Synergy and marketing

Synergy is probably one of the top most overused words in the entire business world. It’s been bandied about so recklessly that it’s pretty much lost all meaning. Every company in the world has leveraged synergy so much that it’s been on the annual bad buzzword list for nearly 13 years.

What does it actually mean, and could understanding it provide actual value?

Synergy’s short definition is the combination of two or more things to produce something that neither component could produce alone. Combining sodium gas and chlorine gas, both deadly, creates ordinary table salt. Combining graphic design and copywriting can produce a top selling website that neither talent could produce alone. Combining smart people with a common goal often leads to team achievements that are impossible for individuals to produce.

The problem with synergy is that because it’s so overused, no one quite understands how it works or how to use it. It’s not just a matter of combining things; it’s a matter of understanding how things work and which things you should put together. Randomly combining marketing ideas is about as effective as randomly combining chemicals in a chemistry lab. Occasionally you’ll get something useful, and occasionally you’ll lose a limb from an explosion (metaphorically with regard to marketing) or accidentally poison everyone in the building with mustard gas.

In order to make use of the idea of synergy in marketing, start understanding human behavior first. Combining pay per click search ads with search engine optimization is a nearly perfect synergy (if you can afford it) because both marketing methods are taking advantage of the human behavior of searching. Having both reinforces your presence of mind to a searcher. Combining pay per click search ads with television ads doesn’t make nearly as much sense because people are in two different mindsets. One is searching, the other is passively consuming or expecting to be entertained. Both methods may be effective, but you won’t create actual synergy – you’ll have the sum total of each method operating independently rather than creating a self-reinforcing harmony and a sum greater than the parts.

Examine your marketing methods and see what human behaviors and activities are occurring in the context of each method. What are people doing when they’re reading an email, interacting on Facebook, driving down the road, going out to eat, etc. and ask yourself what other forms of marketing work together with those activities and mindsets. Only then will you understand true synergy and which marketing methods to deploy for maximum effect.

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