Leveraging Multi-Channel Marketing

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• What Is Multi-Channel Marketing?
• Why Is Multi-Channel Marketing Important?
• Channels Involved in Multi-Channel Marketing
• How Multi-Channel Marketing Compares to Traditional Marketing

As consumers become more saturated with advertisements and marketing messages, brands are finding new ways to cut through all the noise. One way they do this is by expanding their marketing efforts to a variety of platforms. By using this strategy, they are more likely to reach wider consumer bases. Let’s dive into the key concepts of multi-channel marketing.

What Is Multi-Channel Marketing?

Multi-channel marketing is a strategy where brands reach out to their target audiences on many different platforms, both online and offline. Rather than launching a single marketing campaign or using one channel for marketing, more companies are dipping their feet in many places at once.

For example, brands today are likely to have a social media presence on all the major social media platforms. In addition to this marketing tactic, they may also have email marketing campaigns and pay-per-click ads. They may also choose to market through offline channels, such as print, radio, or television. By using multiple channels to market your brand, you are more likely to reach a variety of consumers.

Image via Unsplash by andrewleu

Why Is Multi-Channel Marketing Important?

Multi-channel marketing is an important strategy for all kinds of businesses. Startups can use this method to create a name for themselves. By having a website, social media presence, and other forms of marketing, people can learn what an emerging company is all about. It also gives the business a legitimate presence. A majority of consumers do online research prior to making a purchase, which makes having this digital presence quite important for brands.

The average American sees between 4,000 to 10,000 advertisements per day. That’s because people are constantly consuming media, whether it be print, radio, television, or the internet. Since smartphones have basically become extensions most people, enterprises are using multi-channel marketing to attempt to make a lasting impression on more people. That’s why you’ll see big brands on a variety of platforms. Along with having the budget for it, multi-channel marketing keeps them relevant.

Channels Involved in Multi-Channel Marketing

The channels companies use in their marketing campaigns heavily depends on their target audience. For instance, you’re going to reach a much different audience on cable television than you would on Twitter. By understanding your key demographics’ media habits, you can better tailor your marketing campaigns and brand presence. Here are common channels marketing teams use:

• Banner ads
• Billboards
• Cable television
• Cold calls
• Direct mail
• Email
• Mail-order catalogs
• Podcasts
• Radio
• Retail storefronts
• Search engines
• Social media
• Streaming services
• Telemarketing
• Video services
• Website content

How Multi-Channel Marketing Compares to Traditional Marketing

While traditional media focused on old channels, such as print, direct mail, telemarketing, television, and radio, multi-channel marketing tends to mostly involve digital channels. That’s because these platforms offer brands more ways to reach their target audiences. Let’s look at some of the main benefits of multi-channel marketing:

• Better brand engagement – When brands post to social media, they can get instant consumer feedback through likes, shares, and comments. This brand engagement helps companies understand what marketing strategy is working. It also gives them the opportunity to respond to consumers directly. In fact, many large companies have people who specifically monitor and reply to social media comments.
• Increased revenue – By reaching more people, you are increasing your chances of making a sale. Since many digital channels lead directly to a brand’s website, like sponsored Instagram posts, it’s easier than ever for brands to entice people to make a purchase. Of course, with multi-channel marketing, brands often have a higher marketing budget to take into account when looking at their profits.
• Keeps branding fresh – The Rule of 7 is the average number of impressions a brand needs to make on a consumer before they decide to buy something. Rather than bombarding people with a television commercial every other ad break, keep your marketing messaging interesting by spreading it across different channels. In each ad, think of a new value or benefit your brand can provide. This way, people don’t get bored or annoyed with seeing the same ad over and over.
• Improves brand awareness – Multi-channel marketing gives you the opportunity to reach more eyes. When more people start to see your ads, you can increase brand awareness. Think about who you would reach just using a billboard. Then, imagine how many more people would learn about your brand if you had a billboard, strong social media presence, and email campaign.
• Target multiple audiences – While niche brands may only need to target one demographic, brands that have multiple ideal customers can use multi-channel marketing to target them in more meaningful ways. When creating each campaign, use messaging that is specifically tailored to your target audience. Then, by having multiple unique ads or campaigns, you can directly reach each segment of your customer base. For instance, brands hoping to reach Gen Z may advertise on TikTok. If they also want to reach older consumers, they could create a separate ad for cable television.
• Reach mobile users – Most brands focus less time on targeting people on their work commute or when they sit down to watch television. Brands can now reach people virtually anywhere thanks to the popularity of the smartphone. Mobile users account for 53% of web traffic. Now that you have more mobile channels to choose from, you can reach this mobile-friendly audience. Look into how you can advertise on your target audience’s favorite apps. For instance, you could make social media accounts on the platforms your ideal customer uses.
• Analyze your success – Determining the success of a digital marketing campaign is much easier than a traditional one. That’s because you can access all of this data with tools like Google Analytics, which can help you determine your ROI.

As advertisements and marketing messages begin to show up everywhere, your brand needs to find a way to stay ahead of your competition. Using multi-channel marketing is one way to reach more people and boost brand awareness.

Knowledge Base: Intro to Marketing