Why Each Channel Matters
Marketing combines a variety of methods for businesses to expose themselves to new audiences. There are many channels to consider when your customers have access to a variety of platforms online. The more channels your business partakes in, the easier it is for prospects to find your brand and do business with you. Having multi-channels also improves the overall customer experience because every individual has their own preferred method of making purchases. Here are six channels your business should consider using for marketing purposes and why they are important for growing your business:
- Smartphones
Smartphones is one medium customers use to access many platforms and to stay in touch with each other. Smartphones take multi-tasking to a whole new level, where people can be on the phone whilst checking emails simultaneously. This is the best channel to focus on because your business is now able to access more customers than ever before with mobile-friendly websites, apps or even the old-fashioned sms.
There are still a good number of conservatives who don’t own a smartphone, but everyone has an email address. Reaching out to customers via email in today’s economy is an absolute essential for your organisation’s marketing strategy. Anyone with a computer or smartphone can check their email, knowing well that people in general check their emails on a regular basis.
- Social Media
There are over two billion active users on Facebook and hundreds of millions of active users on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. It goes without saying that the potential to bring in new customers is endless. Social media is a versatile tool that businesses can use to reach out to people who are on their phones or computers either at work or at home. Businesses are using social media to connect to customers on a more personal level, creating ads that are more specific to their target market.
- Website
Websites are absolutely essential for businesses today. There’s a whole online market looking to make purchases from the comfort of their couches at home or desks in their workplace. The website can offer important contact information like a phone number, email address and store hours, which all help to create a supportive atmosphere for the customer.
- Google Maps
More and more companies are getting drive-by business from customers who find them whilst in their area and have searched for the products or services that the company sells. These are typically new customers who the business may never have attracted in the first place if it weren’t for the coincidence of them being in the area and finding out about them on Google.
- Print Mediums
There are still people who like to have catalogues, business cards or reports that spell out exactly what a business does. It’s easy to delete an email, but throwing out any of these requires some effort. Printed material may be outdated, but it’s still more reliable than a faulty internet connection.
Business is constantly changing and there’s no longer a need for physical interaction where customers have to speak to someone face-to-face. The point is that organisations need to make sure their marketing strategies are created with the understanding that people will be using a variety of platforms to communicate with their business. It all depends on the user’s preferences, so its best to open your business up to all channels available.
