What’s a marketer to do in today’s increasingly cluttered communications landscape? With the recent explosion in the number of communication channels, how can you be sure that you are choosing the right channel to reach your target audience? The short answer — you can’t (sort of).

For years it has been a tradition in the marketing community to look at every component of a campaign on its individual merits, not as a whole. Luckily, someone woke up one day to the realization that no part is greater than its sum, even in the world of marketing. So what did this sudden realization mean for marketers? Simple, if you are not engaging the consumer across multiple channels chances are you are not reaching them.

It seems like a simple and straightforward concept, right? So where should you allocate your marketing dollars to make sure you are heard by today’s aloof consumer? Well there are always the obvious mediums such as print, broadcast, and mobile media, but they are only a small piece of the larger puzzle.

You see, when marketers first became obsessed with the idea of integrated marketing communications they forget one small, but major component — marketing at retail. It’s a bit ironic given that it is one of the most effective forms of marketing with nearly 70 percent of shoppers reporting making purchase decisions at the point of purchase. If today’s marketer wants to have their voice heard in the crowded and noisy communications landscape, then marketing at retail has to become part of the integrated marketing mix.

While in-store has traditionally been a standalone media and translating it into the mainstream media mix presents new and significant challenges, there is little doubt to the benefits it offers. P&G, Kroger, and a few smart others have already begun to align all intelligence and operations around the at retail environment.

Why you ask? It boils down to that moment of decision–a few seconds when a busy Mom accesses all the information and impressions she has about the product, says yes and moves on. You see in her path to purchase she’s encountered print, billboard, radio, television, online, and perhaps even mobile ads for a wide variety of products. Yet, despite all of the consistent messaging she’s been conditioned to acknowledge and understand from the wide array of media, when she’s confronted with the product in-store most marketers haven’t taken their message that far. So she is left to quickly assess what each product offers and determine which brand makes the most compelling case at the point of purchase.

Now imagine the advantage given to the marketer who integrates the in-store medium into the mix. Suddenly that same shopper recognizes and draws upon all of the impressions she has encountered and collected in her path to purchase, and suddenly it all clicks. And the reason it all comes together, as she places your product into her shopping cart, is due to the foresight you had to take your message the last three feet.

If you want more insight and education around integrated marketing and the role of marketing at retail, then checkout POPAI U on the Road’s upcoming event. It will compel you to take a second look at your integrated marketing efforts!