 percent and–given how precious marketing dollars are these days–it’s time that holiday marketers get more strategic with their  budgets.”

Amazon and Target Performed the Best

Amazon and Target, two of the most-visited Black Friday retail websites, were among the highest scoring advertisers, consistently driving consumers to specific landing pages tied directly to ads and their messaging.

What You Can Do Differently

This study serves to quantify the importance of a unified strategic effort in your marketing and advertising. When different elements are tied together (ads and landing pages in this case, but the same holds true for others) the results compound. Make sure that you and your agency are taking the time to think the whole marketing process through and meet your prospects every step along the way – not just supplying a “quick fix”. If all the elements are not carefully tied together, you decrease effectiveness and lose sales – and that campaign you just paid for suddenly loses a lot of value. Of course, you can always contact us if you need help with that.