Don't Be a Silo Marketer

In case your confused about the use of the term "Silo", it has many meanings in North America.  You may have already noticed that within the English language, we have many words that have many meanaings.  For example, a "Silo" can be an underground military installation.  A "Silo" can be a tall a structure, typically cylindrical, in which fodder or forage is kept, typically used in farming.
But a "Silo" can also mean "single" or singular.
A silo can be a curse in marketing....

THE BIG SILO QUESTION
When we refer to "silos" in marketing, we mean using only a single form of marketing.  Perhaps you think Email Marketing might be the answer.  Or maybe you've considered direct mail, or advertising, or television.  At AmeriStart, we speak to executives in the Life Science, Software and Green Industries all the time and its interesting to find that many of them have the same questions. 
The "Should I do direct mail or email for my US marketing"  or "Should I spend my marketing on banner advertisements or Pay per Click Campaigns."  The answer we give is always the same.... "YES.
I admit, sometimes we get blank stares back at us, but the reality is that you can't put all of your marketing into one form or another.  It should be properly allocated among many forms of marketing.
INTEGRATED MARKETING IS THE ANSWER
Integrated Marketing, the combination of multiple forms of marketing is the way to market and sell your products and services in North America.  It's widely accepted that it takes approximately seven "touches" (getting your marketing and sales material in front of potential customers) in order to make a sale.
If that theory holds true, then just having one form of marketing will only lessen the impact that the message can contain.  if I send 7 postcards to a customer, or seven emails or seven of anything the same, the outcome will be less than if for example I send one postcard, two emails and letter.
Integrated Marketing is therefore more impactful because every person in the world, let alone North America responds differently to different media types.  Why then would you consider anything less an Integrated Marketing approach?
BOTTOM LINE
Even at the expense of being able to market to more prospects, Integrated Marketing campaigns done the right way can result in greater sales even to a smaller audience.