22/05/2023

Selecting the Best Digital Marketing Channels: 5 Tips

Old and new businesses have started using online channels to market their products and services. This is due to the world's evolution and dependence on technological appliances and digital ways of communication.

The pandemic has also contributed to people doing things digitally, like online shopping, working remotely, and video meetings, to name a few. Thus organizations are forced to try and reach their target markets through these lines when marketing.

What are the main digital marketing channels?

The good thing about digital marketing is that it happens in real-time and allows businesses to see what is working and what is not working for them. With this information, they are thus able to make quick changes.

Some of the leading digital channels include:

Video marketing, which is the most dominant at the moment. An example of this is Youtube and TikTok videos, which are currently trending.
Research shows that email marketing has the highest return on investment (ROI) compared to other marketing channels.
Content marketing also has a high ROI and generates three times the lead for an amount that is 62% less than traditional marketing.
When it comes to social media marketing, consumers have been found highly likely to recommend a product or service they have used through social media platforms.
SEO and PPC marketing assist businesses in appearing in search results.

These are some of the channels you can consider using if you are looking to market digitally.

Why is it important to choose the right channels?

To reach your target audience. Knowing what can get you high numbers and make your business highly visible to customers is essential.
To ensure that the channels chosen adapt to your existing budget. The benefits are constant online presence and cost-effectiveness.
To align channels with your business goals. The channels you choose must assist in reaching your existing business goals, i.e., if you are into promoting and building your brand, use brand promotion-friendly channels such as websites and social media.
So that you don’t overheat human resources. Instead of finding one or two people who can do digital marketing, allocate the different tasks to personnel who have the necessary skills. If not, rather hire experts, a digital marketing agency.
So that you don’t invest without having the certainty that the channels fit the purpose. Also, the digital world is constantly changing but choosing stable channels that are unlikely to vanish or get disrupted can benefit you.

These points are discussed in depth in the next section.

Our 5 tips for choosing the right digital marketing channel

Now that you know the digital channels currently on the lead, look at your business and do some evaluation as there are some things to consider before choosing a good channel for your company. Remember that organizations are different and target different customers you might not reach through some digital platforms. Therefore you should consider your brand, target audience, budget, business and marketing goals when choosing online marketing platforms.

1. Define your target audience

Do market research on your targeted customers. This research will assist in knowing which online platforms they use in terms of social media, blogs or websites. You will also get to know the content they like, their online activities, interests and hobbies.

2. Evaluate your current budget

You can do online marketing for free. However, it is time-consuming and can result in more time before you can easily find your business online. Some companies outsource digital marketing by finding agencies that have experts in this industry. It is essential to understand the costs involved when choosing this route, which is more effective than the free route.

Choose marketing activities that align with your budget. Remember that you get what you pay for. Do not expect great results with a low budget. However, it is also wise to start with budget-friendly campaigns then go bigger as you build momentum.

3. Define your business goals

What are you looking to achieve with digital marketing?

To be able to answer this question, you must be aware of your brand. You must be familiar with your business and what it stands for. Also, the goods or services it offers. You can also use online platforms to generate sales, meaning sell some of your products directly to customers digitally. Some businesses are looking to get more leads, educate customers or generate traffic.

You have to know which of the above activities you would most like to partake in to stimulate your business. Then choose a digital channel accordingly.

4. Review the capacity and knowledge of your human resources

First, check if you can in-source the available staff members before considering outsourcing to cut costs. Do your employees have development, creative, search and social skills? If there are enough people with these skills and are confident that they can utilize them, there is no need to outsource.

Development skills can help with designing a website and other developments. Add creative skills to that, which is your writing and visual creation team. Then for research marketing, you have your search talent.

5. Analyse digital marketing channels and read through different studies

As mentioned above, it is crucial to know the trendy digital marketing platforms that are unlikely to crash. Make sure you read on this and do thorough research to know what aspects they cover.

Conclusion

With fewer people reading newspapers and visiting malls to shop while the digital industry grows exponentially, there is no denying that digital marketing is the way to go. However, before you go on and do that, remember to first look at your business by analyzing your brand, target audience, budget, business goals and marketing goals. Looking at these will help you choose the right digital marketing channel to use for your organization.