It Is All About The (Right) Channel

It is not about being everywhere. It is about being at the right place.

Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Email Marketing, printed ads, digital ads, Instagram, Snapchat, etc, etc, etc... Too many options, too little time. I know, you might feel tempted to open all the possible channels to communicate with the customers. There are so many channels. It is overwhelming. As in many aspects of life, sometimes less is more. Focusing on few channels - the right channels, will help you to reach the correct people. 

Let's assume that you are doing the marketing for a small company with a limited budget and limited personnel, and now, you are experimenting with new social media channels. You know that you need to be there, but you are thinking: where do I need to go, exactly? My best advice is that you try to focus on two or three of those channel at first. Instead of pushing out crazily all the pictures you have, it is better to take the time and think clearly about your steps and invest in a good quality material.  

Step by step: How to select and use the right channel for your marketing:

- Define your goals: What do you want to get from your marketing? Do you want to increase brand awareness, engage with your customer, share your expertise or have fun online?

- Get familiar with your options, both online and offline ones. When getting to know those remember to check if all those options are available in your market or in your customers' markets?

- Check your customers: where your actual customer are at the moment? Which channels are they using to get more information about your products (or similar products). Is your competitor there? 

- Take the time to understand the channel. How does it work? 

- Take the time to understand your audience. Who is there for you? How your customers act and react on this channel? Who could you invite to follow you or join your channel? What time is appropriate to communicate with your audience? How big is your audience or how big is its potential?

- Define the message based on your company strategies and goals. What do you want to achieve with your message. More sales? Creating a stronger brand? Getting more feedback from your customers?

- Measure your resources: do you need a copywriter, a designer, somebody to code? What do you need to prepare for this channel?  Could you do this by yourself or do you need to outsource? Do you have the money and the time? Remember to think about the resources needed to follow up the conversation.

- Measure your results: how are you able to see that your work on this channel is paying off? What are the relevant measurement for your business: more followers, more sales or more subscribers?


Do not forget that different groups of people consume media in different ways, also geographical location and culture might have some implications. Before wasting a great deal of money "putting all your eggs on the same basket" try step by step and evaluate results, especially if your marketing resources are limited. Plan, execute, evaluate and repeat.