Digital marketing campaigns work - but what channels?
Select the best social media platform that aligns with your target audience
The answer is quite clear - focus on the platforms that the target audience of each brand uses the most.
As new social media apps have gained a foothold in the market and launched paid ad placement tools, brands have identified new opportunities to connect with their target audience.
Today, businesses of all sizes are promoting themselves online. A good marketing mix uses multiple channels to keep the main message connected to the target audience.
It is necessary to tactfully choose the channels used in online promotion so as not to consume precious resources without achieving the desired results.
Sometimes it happens that brands run campaigns with an interesting creative concept, but poorly implemented or on channels that are not suitable for the field in which they operate.
The call to action to get social remains perfectly valid, just as to be present with a purpose on the platforms relevant to your business, especially if the brand is community oriented - which it needs to be to keep close to customers.
Examples of social media platform selection
For example, a law firm that only represents legal entities will never land a major client by running PR and marketing campaigns on a platform like Snapchat, no matter how creative. Why? Because the interested potential customer doesn't consume Snapchat.
That's why it's important for a brand to define exactly what its target audience looks like - where they live, what interests they have, what habits they have, what online platforms they use and how they behave online.
Then there are some other essential aspects that a company needs to consider when setting the online marketing mix – the budget and resources available, the specific objectives, and how the competition is acting. A deep understanding of the objectives plays an essential role in achieving them.
Set social media goals
A CoSchedule study found that marketers who set goals are 376% more likely to be successful than those who don't.
Different channels will give different results. Understanding your options and how each channel works will allow you to make the best decisions.
As a firm researches the channels available to the market, some helpful questions need answers:
Is my target audience spending time on this channel?
Do I have adequate resources and enough budget to get noticed on this channel?
Does it allow me to communicate my message effectively?
Does it allow me to communicate authentically with my target audience?
Can my product/service be effectively communicated through this channel?
Does it help me achieve my business and communication goals?
Can I measure how well the investment is performing in this channel?
Does it fit well with the other channels I have chosen?
Content Marketing
Content marketing (CM) is a tool that every marketing team should use to build a strong online presence and authority. Every successful business needs a website. The way people find your site online organically is through quality content. It's that simple.
By giving consumers exactly what they are looking for - addressing their problems and challenges - the business will gain authority, increase website traffic and generate quality leads.
Here are some types of materials for the website content calendar: · Blog posts · E-books · Case studies · Guidelines · Reviews · Interviews · Infographics · Press Releases
Email Marketing
Unlike other forms of media, virtually everyone uses email on a daily basis – some people even hundreds of times a day. This makes email an effective channel for building trust with people by developing authentic relationships. It's cheap and allows for content customization and audience segmentation.
Social Media Marketing (SMM)
Social media needs no introduction. It's where brands can have one-on-one conversations with people. In some ways, it is the most personal channel. By talking to audiences via chat or responding to comments on posts, a brand can use social media to build authentic relationships with potential and current customers.
Social media is also useful for researching and understanding your target audience. With the help of social media, a brand can quickly spread the content it creates. If people like what they see, they will expand their reach by sharing with their friends online.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
SEO goes hand in hand with content marketing. It encompasses keyword research, on-page optimization, link building, and other activities that help people find a brand organically.
People will be looking for products or services closely related to your brand's niche and will have questions that the brand can answer in-depth on the website.
Then the brand will appear among the first results on the page. If you get an organic result in the #1 position, you're 10 times more likely to get a click than a result in the #10 position.
On average, moving up one place on the SERPs (search engine results page) will increase your click-through rate (CTR) by over 30%.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising
PPC advertising (a type of paid search) is when marketers pay to have their ads appear at the top of SERPs - above organic search results. Unlike organic traffic that finds you naturally, PPC advertising involves "buying" traffic.
With PPC advertising, the brand pays a fee every time someone clicks on its ad. Once you've selected the right mix of channels, make sure your brand message is consistent across all platforms.
Some channels can be used seasonally, for one-off campaigns with specific objectives. For example, geolocation campaigns on Waze for businesses with a fixed point of sale such as restaurants, malls, salons, fitness centres, accounting/law offices, etc.
Measure digital performance every day
Last but not least - Measure, measure, measure! Failure to measure the effectiveness of promotional channels and their ROI is a mistake made many times, even by experienced marketers.
If any channel is not giving you a positive return on investment, a complex audit is required to reveal the reason why an online campaign did not bring the desired results. Especially if you want to use that channel in the future as well - without wasting time, effort and money.
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Lighthouse PR, based in Bucharest, and its management team sit on the EU SME Development board and the CMO Council. It is also a valued member of the prestigious Crisis Communication Network Europe. It is the only member in Romania and SEE, with network offices in 14 countries across the EU.
