Multichannel marketing: What is it and how to start using it effectively

As a marketer, you have so many routes to pursuing your goals of generating brand awareness and getting more and more customers in the pipeline. There are so many different strategies and platforms to test for your brand, and multichannel marketing is just one of the ways you can manage your presence across them.

Multichannel marketing is a strategy that allows you to go after your customers and build your brand across many different platforms and utilizing many different tactics.

In this post, we’re going to cover exactly what multichannel marketing is and what sets it apart from other types of marketing as well as how you can create a successful multichannel marketing strategy.

Let’s dive in.

What is multichannel marketing?

As the name suggests, multichannel marketing focuses on marketing to your audience across multiple channels, both online and offline. By using this strategy, you create a consistent presence across the board and are able to reach your target audience in a number of places.

However, even by doing this, your marketing presence and strategy must still remain cohesive. You shouldn’t have team members focusing on different platforms without speaking to one another about the overall goals and objectives.

Instead, while you do want to cater the messaging to each platform (you’ve heard it before, but the same messaging will not work on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok), you still need to have a strategy that makes sense. You’re targeting the same audience, so you want to keep this in mind and build a coherent and complementary strategy with your approach to each platform.

There are three main ways to approach marketing that uses multiple channels:

• Multichannel marketing: This involves reaching customers using multiple channels, each with their own catered messaging, but uniform strategy.
• Cross-channel marketing: This type of marketing targets a set of customers across selected channels that share customer data, enabling seamless interactions across multiple channels simultaneously.
• Omni-channel marketing: Frequently used for ecommerce, this type of marketing focuses on creating a personalized experience for customers that’s shared across all channels.

Why is multichannel marketing important?

There are so many different channels that you can find your audience on, and that number is growing every single day.

Going back to traditional marketing channels like billboards, postcards, flyers, networking and the like, having the same messaging for your campaign was essential. Brands like Nike would be running the same messaging and promotions on their billboards, store signs, bus ads and more.

Now, there are several different yet equally important digital marketing channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Messenger, TikTok and more. And there are likely going to be even more channels your audience will be on in the future.

Focusing on a single channel means you miss out on so many other customer opportunities. Plus, multichannel customers spend 3-4 times more than single-channel customers do, meaning the time investment into getting this strategy right is absolutely worth it.

Ready to learn how to create a successful multichannel marketing strategy? We’ve got a five-step plan for you.

How to create a successful multichannel marketing strategy

Multichannel marketing doesn’t have to be overwhelming. We’ve put it into five simple steps for you below so that you can get your team started quickly and easily.

1. Define your buyer persona

The most important part is step number one – defining your customer or buyer persona. Knowing specifically who you’re marketing to and what their pain points are is absolutely essential to beginning a successful strategy.

And this is even more so the case when it comes to multichannel marketing. With this type of marketing, you have to strategically choose the platforms or channels that your brand is going to utilize most. And you can only do that by knowing exactly who your target customer is and where they spend their time, both online and off.

Furthermore, understanding your audience’s personality and what their interests are helps you to cater your messaging to a brand voice that they’ll find relatable and be more interested in listening to.

2. Pinpoint the channels that will be part of your strategy

The next step is nearly as crucial as the first. Which channels will you be focusing on? To get an idea of what would be best here, you need to have a firm grasp on social media demographics and the behaviors of your target audience that you previously identified.

You can choose both online and offline channels to pull into your multichannel marketing strategy, so be sure not to discount some traditional marketing avenues. This can consist of hosting conferences or virtual events, putting ads up on billboards or busses, sending out direct mail, and more.

But you also need to determine which social media sites your audience is most likely to be on based on their age, gender they identify with, income and interests. Don’t forget that your website and blog are also considered channels that you can – and absolutely should – utilize.

Put together a list visualizing the entire scope of your multichannel marketing strategy so that you and your team know exactly which platforms and avenues to focus on so nothing gets lost in the fold.

