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Take a look at TSC's newest classified brief — Creating a Kick-ass Marketing Strategy: Find the Right Channels for Your Message and Win. In this brief, you'll learn: • Why an effective channel strategy gives you a competitive edge • Which channels could help you reach your audience • How to find the right channels through research, experimentation and tracking
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Effective Channel Strategy
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People consume marketing messages at an alarming rate — almost 3,000 messages and ads per day.1 We also filter most of that. We’ve turned into advertising zombies, numb to all the bright colors, catchy songs and stylized packaging shouting, “Buy me!!!”
Soifyourcompanyisgoingtogetsomeone’sattention,youhave
tohaveacompellingmessage.Andnotjustacompellingmessage,
butacompellingmessageintherightplace.Justlikerealestate,it’s
allaboutlocation,location,location—whichiswhyatargetedchannel
strategywillhelpyourmessagecutthroughthenoise.
Havingtherightchannelstrategyhelpsyoubettertarget
potentialbuyersandengagewiththerightaudience.Andwhenthe
bossmanaskshowyou’respendingyourbudget,youcanproveROI
becauseyouhaveachannelstrategythat’sbuilttobemeasuredfor
performance.
Tostartthinkingaboutchannelcommunications,youneedto
knowwhatchannelsareoutthereanddeterminewhichoneswillhelp
youreachyouraudience.Whenyouknowthat,developingakick-ass
strategywillbeeasy.
Creating a KiCK-ass MarKeting strategy: Find the right Channels For your Message and Win
1 Hagel,John,IIIandSinger,Marc.NetWorth:ShapingMarketsWhenCustomersMaketheRules.1999.
http://www.businessweek.com/chapter/hagel.htm
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Knowingthatmessagesaregettingfiltered,youhaveto
changeyourstrategytomeetpeoplewherethey’reat.It’llhelp
youtargetmoreeffectively.Youalsodon’twanttostartspending
yourbudgetlikeyou’rebuyingticketsforthelottery,andtargeting
yourchannelswillhelpyouinvestbetter.Herearesomechannels
thatmighthelpyoureachyouraudience:
»» Print»advertising:»Printhasn’tgoneoutofstyle.People
stillpickupmagazinesandnewspapers,evenifit’sjustat
theairportorthehairsalon.Peoplestilldrivebybillboards.
Pinterestusersareevensharingadsontheirboards.There
arelotsofwaystostilluseprintadvertisingandgettothe
rightaudience.
»» Display»advertising:»Onlinebanneradsaregettingmore
creative,butpeoplearen’talwayswillingtoclick.Web
adsneedtobecompellingandinteresting.Onetwiston
banneradvertisingismagazineandnewspaperapps—you
canextendaprintad’smessageontoaniPadapp.It’san
opportunitytobringastaticadtolife.
»» Video»and»commercial»development:»Everyonewantstheir
videotogoviral,andthepromiseofaviralvideoseemslike
abetterreturnthanpayingtorunacommercialonTV.Yet
companiesstillshellout$4millionfor30secondsofairtime
duringtheSuperBowl.Interestingvideos,onYouTubeor
ABC,arewhatpeoplewanttosee.Streamingserviceslike
Huluareanotherwaytoreachtargetedaudienceswith
commercials.
»» Direct»marketing:»Today,consumersarenolongerrandom
namesonalist.Masscustomizationhasmadeiteasy
forcompanieslikeAmazonorTargettosendemailswith
productrecommendationsrelevanttoyourinterests.Direct
marketingisexpectedtohavesomelevelofcustomization,
andthatcustomizationmeanstherecipientismorelikelyto
openyouremail,letterortext.(Butbecarefulnottogetall
BigBrotheronyourreaders—don’tover-customize.)Events
canalsoliveindirectmarketing,andifyou’redoingthem
right,you’llalwayshaveanattendeelistforfollow-up.
»» Social»media»marketing:»Socialmediaisauniquechannel
becauseit’salayerontopofmarketingcommunications.
YourcompanymaynothaveaFacebookpage,butsomeone
istalkingaboutyourbrandonFacebook.Socialchannels
bringyourcontenttogetherwithuser-generatedcontent
—peoplecommentonyourblogposts,shareyourwhite
papersandrespondtoyourwebinars.Tweeting,likingand
sharingmakemarketingaconversationwithyouraudience.
»» Search»marketing:»Searchisintegratedintoallofyour
contentdevelopment.Ifyouwritewebsitecopy,youhaveto
thinkofsearch.Whenyouwriteablogpost,thinkofsearch.
PayingforkeywordscanhelpyourSEO,butyoualsoneedto
developinterestingcontent.Ifyourblogpostisastringof
meaninglesskeywords,you’llbedingedforthatbyGoogle.
Instead,makesureyou’rethinkingoftherightmessages
(withtherightkeywords),andwritewhatpeoplewantto
read.
