5 things to consider when choosing marketing channels for your strategy

Advertising can be done on different mediums, such as TV, Radio, Outdoor, Print Media, Online Media and so on. Or you could choose to focus on content creation and build a following on social media, or a newsletter list. Or maybe you want to establish yourself as an authority in the industry and give presentations in conferences or host seminars or Masterminds… The list goes on and on!

But which channels and marketing activities are right for your business? It is important to be aware that there is no one guaranteed activity or channel that can bring success to every single business. What works for your business and your target audience depends on a variety of things.

So let’s go over some aspects that you should consider when choosing which marketing channels to use:

1. Your goals and objectives - Different channels achieve different types of goals. That is why your first step is to write down the purpose and the goal that you want to achieve through your marketing. It’s only then that it makes sense to compare different channels. For example, if your goal is to build awareness or branding, then you may opt for mass media channels such as TV, Radio, Outdoor Ads. If you want to push sales, then you may consider Paid Search Ads, Direct Mail, Cold Calling or Retargeting Ads. If you are looking to build trust with your existing contact base, then you may consider email marketing, PR, promotional giveaways, Webinars, Referrals and so on. If your goal is to build relationships with existing customers, then you may focus on creating a reward system or a loyalty program, or building a chatbot or a live chat functionality where your customers can get assistance quickly or you could host events for them, send gifts and so on. The possibilities are endless, really, but the first step is always to gain clarity on what it is that you’re actually looking to achieve.
2. Financial capacity - None of us have endless supplies of money and it is not wise to just spend randomly either. So, be mindful of different budgets that are necessary for different mediums, for example TV and outdoor ads tend to be a lot more costly than online ads. People sometimes say ‘Go big or go home’, but I don’t think it’s always the best advice when it comes to effective marketing. Make sure that your activities are purposeful and consistent and with that you can already get a lot done with a limited budget or even no budget at all. The key is to be consistent and provide high quality content. 
3. Target audience’s media use - Sometimes we tend to forget that what you like and prefer personally may not be the same for your target audience. If you want to save time and money, then rely on real data and analysis as much as possible when choosing your marketing channels.For example, find global data online about the popularity of different channels in various demographics. You can easily get detailed information about your target audience’s media usage from media agencies at a relatively low cost. From that data, you can clearly see what your target audience’s typical “media day” looks like, meaning what media they consume when they wake up, commute to work, are at work, spend time at home, etc. The key is to be where your target audience is or where they go to to find information, be entertained and so on.
4. Generations - Nowadays, most imaginable target audiences can no longer be defined purely by demographics. What unites us is behavior, personal qualities, work and hobbies. Therefore, one target group may include people from different generations. Why is this important? Because generations prefer to consume information in different ways and they also use different media channels. For example, Generation X tends to prefer contact via phone or email, whereas milennials prefer to communicate via instant messaging apps and Gen Z is looking for even smarter solutions. If you have different generations in your target audience, then you definitely need to use multiple marketing channels to reach them.
5. Measurability of the channel. Not all channels are very precise when it comes to metrics. For example, you can get an estimate of how many people see your outdoor ad or how many people are watching the TV when your ad is on… But you won’t know for sure what the impact of that activity was. Of course, there are always indirect ways that you can use to measure the effectiveness, such as looking at whether your website visits went up or if you have an increase in inquiries and so on.

On the other hand, pretty much all online channels are highly measurable. Of course, what you must consider is what metrics are relevant and it is not wise to measure everything just for the sake of measuring.

Five things to consider when choosing marketing channels for your strategy:

We hope this helps and we wish you good luck with planning your marketing!

Here's the full episode on YouTube: