Balancing your marketing efforts across multiple channels is essential for success. Just as putting all of one’s eggs in one basket can lead to disaster, committing too much resources to a single channel without considering the rest risks failure.
A solid diversified marketing mix plan can be done through the allocation of your marketing budget in various marketing channels in an effort to achieve the most favorable results for your customer’s journey. Channel mixes should be based on how each channel contributes towards the buyer’s overall experience and the most effective bang for your marketing buck.
To develop a channel mix is to create different channels that can reach your target audience optimally.
You will have different priorities at this stage of your business than your competitors and that’s okay. Make sure you understand what your goals are so that you can develop a unique strategy to achieve them.
Why Diversifying Marketing Matters?
The constantly changing marketing space is a great opportunity for businesses to diversify their portfolio by taking advantage of multiple channels. This provides numerous benefits, including:
Maintaining multiple marketing channels provides a broader spectrum of data that can be analyzed across all your campaigns. Diversified strategies help you to maintain an omnichannel experience with more comprehensive data. By using multiple channels, you are able to gather more data and capitalize on trends earlier than if only one channel was utilized. This diversification reduces the risk associated with any one campaign while spreading it out into different areas for better overall coverage
How to Start Planning Your Marketing Mix Plan?
Financial planning is an essential to effective advertising. Channel strategies need to consider how each piece of your marketing will contribute and the time it takes for you to see a return on investment. Diversification strives for success by using different channels in order not only to maximize returns, but also remain diversified over an extended period of time.
Here’s an example of how diversifying your marketing strategies can help you optimize results across your buyer journey.
How do you allocate your monthly advertising budget to paid search? Generally speaking, spending more money will result in higher CPCs and a larger target audience. However, this can be risky- if you don’t spend enough it could mean missing high quality prospects; On the flipside if you overspend, the costs of acquiring these leads may quickly increase. Paid search also attracts an already interested audience which means that marginal costs are often higher than with other online marketing channels
How can you maximize your marketing budget by engaging future-ready buyers? By choosing channels that tap into audiences at an interested stage of research, this strengthens the connection between buyer and seller. This leads to more successful lower funnel/higher intent ads down the line.
After reviewing the goals of diversification and providing an example, we now discuss which channels may be useful to include in your mix.
How To Prioritize Which Channel to Test
To select the most effective marketing channels for your business, you need to understand and adhere to these five key principles.
Intent – Understand the purpose of that channel and how your audience is there. You should be able to isolate them and they should make up most of your target audience.
Targeting – It should be easy for you to target your audience based on demographics, behavior or interest.
Trackability – The results of your marketing effort should be easily measurable and effective.
Scale – The results should be easily replicable as you see more success and it should make an obvious enough impact to your business.
Value – There should be a good return on investment of your time, money and effort.
Marketing Channels to Consider
There are an infinite number of combinations when it comes to advertising. Here are a few advertising channels you may want to start up if you haven’t already:
1. Teach an Online Course
If you haven’t heard about this lately, it’s time that you should. Online courses are the rage and although they may sound like the MLM schemes of the 90s, this is actually a great marketing channel to bring brand awareness and revenue to your business.
Create a lesson plan, shoot your videos, and post them on an online learning platform like Udemy or Skillshare.
Everyone’s got a skill or talent that is unique to them. Whether your expertise is in digital marketing or you’re an expert Excel master, there is someone out there who can be influenced by what you know.
Online classes are great for people who want to take a break from their busy schedules and learn at their own pace in an exciting environment. Everyone is looking for a way to upskill and this is how you can contribute to that demand while framing yourself as a thought leader and expert in your industry.
2. Invite People to a Webinar
A webinar is an interactive online event that offers video presentations, lectures, or workshops. You can choose to have a more passive audience who only listens and does not participate in the discussion, or you can make it more participatory by allowing participants to ask questions during the live session.
There are a variety of online webinar platforms, many of which are well-known and popular. There are free and paid options, but keep in mind that you may need to allocate more money for larger audiences on premium platforms. These platforms usually offer better customer service should there be any issues with the technology. Even if you don’t want to splurge on specific webinar software, there are still great options in online conference software like Zoom or Google Meets that can do the trick.
Webinars are a popular way for businesses to generate interest and buzz. You can use webinars as part of a larger marketing campaign to reach different target audiences. Consider what topics will resonate with your audience, and bean expert on something relevant to them. For example, you could cover social media tips or creative tutorials that would appeal to industry newcomers or buyers in your sector.
3. Start a Livestream
Streaming content is an affordable and effective way to share your work or products with the public. In this day and age, livestreaming is a daily norm that has been adopted by various industries.
There is no need for expensive equipment or a large budget when it comes to livestreaming. All you need is an internet connection and the ability to use audio-video capabilities on any device!
Livestreaming can be public or private. They can be meticulously planned and scripted, or they can simply consist of you living your life in a continuous stream for the world to see. You could broadcast your creative brainstorming sessions, daily journal entries, or office team-building activities.
Some people may find real-time broadcasts nerve-wracking, so it is not for everyone. However, the authenticity of living in the moment unedited can bring value like none other.
4. Create a Podcast
If video content isn’t your thing, can also consider setting up a podcast. If you remember the sudden unexpected rise of audio-only channels like Clubhouse, you’ll know that there’s value in creating a podcast. Podcasts are audio programs that can be released in episodes. This makes it easy to interview special guests because both parties can produce the content from their homes or offices, no matter where they are located.
5. Explore Social Channels
You should be aware by now that the modern world lives on social channels. It can be Snapchat, Instagram or TikTok. Whatever the platform, you can definitely leverage it to advertise your products or services. Quick note though that your content should never be too sales-y because nobody likes hard selling anymore.
To Sum it Up
Regardless of the specifics of a diversification strategy, there are some core concepts that remain consistent across industries.
It is important to develop a company-wide marketing strategy that incorporates long-term goals, such as diversifying your culture and keeping everyone on the same page. Additionally, focus on innovative concepts like personalized content and social strategies.
While you’re busy focusing on your marketing strategy, consider working with a partner that can help you with your marketing collateral, blog headers and social media graphics. Mad Creative Beanstalk is helping 100s of businesses achieve their marketing and business goals with ease as a design partner that understands.
Leave a Reply