»» Partners»and»alliances:»Usingpartnersandresellerscan
makeiteasyforyoutoextendyourofferingsintodifferent
markets.Butpartnermarketingcanbetricky,soyou’llhave
tobeveryspecificaboutthebrandandmessageguidelines
youwantothercompaniesorresellerstofollow.Foryour
channelstrategytobeassuccessfulaspossible,work
continuouslywiththesepartnerstomakesureeveryone
understandsmarketinggoalsandguidelines.
Thesearesomebigbucketsthatincludelotsofindividual
channels.Youmightalsohaveamodeofcommunicationthatfits
intoacoupleofthesechannelstrategies—mobiledistributionmight
havesomedisplayadvertisingaswellasusingtextmessagesfor
directmarketing.
Asyouevaluateyourchanneloptionsanddecidewhich
channelstouse,putthemintoclassificationssoyoucandetermine
whichmessagesbelonginwhichchannels.Youcanthenfocuson
developingyourstrategy.
you’ve got to KnoW the Channels
Those 3,000 messages we consume each day are coming at us from a wide range of sources. We don’t even think of those messages as advertising anymore. For example, the Google ads at the top of search results are pretty much just results to us, not ads.
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noW get the right Channels For youSelecting the right channels for your company’s message is going to include some trial and error, as well as a lot of research. The idea is not to eliminate a channel forever — especially when things change so quickly — but instead to prioritize where you’ll put your focus. Targeting should help you use your resources and budget more effectively.
Todetermineifachannelisrightforyourcompany,youcan:
»» Survey»your»audience:»Noteveryonelikestoparticipatein
surveys,butifyouhaveaccesstoalistofcustomers,you
canalwaysaskthemwhattheythink.Findingoutwhatthey
read,whichsitestheyvisitandwhatinformationtheyshare
couldhelpyouselectoreliminatechannels.Forexample,if
youraudienceisn’tusingTwitter,don’tspendlotsofmoney
pursuingaTwitterstrategyjustyet.Perhapsfocuson
LinkedIn.
»» Check»out»your»competitors:»You’renotlookingtobea
copycat,butyourcompetitorsshouldbemakingitclear
whatkindsofchannelsthey’reusing.Payingattentionis
reallyimportant.Youcanthendecidenotonlyifyouneed
tobepresentinthesamechannelbutalsohowtomake
yourmessagestandout.
»» Try»new»things:»Socialmediaisfullofexamplesofwebsites
thatbecamefads—thesesitesstartedwithalotofhype
andthenfizzledout.Notallsharingsiteswillbecome
Facebook,buttherecouldbeblogsorcommunitiesthatare
newerandwillingtoworkwithyouonadvertisingrates.
Youcanalsoshakeupyoureventmarketing—insteadof
attendingthesameol’conferences,hostafoodtrucktour.
Experientialmarketingcouldbeexactlywhatyouraudience
islookingfor.
»» Track»your»results:»Notallchannelsmakeiteasytorun
analyticsreportsorseeexactlyhowyourdollarswere
spent.Establishkeyperformanceindicators(KPIs)before
yousendmessagesorcontentthroughachannel.Some
KPIsmighthavetobequalitativemeasuresinsteadof
quantitative,butfindwaysyoucanmeasureoutcomes.As
youtrackresults,comparethemwithyourmarketinggoals.
Ifthechannelwasabust,determinewhetherperformance
canbeimprovedorifit’stimetomoveon.Ifachannel
becameamajorleadgenerator,youknowyoucanfocus
youreffortsthere.
Thiswillbeacontinuousprocess,sodedicatingtimeto
regularlyupdateyourchannelstrategywillensurethatyou’re
alwaysusingthemosteffectivechannelsforyourmessage.
iF the Channel is a bust: Determine whether performance can be improveD or if it’s time to move on.
iF a ChannelKiCKs ass: You know You can focus Your efforts there.
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evaluate your Channels noWOnce you’ve taken a look at the channels you use and assessed whether they’re right for you, it’s time to upgrade your strategy. When you’re ready to take that step, schedule an evaluation with The Starr Conspiracy. We’ll review the messages currently being distributed across your channels and determine if you’re reaching your audience in the most effective way possible. Then we’ll talk about what you can do to make your channel strategy kick some ass.
ContaCt us today: marketing@thestarrconspiracy.com or 817-204-0400. About The Starr Conspiracy
Youshouldn’thavetopayanagencyfortheprivilegeoflearningaboutyourindustry.
TheStarrConspiracyalreadyknowsyourmarketsegment,whoyouareandwhere
youfitin.Weareastrategicmarketingandadvertisingagencydevotedexclusively
toenterprisesoftwareandservices.Whenyoupartnerwithus,it’stobuildmarket
share,multiplybrandawarenessanddrivesalesleads–nottoboneuponthebasics.
We’vebeen“outthere”formorethanadecadesothatyoucanhitthegroundrunning.
Foundedin1999andlocatedinFortWorth,TheStarrConspiracyhaswoneightbest
placestoworkawards,countlesscreativeawardsandmaintainsanetpromoterscore
of90%(higherthanApple).Onthewebatwww.thestarrconspiracy.com.
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