The first aspect of integrated marketing communications that Karen needs to consider is that her job, as a marketer is to magnify the consumer’s perceived relevance of the product. Using this idea, Karen needs to reassure her current clients that her brokerage services are important to their daily lives. She needs to keep her clients thinking that investments are a vital part of their lives and that they are serving a good purpose.
The purchase needs to be important to the customer. Karen can make this visible to her clients by suggesting that supplementing their current income is necessary. Many households need the extra income. This may be in the form of a retirement account that the family is going to need to rely on in the future. Karen could also point out that the market is currently increasing and now is the time to invest. Clients may be persuaded to invest while the market is seen to be increasing. Karen could also point out that the current job market may be unstable and a well-developed investment portfolio may save a family whose income has unexpectedly decreased.
Another aspect of integrated marketing communications is that attitudes about a product that are formed using the central route are more enduring than those formed using the peripheral route. Customers that Karen is currently serving are going to have a higher motivation for the product already. Therefore, they will tend to form attitudes about Karen’s services using the central route.
Self persuasion is the best route for getting customers to commit to purchasing a product. Using Karen’s current clients, this can be a very effective tool. These are customers who have already used Karen's services. Supposing they are satisfied with the service they have received in the past, they will be self-persuaded to keep using Karen as a broker.
Karen’s advertising should be mostly direct marketing.