What are the most important marketing channels to evaluate for performance?

Defining your marketing goals is like setting the coordinates for your business journey. It's crucial to know where you're heading before choosing the route. Aligning goals with business objectives ensures every marketing effort is a step toward the destination, whether it's boosting brand awareness, nurturing leads, or driving sales. Think of it as plotting a strategic course, allowing you to measure progress effectively and adjust your sails as needed.

The choice of promotional channels depends entirely on your goal and the location of your target audience. For example, understanding the business you want to promote is crucial; a fashion company, for instance, would likely prioritize channels such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and influencer marketing. Conversely, an educational institution may prioritize establishing a presence on Google and Facebook initially. Considering your competitors' positioning across different channels is equally important to align with prevailing marketing trends. As a company gathers performance data, it can subsequently prioritize or adjust its channel strategy based on the observed results.

It is rare that everyone in the organization will agree on the goal of the marketing efforts. Choose the goal and ROI wisely. For example, sales people may complain about brand awareness (real example) yet the reality is they just want more leads. Brand awareness may help your lead generation efforts but it is a longer tail return and the sales people that complained probably won't stick around to see the pay off on what they asked for to begin with. Further, most of the time those same people are doing no brand promotion on their own accord thru social marketing. If I hear a sales person ask for brand awareness marketing the first thing I do is check their Linkedin posts to see if they promoting the brand.....

Any marketing channel an organization uses to create awareness of itself or drive sales/engagement should be evaluated for performance. That said, if one needs to prioritize, one should think about what effective employment of various marketing channels requires: manpower/human resources, marketing $$, or both. If there's a cost beyond human resources associated with a channel, I'd evaluate that first. Think a channel that has production costs, postage costs, advertising buy/spend, etc. That said, if effective use of a marketing channel is particularly labor-intensive (far more than other channels) then those should be at the top of the evaluation list too, even if there is no marketing $$ associated with it.

I think most smaller companies overcomplicate their business goals. For 99% of businesses, the goal is almost always more sales for their most profitable product/service. -If you're a plumber, the goal is to get more phone calls from people looking for plumbing services. -If you're an injury lawyer, your goal might be to get more people who were recently injured in a car accident reaching out to your company. Too many founders think the number of views, likes, shares, etc actually matter. They don't. A promotional video could get a million views, but if it's not serving underlying business goals and an evergreen piece of content, it's pretty much useless.

The most important aspect in audience creation is an in-depth understanding of your consumer. What are the unique insights you know about them, what challenges are they facing, where do they shop? Once you know which questions you cannot yet answer, look into effective ways to gather that data. The quality of your information will ensure relevance and effectiveness of your media choices.

Target groups need to be broken down. Generic persona profiles like male, 30-40years, loves sports do not work any longer. A deep understanding of your desired customer's situation and habits is essential in order to define the right goals and channels.

Identifying target audience becomes a key factor for any channel to work. For a B2b SaaS example - The first step is to identify TAM, and create your TAL with the following logic - 1. Take inputs from sales to identify companies in a buying cycle / priority for the region. 2. Look at any existing intent from decision makers from the account. 3. Finalize and build your dataset on your CRM. Once you have your TAL ready, identify which decision making persona is engaged the most different types of channels. Example, if it’s an HR leader, try engaging through LinkedIn, and Emails. If it’s an IT leader, try engaging through podcasts and webinars. Everything boils down to you identifying your TAM and TAL. The rest can be figured out:)

We have bee traditionally taught that “the more views, the better” they used to sell us billboards according to haw many cars would deive by it. Same thing is said in social media. We are obsessed with likes and views, but forget the importance of engagement. If we are not reaching the proper segments or the proper consumers then all this is viewed as fun or a nice picture, but it is not a trigger towards that consumer. Be cautious of how and who you communicate to.

Many marketing agencies fail at understanding their client's target audience. It's not just about whom you're trying to reach but also about deeply understanding their preferences, behaviors, and the specific challenges they face. In my experience, the more granular you get in knowing your audience, the more effective your marketing messages become. It's not just about where you deliver your message but how you tailor it. The content that resonates on TikTok will differ vastly from what works in a LinkedIn email campaign. For some companies, spending time using another social media platform might be a waste of time if the intended customer isn't there. Focus on the 80% that works, for both the content and the platform.

If I was a business and a digital marketing agency wasn't showing me my competitors, I'd RUN for the hills. Data is openly available thanks to tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, etc. If you're working with a local service business, look at their competitors.. What is their best page? Tools like Rivalflow can tell you what they're doing better on blog posts using AI. It's so easy to compare and contrast two different companies and find out what's working for the competitor that hasn't been implemented yet on your online presence. Many fancy tools make it easy, but they aren't necessary if you're willing to do the work. Either way, competitor analysis NEEDS to be done.

Often times we look at competition within the category we play in and ignore ex-category. In consumer goods, your competition might be outside the category you play-in. Since you are fighting for share of wallet with not only competitors from your category but also other categories. Understanding what these ex-category competitors do to gain more share of wallet might help your strategic planning to grow your share of wallet & business and win the customer.

