Visa ads once had a famous tagline of “It’s Everywhere You Want To Be”. So where is the everywhere that brand marketers want to be? Simply everywhere, or as close to everywhere within reason.
One of the key challenges of the present era in marketing is changing the mindset from single channel to multi-channel. Brand marketers need to stop thinking about marketing communications efforts in a single setting and think more fully about how the efforts are going to integrate holistically. How will the pieces of the puzzle fit together? Here are the 5 basic components of a multi-channel digital marketing approach and why all marketers should be thinking about them.
1. Your social media efforts are going to be instrumental in developing top of mind brand awareness. Mostly every brand is going to find a sizable portion of their target market somewhere in the social media space. Last month, I wrote “Who Will You Find on a Social Network?“, which was an analysis of the recent Pew Center Internet & American Life Project data. Some of the more notable stats were:
- 67% of all Internet users are using at least one social media site
- 83% of those 18-29 are on a social network
It would be easy to surmise that those who use social media would be more inclined to check up on a brand in the social media space than those who didn’t. Social media is a great way to share interesting content, share news about what’s going on with your brand and to interact with others. It is a good idea to engage others meaningfully in the space. The best results come from engagement and interaction.
The first stop in social media is likely to be Facebook, as it is the most dominant social media site by market share. Not every brand is a good fit for Facebook engagement, so it’s not necessarily mandatory to be there, but it is close to it. Twitter is a really good fit for some brands and LinkedIn is a hub of B2B activity. Instagram is growing quickly as pictures are always popular online. Pictures and video are key parts of a multimedia experience.
2. Email marketing is not dead. In fact, there’s been survey data from the last couple of years that indicates that marketers still find it to be one of the most effective channels. It has evolved over time though. One of the key developments has been the rise of mobile platforms. Earlier this month, I wrote about Why People Think Mobility = Survivability and that article referenced a survey that shows email in the mobile space is considered a more vital app than Facebook. The Nielsen Company released data in 2011 showing that email was the #1 activity amongst mobile Internet users as measured by time spent on it.
3. Video is a crucial component. YouTube is the second largest search engine. Marketing is all about making things easy. People often find it is easier to consume video content than written content. Good video also works well with your social media efforts, as video content can easily be shared and go viral. Video content is often perceived as more engaging.
4. Websites and Blogs. As a brand, this is what you own. Your website is the centerpiece of all of your online marketing efforts. Website content can be used for social media updates. It is still a place where you can sell the best features of your product or service offering. The blog is the hub of knowledge sharing of more than a couple of sentences. It can tie into social media updates, email marketing content and can be used as a basis for videos. Websites & blogs tie into SEO efforts as well.
5. Landing Pages. The landing page is a key component to marketing strategy. The landing page is page people arrive based on some sort of online marketing effort. Often times, the landing page is the result of a PPC campaign like Google Adwords, but landing pages can be the destinations of email marketing campaigns. They can often contain videos. The landing page is tied into other online channels and is often a source of good marketing analytics. It should be where you get your target audience to do exactly what you want it to do.
As you can see, all of these 5 places work together. There must be alignment. Marketing communication efforts work best when the various elements of the mix are working harmoniously together. When marketing communications are working, it is a step in the right direction towards achieving the most desirable business outcomes.