In recent years, content consumption has widespread across diverse channels online. Consumers are using different channels to consume content which means, they are expecting brands to market on multiple digital marketing channels. As a brand, if you don’t market on every channel your target audience is on, you are giving away the selling opportunities to your competitor brands.
But, not all digital marketing channels are created equal. Some create more opportunities than others. Some channels need subscriptions while others let you distribute your content organically on their platforms. Come, join us and explore different channels for digital marketing and how they can help you in business growth.
What is a marketing channel?
A marketing channel is a medium to communicate with your target customers. The marketing channels are of two types:
1. Organic Channels
The paid channels mandate you to spend money to share information with your potential audience
2. Paid Channels
In organic channels, you can create and share content with your target audience without spending a single penny.
What are digital marketing channels?
They are the online platforms that let you share information about your brand, product, or service with your target customers. We have listed some of the popular channels for digital marketing. You can include multiple channels in your digital marketing strategy.
1. Email Marketing
Email marketing is one of the oldest and still in trend b2b digital marketing channels in the market. In this digital channel marketing, you use emails to promote your brand, product, or service. It is a powerful marketing channel that helps your customers stay informed of your latest updates, upcoming product releases, offers, etc. If done well, email marketing can be a great tool for lead generation, brand awareness, and building relationships with your customers.
If you are willing to take full advantage of email marketing, prioritize sending emails to the people who are still undecided whether to purchase from your business. Sending personalized emails and offering incentives to the people who are in the consideration phase can drive a huge amount of revenue.
2. Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Optimization is the process of strategically including searchable terms to help prospects find your eCommerce business. An SEO-friendly website increases your brand presence on search engines, generates quality leads, and increases your brand's credibility and thus the market share. This channel is to be included in your multi-channel digital marketing strategy for reaching a wider audience online.
The higher the search engine ranking your online store/website gets, the more traffic your website gets, and the higher will be your selling opportunities. However, please understand that this search engine optimization is not a one-time project. You have to continuously monitor your website content and keep updating it relevant to the search results.
3. Social Media Marketing
Social Media Marketing is an excellent b2b digital marketing channel to engage with your target communities that are interested in your products or services. Having a solid social presence on social media can help you reach more consumers, grow your following, and also work with influencers for lead generation.
Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook have gained so much popularity in connecting people and brands. Millions of people are successfully running their businesses solely out of social media. You can create content and generate leads organically or use paid ads to generate leads.
4. Affiliate Marketing
You don’t always have to advertise your products. You can partner with others and let them advertise your products on your behalf in the exchange for a commission. This type of marketing is known as affiliate marketing and the persons your brand is partnering with our affiliates. Your affiliate uses a special link or promotional code to send to the customers through their blog posts, YouTube videos, etc. It is one of the top multi-channel digital marketing tools for driving high results.
Once a customer purchases your product through the link, the affiliate gets a certain amount of commission for generating the lead. Thus it’s a win-win situation. The secret to success is to find the right affiliates from your target audience.
5. Paid Advertising
It is an online advertising model where advertisers bid to display their ads within specific digital slots. It is one of the fastest ways to help prospects discover your brands. There is a Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising model which lets you pay only for the ads that are clicked.
There are numerous paid advertising channels. If you are confused about which paid advertising channel to choose, identify your objectives, and target audience and pick up the right digital marketing channel according to your budget.
6. Referral Marketing
It is the method of promoting products/services to new customers through referrals or the word of mouth. Customers trust recommendations from family member or their peers more than paid ads or blog posts. It is similar to affiliate marketing wherein you use special links to tie a referral to a customer or an account.
In affiliate marketing, you pay a commission to the affiliates whereas, in referral marketing, you get rewards in the form of free shipping, discounts, and other exclusive benefits. It is a powerful omnichannel digital marketing tool that can convert your best customers into your biggest advocates.
7. Content Marketing
Content Marketing refers to creating organic content on multiple channels like social media platforms, YouTube, Podcast, email, etc. Posting original content consistently on your owned channels increases credibility with your audience, amplifies brand reach, and helps to establish yourself as an industry expert. You can carry out Omni-channel digital marketing and deliver a unique customer experience by posting content across multiple platforms.
8. SMS Marketing
SMS Marketing (Short Message Service Marketing) is the method of sending promotions to new or existing customers via direct text messages. It is much simpler than email and social media marketing techniques. All you need to do is to get a list of customers, use the right tool, craft your message and send it to your audience followed by tracking the results. Through text messages, you can send welcome texts, new product arrivals, seasonal sales, and ask customers to fill out surveys. You can also perform cross-channel digital marketing by sending a text message to your customers, encouraging them to follow on social media.
Multi-channel digital marketing for the best results
We’ve listed the popular digital marketing channels in the market. However, new channels keep coming once in a while. One channel might offer higher reach while some others may provide better ROI. We recommend you use a combination of these digital marketing channels to obtain the maximum benefit. What are your thoughts? What channels do your use for digital marketing? Share your experiences and suggestions in the comments down below. Thanks for reading!