Analyze competitors to understand their strengths, weaknesses, and strategies. Assess their performance across channels to identify market opportunities. If they excel in a specific channel, consider investing more or finding a unique niche. Conversely, explore untapped channels if competitors overlook them, testing their potential for your advantage.

Understanding competitors strategies is a win win for your business .If you get a close analysis of your competitors, you can take upto new heights .For example , if your planning to do SEO , stealing the competitor keywords becomes an advantage . You can also write content based on the competitor keywords to outrank everyone on Google .So it is important to identify who your competitors are.

I encourage everyone to know everything about their competition, from their strategic plans to their call scripts. But if you can find a blue ocean strategy.

Regularly analyze metrics like conversion rates, click-through rates, and return on investment to gauge effectiveness. Adjust strategies based on the channels that yield the best results for your specific goals.

Figuring out your resources against budget is the key to winning. If you are using a Lean approach, you looked at your organic resources to start, and began testing them. Once armed with what works best, that's where to invest any allocated funds as you start to grow. A word of caution: do be aware of any cheap lists or scraping resources. Falling prey to those are not a shortcut, but a distraction, and and a waste of money.

Assess available resources like time, budget, and skills for your marketing efforts. Determine necessary tools and technologies for campaign execution and measurement. Allocate resources smartly by prioritizing channels offering optimal returns. For instance, leverage a limited budget through SEO and content marketing or explore innovative channels like video and podcasts with a skilled team.

A lot of people only use ChatGPT as their to-go-to AI, but Artificial Intelligence can help to address your target audience way more personal than you're able to do that yourself. Forget segmentation; hyper-personalisation is the new game. AI will enable brands to tailor content, recommendations, and experiences in real-time, based on user behaviour and predictive analytics, making customer interactions incredibly nuanced and dynamic. So look into (free) resources that will help you take a giant leap forward!

Evaluating your resources is akin to conducting a pre-flight check before taking off. Just as a pilot assesses the fuel, engine condition, and overall aircraft readiness, marketers need to gauge their budget, team expertise, and technological infrastructure. It's about ensuring that your marketing plane is well-equipped and can handle the chosen channels effectively. Like a pilot optimizing fuel consumption for the journey, marketers must allocate resources judiciously to channels that align with their strengths and financial capacity. This step is your cockpit preparation, ensuring a smoother ride through the marketing skies.

Regularly tracking metrics like click-through rates, conversion rates, and audience engagement provides actionable insights into your marketing channels. If a specific channel underperforms, adjusting tactics or reallocating budget can be informed decisions, while scaling up efforts for an overperforming channel allows for strategic expansion.

Monitoring and analyzing results in marketing is akin to a continuous flight navigation process. Just as a pilot adjusts the course based on real-time data, marketers need to adapt their strategy based on ongoing performance metrics. It's about staying agile in the marketing skies, making data-driven decisions to optimize channels and tactics. Similar to a pilot adjusting altitude for a smoother flight, marketers must tweak their approach to ensure a steady trajectory toward their goals. This step ensures that your marketing journey is not a one-time flight but a series of well-informed, dynamic maneuvers to reach new heights.

Your Results Overview: Analyzing the performance metrics and outcomes generated by each marketing channel. How to Consider: -Regularly monitor and measure key performance indicators for each channel. -Adjust strategies based on the success or shortcomings of each channel. Benefits: Continuously improving marketing strategies by learning from past successes and failures.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Regularly review KPIs aligned with your marketing goals. Identify trends and patterns in metrics such as conversion rates, engagement, and ROI. Data Analysis: Use analytics tools to dive into the data and extract meaningful insights. Look for correlations and causations to understand what is driving performance. A/B Testing: Implement A/B testing to compare different elements of your campaigns. Learn from what works and what doesn't, and apply these insights to future campaigns. Customer Feedback: Gather and analyze customer feedback from various channels. Understand customer sentiment and preferences to inform your strategy.

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The most important marketing channels to evaluate for performance include: Your Marketing Goals: Social Media Marketing (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn) Email Marketing Content Marketing (e.g., Blog, Video) Your Target Audience: Search Engine Marketing (SEO and SEM) Influencer Marketing Podcast Advertising Your Competitors: Paid Advertising (e.g., Google Ads, Facebook Ads) Affiliate Marketing Public Relations (PR) Your Resources: Search Engine Marketing (SEO and SEM) Email Marketing Social Media Marketing (e.g., Budgeting for Paid Ads) Evaluating these channels in the context of your goals, target audience, and competition helps build a strategic marketing mix that leverages the strengths of each channel for optimal performance.

Influencer Marketing Success: Influencer marketing can be highly effective when aligned with your target audience. For instance, a beauty brand collaborating with a popular makeup artist on Instagram might lead to increased brand awareness and engagement. User-Generated Content Triumphs: Brands that encourage user-generated content often witness remarkable success. For example, campaigns asking customers to share photos or videos using a product can create a sense of community and authenticity.

Here’s What Else to Consider: Customer Feedback: Gather insights from customer feedback and interactions. Emerging Trends: Stay informed about new channels and industry trends. Seasonal Patterns: Consider the seasonality or cyclical nature of your business. Multi-Channel Synergy: Explore how channels complement each other for integrated campaigns. Regulatory Compliance: Ensure compliance with regulations, especially in industries like finance or healthcare.