3. Create your messaging

Once you’ve determined the channels you’ll be utilizing, it’s time to start crafting your overall messaging. Not only should this be directed towards your buyer persona, but it should also be specifically catered towards each of your different channels.

You still need to have a cohesive presence, but you shouldn’t be copying and pasting the exact same content for each channel. Instead, utilize the same strategy or approach, while still making your content and messaging make sense for the platform you’re using.

This can appear in a few different ways.

First, you can share the same piece of visual content across all of your platforms and simply resize and rework the design to fit each of the optimal social media image dimensions. Make it horizontal for Facebook and Twitter, square for your Instagram feed, and vertical for stories.

When using this method, it’s totally fine to utilize similar visual content in your multichannel marketing campaigns, however you absolutely must switch up your caption or accompanying copy so it fits the platform you’re sharing the content to.

For example, Netflix publishes a variety of content across channels, sometimes repurposing imagery or video, and other times leaning into the strengths of a specific platform. This might include longer format videos on Facebook, quick updates and fan Retweets on Twitter, and meme-driven, faster paced TikToks.

The voice you use in your tweets is not the same voice you use on a more business-oriented platform like LinkedIn. And your content will seem out of place if you try to make the exact same copy work across the board.

The next option is to create an overarching campaign or promotional plan with guidelines for your brand’s multiple channels, but create completely different content for each platform.

This is a great way to create refreshing content that your audience hasn’t seen a million times. If you have people following you on multiple platforms, you don’t want to be putting the exact same content in front of them from every angle.

4. Integrate your channels together

This takes the last section a step further. While you should have your overall messaging ideas crafted, this step is required to ensure the overall experience on every channel that your customer hears from you is cohesive and works in harmony.

One way to do this is by using a single publishing platform for all of your social media content so you can see exactly what will be going live when. This is a good tactic for staying on top of your messaging and ensuring each platform is on the same page.

5. Determine your key performance indicators (KPIs)

The final task you need to take care of is to decide what each of your KPIs are for your multichannel plan and how you and your team are going to determine whether the campaign has been a success.

Because multichannel marketing campaigns encompass a wide range of platforms and marketing avenues, there are seldom KPIs that you can use across the board. However, you can pick and choose platform-specific KPIs that help you determine whether your efforts are working or if you need to switch up your strategy, your messaging, your visuals or your chosen channels.

To help you get started, here’s a list of social media metrics that are important to track.

Create your own multichannel marketing campaign

It’s time to embark on your own multichannel marketing strategy. Take this five-step plan and put it into practice. Learn more about building your social media presence so you know how to properly utilize your social channels while implementing your chosen tactics.

About the Author - Chloe is a digital marketing manager and freelance writer, focusing on topics surrounding social media and digital marketing. She's based in Charleston, SC, and when she's not working you'll find her at brunch or hanging out with her son. Follow her on Twitter @ChloeWest28.

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8 Instagram trends to pay attention to in 2021

 

With each new year, social marketers like to predict what’s going to happen in their industry for the next 365 days. But you can’t predict everything and 2020 is an excellent example of this. This being said, social media evolves constantly and Instagram, with over 1 billion monthly active users, is no exception.

For Instagram, some of their newest features were clearly responses to the ongoing pandemic, fueling new and maintaining old connections. Other trends were driven by the users themselves. Here, we’re highlighting some Instagram trends to keep an eye on as you continue to develop your 2021 social media marketing strategy.

1. Instagram Live streams get longer

First introduced in 2016, Instagram Live has evolved as a way for businesses and individuals to broadcast in the moment. During 2020, they experienced a spike in interest as a way to maintain connection and conduct announcements and events digitally. From February to March 2020 alone, there was a 70% increase in Live views.

Live videos have also been extended from one hour to four hours at maximum and now appear on the Explore page. Going Live on Instagram might seem overwhelming at first, which is why we created a Live guide for businesses that will walk you through all the essential steps.

Mani-pedi company Olive & June uses Instagram Live to run a 7-day “Bootcamp.” Users new to at-home manicures or pedicures can sign up on their website and then follow along on Instagram Live each day. It’s a great way to introduce new users to their products and keep them connected to their social media presence.

