High Gear Marketing: How to Make Every Channel Perform At Its Peak

Marketing is always changing. But at its core marketing is about one fundamental practice: using the marketing channels at your disposal to communicate a message efficiently and effectively. That leaves your business needing to assess the many channels available, from social networks to vanity numbers, paid search to print advertising, and everything in between. We covered how to review your marketing mix last month, so now it's time to take the marketing platforms you've chosen for your business and shift them into high gear. We do this by playing to the strengths of each individual channel.  

Play to the Platform Strengths

Understanding why a particular platform works is vital to making the most out of your investment in it, whether that's time, money, or both. When you customize your approach  for each platform, you increase the likelihood that your content and communications will stand out, be shared around and spoken about. If we take social media, for example, there are variations in the type and frequency of post that work best on different networks. Facebook is largely designed  for fun, so what your business posts there, above all else, must be entertaining and provide a diversion. Attention-grabbing images, playful pictures that describe a typical day at your workplace, and amusing anecdotes can all work well. By comparison, Twitter is another matter entirely and can be frustrating for some business marketers because of its unique communication traits. Even so, it's definitely worth a second look if you've moved on from it before, as the public nature means you can connect with anyone and everyone. Here you'll have to share the work of others, tweet about current affairs, and post around the hashtags that relate to the industry you're in, to start shifting through the gears to high performance tweets. In the real world, print advertising, billboards and posters are obviously perfect for any business that can communicate its brand visually. They jump out and provide brand visibility in targeted high traffic areas. To strengthen the message recall, however, you'll need to incorporate a memorable hook that keeps your contact details in the mind of the consumer. An uncomplicated website address and a clear vanity number are the best ways to achieve this and ensure that you develop the connection beyond simply seeing an ad.  

Mix and Match for Best Results

That final example brings us to combining elements of your marketing mix to get the best results. Once you've set yourself up with the best possible presence on individual platforms, it's time to test combinations of each to learn how they can improve one another. Cross-posting updates from one social network to another, for example, can save time and help you to keep the content flowing. On the other hand there are times when this can annoy followers, such as posting the very frequent Twitter posts to Facebook, where fans expect to see far fewer posts. Going back to the example of a vanity number, it's an outstanding marketing tool for your business but only if you get it out there and working for you! Using a vanity toll free number as your call to action on social media promotions, or including it as branding when your company name is incorporated, are both important steps to take in improving all of the marketing tools involved. Keep your eyes fixed on these pages for more tips and tricks to effectively combine online and offline marketing tactics. If you have any questions in the meantime, you can always let us know on Facebook and Twitter!