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Tactics

9 Marketing Channels + How to Use Them

We’ve all heard of marketing channels by now. We wanna cover the 9 most common channels to keep an eye on and how to use them for marketing.

1. Content Marketing: Let’s start from the top. Content marketing is a general form of marketing with content like blogs, videos, social media posts, case studies, anything! Need help making it? Check out today’s tool down below.
2. Video Marketing: We mentioned content can be in video form. Video marketing specifically includes webinars, demos, testimonials, demos, tutorials, and vlogs into your marketing strategy. Video content is not just favored by users but also Google.
3. Social Media: Social media is a whole channel topic of its own –– each network, tags, influencers, it’s a lot. And more and more people are using social media to find products and services. Just be sure to experiment and try to create engaging content.
4. SEO: SEO focuses on getting organic traffic using excellent informational content, page optimization, keyword research and link building. This marketing channel attracts a loyal audience interested in a brand and its products. For instance, people who found your website in search results when looking for solutions to their problems are more likely to convert than those who visited your webpage after clicking the ad. The success of your marketing efforts will greatly depend on the SERP position. On average, CTR grows by 30.8% when a website moves up one position in Google search results. However, in some cases, moving from one position to another will not make a huge difference. For example, moving from 9th to 8th rate in search results will bring a 5% increase in clicks. In contrast, if a website changes its position from 6th to 5th, this will result in 53.2% more clicks. How to use it Focus on essential Google ranking factors: domain authority, mobile usability, on-page optimization, backlinks, high-quality content, and organic click-through rate. Produce authoritative and optimized content regularly to get on top of the search results. Update the content regularly to meet the needs of the audience. Once you create a content-rich and trustworthy website, you will be able to attract links from other pages, which improves your SEO results. Use descriptive links that include the name of the destination within your website articles.
5. SEM: Search engine marketing or paid search aims to increase website traffic from search engines by using paid advertisements. This channel allows digital marketers to place advertisements on SERPs above organic results. In the case of paid search, you have to pay each time a user clicks on an ad, unlike organic traffic, which is generated for free. To place the advertisement, you need to bid on keywords that you think people will use when looking for a similar product or service. Furthermore, you can target specific demographic groups of consumers. The most popular SEM services are Google Adwords, Bing Ads, and Google Shopping Ads. Google Ads analyzes six crucial aspects to determine the position of your ad. These factors include your bid or the amount of money you are willing to pay for the click, quality of ads and landing pages, user’s search context, the impact of ad styles and extensions, and many more. How to use it Target customers by taking into consideration demographics, pain points, and buying behavior. You can guide visitors who click on your ads to website pages that contain contact sections. As a result, you may gather users’ data and use it to engage people in your further marketing activities. The typical cost of a click is between $1 and $2, but it depends on your industry and selected keywords. Also, note that highly competitive areas or keywords may cost up to $50 or more per click.
6. Mobile marketing: Mobile users spend about 90% of their time using applications and playing games. For that reason, mobile marketing is becoming one of the most profitable channels for businesses. Mobile marketing employs a wide range of strategies, such as geo-targeting and collecting customer data to recommend appropriate products and services more accurately. You can promote your offers and send instant updates by delivering the information to your customers in real-time. Instant messaging is one of the mobile marketing strategies that helps businesses connect with consumers on a more personal level. It is slightly different from other online marketing strategies. This tactic demands a more personalized approach and usage of phrases that encourage taking action, such as “Buy now” or “Learn more”. Finally, the text should be brief and precise since users often ignore long messages. Make sure your website or application is mobile-friendly and has a responsive design. It implies compressed pictures, fast loading speed, large buttons and fonts, a navigation bar, and other crucial features. You can take a look at our dedicated article on website audit for more information. Simplify the routine procedures by adding QR codes to payment pages. With QR codes, people would be able to reach your website or save your contact details in a matter of minutes. Segment your target audience by dividing people into groups or creating lists to send valuable instant messages to the proper recipients.
7. Email Marketing:  Most people use email every day or even several times a day, making this channel an excellent addition to your marketing mix. Email marketing is an affordable tool for every business, even the small ones. It allows for creating personalized content, segmenting customers into lists, monitoring email performance, and conducting tests to increase click-through rates. In addition to that, this channel is suitable for the customers at every stage of the sales funnel. With email marketing, you can nurture leads, build relationships with current customers, increase brand awareness and sell products directly to consumers. Email marketing provides numerous opportunities depending on the types of emails you can send to customers. These may include brand newsletters with regular updates about the company or emails dedicated to launching a new product or service, opening a store, or announcing the event. The other types of messages used within an email marketing strategy are confirmation letters, notifications, and thank-you notes. How to use it Create engaging email subjects with the indication of the specific time frame. It will motivate the subscribers to benefit from your promotional offers before they expire. Adjust your email marketing campaigns to users’ location, demographics, stage of the purchase funnel, and other personal details. Encourage people to leave feedback, send surveys and polls to measure client satisfaction, and provide customer support via email.
8. Display Ads: The main difference between display ads and paid search ads is the absence of keywords you need to bid on. What is more, display ads usually have a cheaper cost-per-click as there is more advertising space available for the banners than for search engine results pages. When placing display ads, marketers should make sure that the visitors of the host website match the ad’s target audience. The greatest advantage of display ads is their retargeting capability. If a user visits your website but does not convert, you can retarget them with a display ad later by using cookies. How to use it Make emphasis on your unique selling proposition. Highlight the product’s quality, value, or unique characteristics. Choose call-to-action phrases that focus on customer needs rather than using direct and pushy CTAs. Create responsive display advertisements based on your text ads. Try different color schemes, content designs, and display types, include optimized images and use clear headlines to make ads display perfectly on different devices.
9. Affiliate arketing: Affiliate marketing is an advertising strategy where a company pays influencers to promote its products or services. Going this route can open your brand up to new audiences, but you have to choose your affiliate network and creators wisely.

How to choose the best marketing channels

Once you have learned about common marketing channels and the ways to use them to increase brand awareness, drive traffic and sales, generate leads, and achieve the other objectives, it is time to choose the most suitable ones for your business.

• Define goals. Each marketing channel is better suited for a specific purpose, so this stage should not be overlooked. You can set the objectives according to the SMART model. Your marketing goal should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely.
• Understand your audience. Then, you need to study the target audience to better understand how to allocate budget and resources for the marketing campaigns. Conduct qualitative research to identify at least three marketing channels that your target audience prefers to use more frequently than others. Analyze how much time your customers spend online, the pages they follow, and the topics and types of content they are interested in. Study the channels used by your main competitors.
• Budget for long-term. Some digital channels are more expensive compared to others. Calculate return on investment. A comprehensive content marketing plan that incorporates weekly blogging, publishing ebooks, and search engine optimization may outperform using single networks like YouTube or Instagram.
• Plan and run a marketing campaign. Once you have selected the perfect mix of channels, you should determine how many posts, advertisements, or pieces of content you need to launch the campaign. Create a communication plan with all required deliverables and establish deadlines for each content creation phase: writing, designing, editing, and promoting. Then assign responsibilities to team members and run the campaign. Make sure that your messaging is consistent across all channels.
• Analyze the results and repeat. To achieve success, you need to perform regular tests and constantly update and optimize your marketing campaigns. First, analyze the results with insights tools. If you are not getting the response you expected, change tactics and try again. Repeat until the product-market fit is achieved. Finally, you will have a clear idea of the marketing channels that are most effective for your company.

Check out the full post by Awware to get tips for marketing on each channel.

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