How to Identify the Right Marketing Channels for Your Business

Intro

Choosing the right marketing channels for your business can feel like a high-stakes game of poker or blackjack.

Like gambling, the decision to "go all in" on a certain marketing channel can make or break your success. If you choose the wrong channel, you risk wasting time and money on a marketing strategy that doesn't work.

On the other hand, if you choose the right channel, you drive a significant return on your investment.

But how do you identify the right marketing channels for your business? In this blog post, we'll explore a few simple strategies for evaluating your options and finding the right options for your specific marketing strategy.

Are you ready to learn more?

Let's dive in.

What are the different marketing channels you can leverage for your business?

Here are the five most common marketing channels nearly every business utilizes.

So out of these, pick two or three channels to get your feet wet.

1. Organic search

Organic search is the free traffic that comes to your website from search engines like Google and Bing.

For example, when you search for a keyword like "best project management software" on Google, you get a list of websites ranking on the first page of the search results (SERPs).

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Landing on the first page of Google's SERP is a coveted spot. Why? These results attract 95% of all organic search traffic.

And as a business owner, that's music to your ears. So, how do you get your website to rank well on search engines?

• Build an SEO-friendly website (loads quickly, includes meta descriptions, image alt text, etc.)
• Create high-quality and solution-oriented content around focus keywords
• Acquire backlinks from other websites

2. Paid search (PPC)

Paid search is the opposite of organic search: you have to pay to get traffic to your website from search engines.

These results are tagged as "sponsored" above the organic results on SERPs.

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And whenever someone clicks on these websites or articles (that have the 'sponsored' tag next to them), these brands will pay Google. Hence the name pay-per-click (PPC).

PPC advertising is the ideal channel for businesses looking to drive targeted traffic to their website and generate leads or sales quickly. And it's particularly effective for reaching a specific audience based on their search behavior or interests.

With PPC, you can bid on specific keywords and phrases relevant to your business, allowing you to control your budget and track their return on investment (ROI) in real time. Depending on your target keywords, it can be an efficient and cost-effective marketing strategy.

Use keyword research tools like Ranktracker to help you find lucrative keywords for your PPC campaigns.

3. Social media

Social media is the way to go if you're all about building your brand and connecting with your audience.

You can get creative with your content and share all kinds of stuff, from photos and videos to blog posts and memes. You can also chat with your followers through comments, likes, and shares, which is a great way to build trust and show off your personality.

It's the perfect channel for building your brand identity and encouraging people to check out your product or service offering.

Looking for inspiration? Take a page out of Ulta Beauty's book. They've amassed over 7 million followers on Instagram by sharing beauty tips and their top-selling products.

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Pro tip: Use an image editor to design high-quality images tailored to a specific platform.

And that's not all. Social media is a goldmine of information about your customers. You can tweak your marketing strategy by tracking their behavior and preferences to better serve their needs.

So if you're looking to boost your online presence and engage with your customers, social media is definitely the way to go. But before diving into these platforms, be clear on your marketing goal.

• Are you trying to establish an online presence?
• Do you want to build a loyal community of customers?
• Are you interested in driving instant sales for your business?

Answering some of these questions will help you choose the right social media platform to build your online presence.

But there's also a downside to using social media channels: it takes time to generate ROI. Unfortunately, it's not a publish once and go viral overnight type of deal.

Social media channels are rented spaces where you can access your ideal audience. But there's no certainty they'll visit your website after following you.

So, you need a proper marketing strategy to establish several touchpoints to get results and fill your sales funnel.

For example, LeatherCult utilizes multiple social channels like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest to build a robust online presence and promote its products.

But they also keep their sales funnel in mind by directing their followers to their website through a link in their Instagram bio.

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4. Email marketing

Almost every business uses email to communicate with its employees and customers.

That's why emails are one of the most used communication methods — your ideal target audience heavily relies on them.

Here are two basic ways to use email marketing to your advantage:

• Newsletter: Send weekly or monthly newsletters to educate and interact with your audience.
• Drip email campaign: Send them a series of emails when they opt-in for your products or services, and nurture them through the sales funnel.

You might be wondering, how do I capture the email address of my ideal prospects? The answer is a lead magnet.

Ambitious Kitchen, a healthy food blog, offers an e-book with top-notch 30-minute dinner recipes in exchange for your email address. That's worth it, right?

The answer is, "Yes, I want this!" (check out the CTA button).

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Now you have a complete email list full of potential leads. Score.

5. Referral traffic

Referral traffic is the traffic your website receives from other websites, not through manual search.

This traffic comes when:

• other websites mention your product or services on their page
• other websites backlink to an in-depth article on your blog

For example, if your website is featured in a high-authority publication, and a reader clicks on your website after reading it, that's referral traffic.

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The best part about leveraging referral traffic? It's free. You don't have to pay when a reader lands from another website to yours. The only investment you need is building credibility and relationships.

