Look here! Over here! Read this! Watch that! Everyday, your customers are bombarded with thousands of things vying for their attention. From TikTok to long talks on their favorite podcast, from Twitter to TV, there are so many places your brand could be. By planning a marketing strategy that hits a number of places your audience views, you’ll heighten your chances of reaching them.
It all comes down to cross-channel marketing.
What is cross-channel marketing?As the world of marketing has moved away from traditional and embraced digital, the term cross-channel marketing arose. It perfectly describes creating a unified brand message across a number of channels. Sometimes called “multi-channel marketing,” this strategy improves your chances of being seen by potential customers.
How do you choose your marketing channels?
The first thing you will want to do is define your audience. We use buyer personas to flesh out our target markets.
Everything You Need to Know about Buyer Personas
After you’ve laid out your buyer personas, it’s time to select your channels. You can’t be everywhere. It’s better to choose select places versus spreading yourself thin. A good mix of paid media and inbound content can work wonders.
{{cta(‘9430772b-84b9-4a06-9a46-fed7640add86′,’justifycenter’)}}
When you’re choosing channels, look at where your audience is and what you want your messaging to do:
Lead generation: Promoted social media posts & content, TV, streaming radio
Brand awareness: Organic content, billboard, print, TV, retargeted ads
Engagement: Social media posts, content, email newsletter, how-to videos, infographics
Once you choose your channels, you can start creating cross-channel paths. These are like mental maps of where your customer will go and how they will interact with your brand.
Promoted post → Blog → Website
Social ad → Landing page
Streaming radio → Website → Email subscription
Not every customer journey is linear. Actually most aren’t. That’s where cross-channel marketing shines. It takes into account that it probably won’t be buy at first sight. The buyer journey is a flywheel. You need to attract, engage, and delight your potential customers before they decide to become your customer.
By planning your cross-channel marketing strategy around a flywheel model, you outsmart the competition.
Now, instead of the journey being linear or a funnel, it’s circular and gathers momentum. You attract, engage, and delight your buyer persona and their delight attracts more customers to engage.
{{cta(‘1b74c13b-9482-426b-a63c-c5b4dced04b4′,’justifycenter’)}}
Look back at your list of channels and apply them to a flywheel model. Make sure that no matter where your target audience lands, it all feels connected and all leads to further connection with your brand.
Attract – Promoted social media posts, TV, YouTube ads, retargeted ads, etc.
Engage – Social media posts, vlogs/videos, infographics, blog posts, email newsletters, etc.
Delight – Downloadables, social contests, referral gifts, VR filters, TikTok soundbites, etc.
As you can see, there are so many ways to build this strategy. No matter where you take your plan, keep in mind consistently. Wherever your targets find you or interact with you, you should have a matching brand message. It may sound a little different on different platforms or places but the voice and branding should be consistent.
Find Your Flywheel
Feeling overwhelmed by the cross-channel possibilities? We can help. Our consulting team can take a 30,000 foot view of your brand and make recommendations. See how we can help by simply saying hello. No obligations. No expectations. Just help if you want it.
Set SMART Goals
Once you’ve laid out your flywheel plan, set your SMART goals. This is an important acronym to make sure your marketing strategy is successful. When you make goals that keep these 5 following factors in mind, you’ll be better able to determine how well your work did.
S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Attainable
R – Realistic
T – Timebound
Beyond showing you what worked, it also shows you what didn’t. We suggest not wasting time on should of, could of, would of. Instead, use that energy to learn. What can you do next time in your marketing that will overcome these obstacles you discovered? How can you make your cross-channel strategy more streamlined and effective?
Play around with questioning the results and gain new insights for the future. That is the power of play. The game of marketing and business is never over. You just keep playing, learning, growing, and improving. It’s why we love our work, every new project is a moment of exploration and helping a business or organization thrive.
If you want to be the next one we work with, say hi.
