Are you familiar with the term, “Gestalt”? It’s a German word meaning shape, form, or design. In English, the term Gestalt refers to a certain phenomenon where the brain perceives an organized whole as more than the sum of its parts.

An example of a Gestalt in art is where the brain perceives negative white space as a specific shape. (Think of the picture that asks, “Do you see a vase or two lovers’ faces?”). Essentially, your brain fills in the blanks. For example, in the picture below, there’s no triangle, but the brain is able to see one. Here 3 circles (PacMen?) add up to 3 circles AND a triangle.

A good way to describe a Gestalt is with the phrase “2 + 2 = 5” (and no, not the Radiohead song). Of course, we all know that isn’t true arithmetically. But what happens when you add two things together and you’re left with a third? While adding two marbles to another two marbles will always get you four marbles, in marketing, it isn’t quite the same.

The Power of Integrated Marketing

So what does the term Gestalt mean for marketing?

By definition of being a stronger whole, creating a “marketing Gestalt” is a worthy goal for any marketer. Marketing tactics become more than what they are at face value. They’re more than separate marketing tactics, such as ads, SEO, inbound, etc.

Integrated digital marketing can be described as a Gestalt. By integrating your tactics — B2B social media, B2B website, inbound marketing, outbound marketing and more — you create something greater. When executed properly, single integrated tactics will yield a larger integrated whole. The key piece that’s often skipped over is the strategy (both overall strategy and messaging strategy). Strategy is what distinguishes integrated marketing from nonintegrated marketing.

Integrated digital marketing uses strategy and research to pull all of the tactics together and make them stronger as one. This way, the marketing tactics have a strong focus, which allows them to interplay. As with art, the integrated digital marketing fills all of the “negative spaces,” i.e. gaps, in a current marketing strategy.

For example, you can integrate your B2B social media and B2B website with offers like “Get 20% off with the code from Facebook,” “Check out our website to view the full product video,” and more. This connection strengthens both the social media and the website by directing people back and forth and driving them toward a conversion.

A B2B integrated digital marketing strategy points prospects back to the website, which serves as the foundation of all marketing today. All ads should redirect to the website, all offers should point to your website, and so on. This creates a digital marketing funnel, utilizing the best of inbound and outbound marketing to pull prospects to your website.

Today, all marketing is digital in at least one facet. Integrating your marketing strategies is a vital first step to being successful in digital marketing.

All marketing tactics should be thought of as part of a larger whole, rather than separate pieces. By strategically integrating all marketing tactics, the marketing program becomes more effective and cost efficient. As a B2B agency, we developed B2B 360 Integrated Digital Marketing to meet this improved performance need. To learn more about B2B 360 and how it will benefit your business, download our free eBook: The Better Path to Top-Tier Tech Marketing.

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