4 steps to pick the right marketing channel for your business

Step 1: Identify your target audience and their behavior

Here's the thing: the right marketing channel is where your ideal target audience is active. To find this information, you need to answer the following questions:

• Who is your ideal target audience?
• What are their needs?
• What are their wants?
• Which social channels do they engage on most?

You'll get clarity on the proper marketing channels to leverage by answering these questions.

For instance, if you choose to go with social media, remember that different audiences hang out on different platforms:

• **Facebook: **Most active age range is 25–34 years old. Use Facebook to build brand awareness, connect with customers, and share news and updates about your business.
• Instagram: Most active age range is 18–29 years old. Use Instagram to showcase your products or services with visually stunning photos and videos, reach a younger audience, and build a strong brand presence.
• Twitter: Most active age range is 18–29 years old. Use Twitter to share news and updates about your business, engage with customers and industry influencers, and participate in trending conversations.
• LinkedIn: Most active age range is 30–49 years old. Use LinkedIn to build professional relationships, share industry insights and thought leadership, and recruit new talent.
• TikTok: The most active age range is 10–29 years old. Use TikTok to create engaging, short-form videos that showcase your products or services and reach a younger, highly engaged audience.
• **Pinterest: **Most active age range is 18–49 years old. Use Pinterest to share visually appealing content, such as product photos and tutorials, and drive traffic to your website.

It's worth noting that these age ranges aren't set in stone, and your target audience may vary depending on your business and industry.

However, this list can provide a general idea of each platform's most active age ranges and when they may be most effective for your business.

If you have a brick-and-mortar business, it's a good idea to market it locally, as this can help you get new customers and build a relationship with the community.

Local marketing can be a great way to keep yourself accountable. If you're trying to reach someone nearby, it's important to make sure your customers have a positive experience.

Sharing positive reviews on your social media platforms can help build credibility and gain the trust of potential customers.

For instance, Norfolk Florist does a great job sharing and responding to positive reviews on their Facebook page.

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It's a simple way to make a name for yourself and stand out from your competitors. Don't underestimate the small details.

Step 2: Talk to your existing customers

By talking to your past and existing customers, you can understand the following:

• The marketing channels they're active on
• The marketing channels they're least interested in using
• The marketing channels they hate being sold on

This gives an insider's view of the marketing channels you should approach or avoid with a ten-foot pole.

For example, your business offers a medical courier service, and you start with an SMS marketing campaign. But your customers hate receiving promotional notifications on the platform and rather see informational posts on LinkedIn. Consider this information like striking gold and running with it.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind while talking to customers:

• Create a detailed form to send to your current customers via email
• Ask them a combination of laser-focused and open-ended questions
• Offer an incentive to encourage them to provide valuable feedback

Step 3: Determine what channels are working for competitors

What works for your competitors may also work for you. So, studying your competitors' marketing channels is a good strategy. And imitation is a form of flattery, right?

Let's say you're a luxury real estate firm in Los Angeles. For example, you might use Luxury Presence, a real estate website design company, as your comparison point.

They have created an integrated marketing strategy across multiple communication channels, bringing remarkable results.

• They use social media platforms like Instagram to post images and video content.
• They also have a podcast called "The Presence Podcast," where their employees are invited to talk about real estate topics of interest.

By studying their strategy, you can unlock their marketing channel secrets. Now, see how you can integrate this information into your business.

If podcasts aren't your thing, try tapping into the power of short-form videos on TikTok or YouTube Shorts like TSplus does to introduce the importance of remote support.

Use your competitors as guinea pigs, but don't blatantly copy what they are doing. Rather, learn what's working and what's not and incorporate that into your marketing strategy.

It also helps you identify gaps in their marketing channels. And that's a treasure trove of information. Use it wisely.

Step 4: Pick two diverse channels to start

By now, you have enough information to pick the right marketing channels for your business.

When deciding, analyze all three steps and focus on two different marketing channels with distinct impacts.

For example, consider a combination of paid and organic marketing channels. This could look like this: Email marketing for engagement + Facebook ads for instant conversions.

Once you have picked the two marketing channels you want to start with, experiment and decide whether to stick with these platforms or consider other channels.

For example, if email marketing paired with Facebook ads doesn't work, you could switch to SEO strategies or other social media platforms. Rinse and repeat until you find what works.

Keep experimenting to find your marketing strategy sweet spot

Marketing is all about finding that sweet spot that works for your business. And the truth is, it might take some experimentation to get there.

Don't be afraid to try different channels and tactics until you find what works best. Maybe you'll find that Facebook ads work like a charm or that Instagram influencers are your secret weapon.

Or maybe you'll discover a hidden gem in an email marketing campaign. The key is to keep an open mind and try new things until you find what clicks with your audience.

So keep experimenting, keep things light and friendly, and most importantly, have fun and put your customers first.