5 Most Effective Online Marketing Channels To Promote Your Brand in 2021
It is a well-known fact that If your business doesn’t have a strong online presence then you are losing a lot of customers. Moreover, there is no magic formula that can guarantee success in Digital Marketing. Whether your business is just a start-up or an established one, choosing the right Online Marketing Channel is essential to achieve business-specific goals.
Now the question comes, how do you know which marketing channels are the right ones for your business? Especially in 2021, when digital marketing is changing every day, it is really difficult to know which platform will work best for your business.
If you are also facing the same and not sure how to start promoting your business online effectively, WE CAN HELP. In this article, we’re going to discuss the 5 most effective online marketing channels you should be focusing on in 2021 and some best practices for how to get the most out of them.
But before we drive into the 5 most effective online marketing channels for your business, let's have a look at "What Is a Marketing Channel?"
What Is a Marketing Channel?
The simple answer is, online marketing channels or digital marketing channels are platforms, strategies, or systems that you can use to reach your target audience with the proper information about your brand, product, or service. In other words, Digital marketers utilize online marketing channels or digital marketing channels to bring awareness to their brand, products, or services.
The Best Online Marketing Channels in 2021
As we have mentioned above there is no such magic formula or rule that can guarantee you success in digital marketing as every business is different. Therefore, before you can determine the most effective digital marketing channels for your business, here are some key factors to be considered:
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What is your budget?
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What is your brand?
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What are your business goals?
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What are your marketing goals?
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Where does your target audience mostly spend time?
5 most effective digital marketing channels
A study on the importance of search in influencing product purchase, conducted by Hootsuite revealed that about 81% of people search online for a product or service while 74% have purchased online via any device and 67% use mobile shopping apps. So, whatever the type of business you have, SEO is the most effective digital marketing channel that you can use to promote your brand across the Globe. It plays a pivotal role in your search visibility on Google and other search engines.
SEO will help your website rank higher, on the search engine results page, resulting in more qualified traffic to your website and potentially more business. Moreover, the traffic generated through organic SEO is more likely to convert into a real business as the person already actively seeking out information and has a specific want and need for the products or services you offer. With Organic SEO you will always deliver the right message to the right audience with properly optimized content based on their buying stage.
Best Practices:
The first & foremost thing your website needs to have is a good user interface & experience with optimized images & site speed. And always try to align your website content with user search intent with compelling title & description. It should clearly represent your business, brand, products, and services.
While talking about digital marketing channels one simply can’t ignore Pay Per Click (PPC) Marketing. It is basically buying some spaces mainly in search engine result pages or social media platforms for your business. With PPC marketing, you place your products or services in front of the customer through data-driven audience targeting and strategic bid management.
There are mainly two dominating platforms in the world of PPC Advertising. One is Google Ads and another one is Facebook/Instagram Ads. While Google search ads will help you connect with search users who are already searching for the products or services you offer. Google’s display ads and Facebook & Instagram’s paid ads will allow you to create demand and introduce your brand along with your deliverables to the customers who may not be looking or even know you exist. In short, it helps create awareness for your business in the most affordable & effective way.
Here are some facts about social media marketing:
1. Of all adults with Internet access, 71% use social media
2. 54% of social browsers use social media to research products.
3. 71% of consumers who have had a positive experience with a brand on social media are likely to recommend the brand to their friends & family.
So this is how the power is social media platforms. Most people use social media on a regular basis, which is a great opportunity to increase your brand awareness and win real customers. These social media platforms not only offer you an easy way to promote your brand and grow your customer base but you can also engage with your customers directly through it. So if you want to stay ahead of your competition leveraging social media marketing is another effective Online Marketing Channels To Promote Your Brand in 2021
Best Practices:
First, identify the best social media platform for your business based on your audience. Create sharable content with attractive images & videos. As per the paid marketing, your campaigns should be designed in such a way that it provides real-time solutions. And one should always keep it in mind that there’s always more than one good approach to a campaign—to find the better approach, it’s always advisable to try out A|B testing.
4. Video Marketing:
Think it this way, say you want to purchase a product. While searching for that product you will find some images of it. You will also get a video of that particular product with the appropriate demonstrations and practical guides. Answer it now, which will motivate you more to buy that product? One picture and one video?
Simply it’s the video.
That is how it is the power of video marketing, one of the most dominant digital marketing trends today. Videos keep your target audience’s attention longer than any other media format, be it high-resolution images or podcasts. Video marketing not only has been proven to build brand awareness, but it’s also extremely effective in generating traffic and conversions for your business.
Best Practices:
Create engaging videos with your products or services & embed it in your websites, blogs. You can also publish them on video platforms like YouTube or Vimeo. Promote them on your own social media platforms, to increase social sharing & create awareness of your business.
5. E-mail Marketing:
Although many marketers think it is an obsolete marketing method, in reality, it is one of the most important and widely preferred digital marketing channels for business-related communication and it has the highest ROI than any other marketing strategy.
With e-mail marketing, you can reach potential customers and get your personalized messages delivered directly to their inboxes. Email campaigns & weekly or monthly newsletters are also excellent ways to generate customers & drive sales. They give you an opportunity to get in touch with your customers, by informing them of upcoming events, other services, or new product offerings and how they can get benefit from them.
Best Practices:
Keep it short, sweet & crisp & align with your overall brand. Write a compelling subject line that your recipients can’t ignore. Keep an eye on the delivery time & day. We found Tuesdays with 9-11 am in the morning worked best for our recipients to engage with a higher opening rate. It could be different for your business. Try & test it out and find what works for you.
Final Thoughts:
While there is no best answer to the one right marketing channel for any business, Omnichannel marketing is becoming more prominent to interact with the audience, with the goal of creating a consistent brand experience. The above digital marketing channels are the curated ones that work best for the majority of businesses in 2021. So, our advice is to test & try each of them out, and see what works best for you in order to determine your personal ideal marketing mix. It’s an investment that will definitely pay off. You can also hire a digital marketing agency that understands your brand & can help you reach your business goals through a variety of different digital marketing solutions more effectively.