How to Choose the Right Digital Marketing Channels for Your Business

Are you planning your digital marketing campaign for your business?  Not sure which digital marketing channels suit your brand?

In most cases, not all marketing channels will be right for you.  So, to avoid wasting time and money by following the crowd, it is better to stick to channels where you know your audience will be.

So, let’s take a look at how to choose the right digital marketing channels for your business.

  • Start With A Strategy:

For your marketing plans to be successful, you need to first start with a strategy.  This will help guide you around the dark and make the right decisions for your brand.  To have a successful business, you need to understand where you stand.  Start by setting a strong marketing goal that is based on the acronym S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely).  Some points to help you start your strategy are:

  • Start by building trust and authority with consumers
  • Create a recognizable brand 
  • Nurture and generate high-quality leads
  • Boosting R.O.I.s
  • Increasing sales
  • Choosing Goals:

What do you plan to achieve with your marketing strategy?  Do you want to see a jump in sales of your products, or do you want to increase brand awareness?  Whatever your goals, you need to set them clearly so that they set the foundation for your marketing strategy.

Every marketing channel will work differently – some will help you achieve your goals faster, while others may help you in another way.  For example, social media platforms are a great way to connect with your customers online and help increase your customer base.  On the other hand, a billboard will help increase awareness about your brand.  When you know your marketing goals, you can start choosing marketing channels that provide the best benefit for your business.

  • Know Where Your Customers Are:

What kind of media does your potential audience consume?  Where do they visit the most over the weekends?  What websites do they frequent, and what do they search on Google?  Whom do they follow online?  What content do they consume?   

Your audience is often bombarded with media clutter, so to make an effective marketing strategy, you need to know when and where they hang out.  This means not pushing them to where you are but rather targeting them where they already frequent.  Start by looking for tools that will help you find your audiences, such as SEMRush, Ahrefs, BuzzSumo, and others.  Want to connect with Gen Z – go on Instagram.  Want to connect with Boomers – go to Facebook.  Want to connect with company C.E.O.s, C.M.O.s, and C.F.O.s – go to LinkedIn.

  • Stay In Contact With Your Customers Through Their Entire Journey:

Most businesses connect with their customers at the beginning of their journey.  This is to encourage them to move to the purchasing phase.  But what most businesses fail to do is to nurture these customers once they buy the products.

Present targeted messages for your current customer base to help develop better relationships and encourage them to maintain brand loyalty.  To maximize your marketing effort success, you must find the right channels to help you talk to your customers pre, during, and post-sales.

  • Check And Analyze What Gaps Your Competitors’ Business Plans Have:

Want a little help in mapping your marketing strategy?  Start by identifying the most successful competitors while checking which marketing channels they follow.  This is a strong indicator of which direction your efforts must take.  This confirms that the channel you choose will be more effective and will help you grab more market share.  Another strategy is to find gaps in your competitors’ marketing strategy.  Choose those sectors they are neglecting.  When you find the gap, then target that to make sure that you fulfil any requirements that your potential customers might have. 

  • Working On Your Strategy + Analyzing Results:

So, now that you have determined your goals found the right channels, and selected platforms that your customers frequently visit – what should be your next step?

You must know by now which channels work best for your brand.  But that does not mean it stops there.  Marketing strategies do not mean setting it and then forgetting about it.  It is constant testing, optimizing, and updating to get the best results.  So, take advantage of any tools you have to paint a successful picture of all your marketing campaigns.  If you feel that it is not working, then change your tactics and try a different strategy.

Conclusion

Digital marketing provides businesses with endless opportunities for marketing strategies.  But selecting the right marketing channel can be quite challenging, especially for global businesses.  Remember to look at what your competitors are doing and look for ways that you can implement it in your business.  Start by planning your strategy that utilizes the best digital marketing strategies to help achieve your goals.