Are You Missing Out on the Benefits of Multi-Channel Marketing?
- Andrew Kita
Do the benefits of multi-channel marketing actually matter to your brand?
That can be a difficult question to answer — especially if you’re not entirely clear on the value of using multiple media channels to reach your target audience. So let’s look at this another way.
How much of your content marketing strategy is focused on your website?
If you said “most” or “all,” you could be in trouble. Yes, your website is the digital face of your organization. Of course, it’s important to keep it fresh, engaging, and optimized for the latest search trends. But putting all your marketing eggs into the website basket is like running an ad campaign on cable television and wondering why you’re not reaching most of today’s digital-first audience.
Today’s audience is more fragmented than ever before. Sure, there was a time when a well-placed prime-time commercial was guaranteed to be seen. But there’s no guarantee you’ll reach today’s audience with broadcast TV — or your blog. (No matter how good your SEO is.) That’s why multi-channel marketing strategies are essential to your success.
The Benefits of Multi-Channel Marketing
I like to think I’ve already made my point about the futility of a single-channel strategy. But I’ll bet at least a few of you are reading this going, “I’ve come this far with some solid SEO, bi-weekly blog posts, and the occasional email campaign. Why change what already works?”
1. Organic web traffic just ain’t what it used to be.
The majority of buyers get their information from sources that, frankly, aren’t your website. (Have you seen the modern customer journey? It’s pretty complex.) And you know who’s talking to your prospects on those other platforms? Your competitors, that’s who.
2. Who doesn’t want to reach a wider audience?
Maybe you’re among the few brands that still maintain a steady flow of leads without multi-channel digital marketing. (Look at you go, you unicorn!) But there are still other potential customers out there who need what you do — and aren’t hearing from you.
3. You’ll get more (and better) audience data.
We all know good marketing is about personalization. And to effectively customize and target your content, you need to know as much as possible about your audience. The more content channels you’re engaging leads on, the more details you’ll get about who they are, what they like, what their goals are, and how they’re trying to achieve them.
4. It makes you more resilient to market shifts.
Marketing is an ever-changing business. Voice search and augmented or virtual reality are increasingly important ways to interact with customers, and new technology continues to accelerate shifts in what your buyers expect. Staying current with where your audience is now makes it easier to adapt when the next big thing comes along.
5. You’ll shorten time to conversion.
This is one of the advantages of multi-channel distribution that not everyone thinks of. The average B2B buyer journey can include as many as 62 touches before closing. Do you really want to wait for a lead to visit your site a few dozen times? Posting on multiple content channels (social media, digital video, paid ads, review sites, etc.) compresses their journey and gets you to a sale faster.
Need Help Reaching Leads on Multiple Channels?
TPM’s Ultimate Lead-Generation Kit was built by experts in email marketing, SEO, PPC, content marketing, and lead development to help you reach prospects on a wide range of digital channels.
What Content Marketing Channels Should You Use?
Which platforms best deliver the benefits of multi-channel marketing? There is no one right answer here. The secret lies in leveraging the channels where your target audience spends the most time.
B2B marketers have been slower to embrace channels typically viewed as consumer-focused, but make sure your multi-channel distribution strategy is rooted in data. (Read: it’s time to stop assuming your buyers aren’t on TikTok.) A good multi-channel marketing strategy should include at least some (if not all) of these media:
- Social media (ranging from TikTok to LinkedIn and including everything in between)
- Review sites (social proof is a huge factor in today’s buyer journey)
- Industry outlets (online communities and/or print or digital publications)
- Email and newsletters (sounds old-fashioned, but email still delivers leads in a big way)
- Display ads and PPC
- Video marketing
- Webinars or podcasts
- Mobile apps
- In-person events
How to Implement a B2B Multi-Channel Marketing Strategy
There are two key factors that can make or break your journey toward the benefits of multi-channel marketing: your message and your selection of channels.
1. Not every channel is right for every market or use case. (And being on every medium that exists would be incredibly expensive.) Spend some time researching where your audience is (TPM’s Ultimate Lead-Gen Kit includes AI prompts to help you figure this out) and understanding the pros and cons of each one before making your selection. Remember, you can always expand to new channels later.
2. Your message must be clear and consistent across all channels. When prospective buyers start interacting with you across the web (and beyond), they will notice quickly if you say one thing in one place and something contradictory somewhere else. Invest some time in crafting a clear, consistent message that will resonate with your personas across all channels.
Once your media and message are set, you can start implementing your multi-channel marketing strategy.
- Create content that fits the channels you’ve chosen. What works on LinkedIn won’t get you anywhere on Instagram. Pro tip: AI tools can be invaluable in helping you reshape and repurpose content for different platforms.
- Integrate and automate. Manually posting across a range of communications channels could easily be a full-time job in and of itself. Leverage tools and platforms that support multi-channel marketing at scale.
- Measure and improve. There’s no guarantee you’ll nail this out of the gate. Measure factors like content performance, audience engagement, and ROI on different platforms to hone your efforts.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Multi-channel marketing is a big job. Depending on the size of your organization and the capacity of your marketing team, you may need to bring in a third-party marketing agency.
Need help accessing the benefits of multi-channel marketing? The experts at TPM are at your service. Contact us today to discuss your needs.
