Tackling 2022′ Marketing Challenges Head-on: How to select your channel strategy
9th March 2022
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Knowing which channel strategy to use for your brand can be tricky as you will want to get your marketing right. Wasting time and effort on campaigns that do not align with the needs and preferences of your audience is not financially beneficial. Knowing which channel strategy to select is highly dependent on the product or service your brand offers. Within this post, we will take a look at the different types of channels available to marketers and discover the most effective channel strategy for your brand.
What is channel strategy?
To put it simply, channel strategy is the combination of the different marketing channels your brand chooses to use to engage consumers to meet your objectives; for example, raise brand awareness or convert consumers.
Understanding the most effective strategy for your brand will ensure high consumer engagement and conversion rates. Depending on the product or service your brand offers, you will need to have at least one marketing channel, but you are not limited to just one. Selecting multiple channels to engage your audience can benefit your brand as the reach is widened and by having multiple touchpoints brand recall is increased as consumers are gently reminded about your product through various platforms.
Understanding different channels
When we think about the different marketing channels, we should separate them into 2 categories. This will help you discover the various objectives of your campaign and the impact of the channels your brand chooses.
Interruptive
Interruptive channels disturb the consumer in their daily life and present a campaign that they did not look for. Examples of this would be social media advertising, popup ads, billboards, and TV ads. All of which are integrated into the consumer’s life and interrupt what they were doing. So, to capture an audience’s attention through interruptive marketing, the campaign you create must be a positive experience rather than a negative interruption.
With ad blockers and the death of the cookie, brands should not rely on interruptive ads alone. But they can be an excellent channel to utilise when reaching new audiences at the start of the marketing funnel, raising brand awareness.
Inbound
Unlike the interruptive channels, consumers find inbound campaigns when searching for products or services. Examples of inbound channels are SEO, blogging, and influencer marketing. These channels are found when a consumer searches for something or follows certain pages. They are targeted through keywords and specific influencers to reach the target market.
Paired with the correct interruptive marketing channel, inbound channels are highly effective at converting consumers into paying customers. With the average website conversion rate doubles from 6% to 12% with consistent inbound marketing. Inbound channels can be more personalised and therefore more engaging for consumers as they choose to look for the information. Through these channels, your brand can showcase brand purpose and generate brand recall.
“Don’t interrupt what your buyers want to consume — BE what they want to consume.” ― Mike Volpe CEO of Lola.com and VP at Capital One
Marketing channels brands favour in 2022
According to a study carried out by HubSpot, the top marketing channels for brands in 2022 are:
- Social Media
- Websites/Blogs
- Email Marketing
- Omni-channel Marketing
- Video Marketing
- Influencer Marketing
- Search Engine Optimization
- Podcast Marketing
- Word-of-mouth Marketing / User-generated content
How to select your channel strategy?
Understanding the market
Before choosing the channel strategy, your brand will need to do some market research. Understanding the best channels for your products or service will stop you from wasting time discovering what works for you as others have tried and tested.
For example, your product may benefit more from catalogue and email marketing over social media campaigns if you target the over 65s.
Take a look at what others in your field are doing and see how successful they have been with these channels. Whilst also testing new channels for your brand. Equally, by understanding better the market environment, you can identify opportunities for growth. Opportunity channels will be areas where your competition isn’t currently reaching the audience. It is important here however to ensure you are critical as to why no one else is operating that channel, it may not be appropriate for your product/service, or the size of the audience may not be large enough.
Finding the right channel strategy can be time-consuming but understanding how to maximise your reach is essential to a successful campaign.
Understand target audience
Product or service is not the only thing to consider when choosing the right channel strategy for your brand. When developing a channel strategy, the focus must be the customer and what they want available to them.You must understand your target audience to engage them effectively. Considering age, gender, ethnicity, needs, and hobbies will help you identify the best way to target your target audience.
While a brand in the same industry will have a similar audience, you should not limit yourself to what others are doing. It is also wise to research brands with look-a-like audiences from differing industries, but their consumers are similar. This will give you invaluable insight into your target audience’s preferences and consumer habits. By understanding the needs of this audience, you can effectively target them through the appropriate channels.
Understand the different channels and what they offer
Once you have gathered a list of channels your brand wants to use, it is essential to discover the offerings of each to ensure you can create a balanced channel marketing strategy. Understanding the different channels available to your brand will ensure you make a tailored omnichannel marketing strategy that effectively targets your audience. HubSpot research shows that 92% of marketers leverage more than one channel and 81% leverage more than three. By understanding the offering from each of the channels, your brand will be able to create a consistent approach that is appropriate for your audience and flows with your branding.
Understanding The message you want to create
Most importantly, when deciding the channel strategy for your brand, you need to determine the message you want to put out there. This will help you align the channel strategy with your brand’s purpose.
How will your message differ per channel?
Finally, once you have decided the channel/s, your brand will utilise, you will need to consider if you can deliver your message through the selected channels. The message you send to consumers will need to differ slightly through the channels as the impact will vary between channels.
By considering all of these factors, your brand should now be armed with a better idea of the channel strategy needed to engage consumers into the marketing funnel. It will be more successful with your approach seeing a higher ROI.
What channels strategy should I consider for my brand?
Whether your brand sells B2B or B2C, you will need to use a targeted channel strategy to engage consumers effectively. However, this will slightly differ between the two.
The best channels for B2B v B2C
| B2B | B2C |
| Social media | Social media |
| Blogging | |
| Email (Newsletters) | Website/Blog |
| SEO | Influencer Marketing |
| Video | Video |
While B2B marketers focus their investments on blogs and email marketing they will also increase their investments in social media. It is also suggested to start incorporating video marketing into your strategy as 69% of consumers prefer to learn about what a brand offers through video. B2C preferred channels are similar to B2B but differ in importance as B2C marketers offer quick solutions that are enjoyable for consumers whereas B2B offers more informed content that builds long-lasting bonds.
Need help with choosing the right channel strategy for your brand? Then GottaBe! can help. With marketing experts on hand and over 14 years of experience, we have knowledge of the target audiences in the UK and know how to get your product out there. Contact the team today to get started.