Ways to use Instagram Live:

• Plan shared livestreams with other Instagram accounts and creators
• Use the Q&A sticker to answer questions live
• Introduce a new product or service

2. Generate revenue through Instagram

No longer relegated to shopping for products from businesses, Instagram now offers several ways for customers to convert without leaving the app. In 2020, Instagram Shop was extended to all business accounts, offering customers a way to save, purchase, and checkout in the app. To support Shop, product tags are available not just on posts but also in stories and Live broadcasts. 

Instagram beefed up their support for creators in 2020, a trend that might continue into 2021. With the introduction of video ads in IGTV, creators can receive 55% of the cut. Taking a page from Twitch, badges were launched to support creators during their live streams. When watching a creator’s Live broadcast, supporters can purchase badges in three different price levels. Badge purchases appear in the comments, get listed on the creator’s list of badge holder and unlock a special heart.

Ways to generate revenue through Instagram:

• Set up Instagram Shop for your business
• Use product tags in your posts and stories
• Partner with creators as part of your influencer marketing strategy

3. Short, digestible graphics in carousel posts

With the help of free and easy apps, creating Instagram graphics is easier than ever. Carousel posts include up to 10 posts and accounts of all kinds are using it for education. Topics range from mental health to racial justice to relationship advice and everything in between.

Anti-Racism Daily is a daily newsletter that tackles a different anti-racist topic every day. To supplement the newsletter article, their Instagram posts also sum them up in an easy-to-read format.

Ways to use carousel graphics:

• Pick a topic you’re passionate about and turn educational tidbits into slides
• Find apps that have ready-to-go templates
• Turn your established infographics into slides

4. Educate or summarize with Instagram Guides

The original introduction of Guides in May 2020 was meant to be for well-being tips. Instagram worked with companies and creators to put together self-care Guides that might help alleviate grief or anxiety while sheltering in place. Since then, Guides have been introduced to everyone and have been used in a variety of ways.

There are three types of guides:

• Places: recommend places in your city or elsewhere
• Products: recommend or introduce your favorite products
• Posts: recommend posts that you’ve created or saved

Each guide has a small section at the top where you can summarize what it’s about. These also live on your Instagram profile page as its own tab, right next to the IGTV tab, so they’re another way to highlight your most important evergreen content similar to Stories highlights.

Jenn Yee of @pastrywithjenn used a Place Guide to introduce 10 of her favorite restaurants and bakeries in San Francisco’s Chinatown. The Guide includes a small blurb per place, a map with the tagged locations and a way for you to send it to your fellow foodie friend.

Ways to use Instagram Guides:

• Introduce your product lineup
• Show off your favorite businesses in your area
• Create informative articles on any topic your brand is passionate about

5. Reel out your silliness

Inspired by TikTok’s features of easily creating short videos with fun music pairings, Instagram Reels was also newly introduced in 2020. Reels are limited to 15 seconds and offer you the ability to string multiple clips together into one video. These tend to be casual and a little bit silly.

Reels are shareable and when saved, lives in its own tab on your profile page and might show up in the Explore page.

The Lip Bar uses Reels to create quick how-to videos. In this one, the company paired up with beauty influencer @therealteshamarie to show how she uses their products in her hydrating winter routine.

Ways to use Instagram Reels

• Put together quick how-to guides on using your products or services
• Find a trending meme and add your own spin on it
• Partner with an influencer to share how they use your products or services

6. Accept an Instagram Challenge

Challenges aren’t exactly a new thing on Instagram but they’ve certainly exploded during the pandemic, likely due to extra time on creators’ hands. Challenges might include the word “challenge” in them but one thing they all have in common is their own hashtag.

Challenges spread quickly like memes and follow a set of guidelines or rules. Each one leads to one or more posts and is a fun way of mixing up your content.

The #imjustakidchallenge began on TikTok and was a product of cabin fever creeping in. Using Simple Plan’s song, the challenge asks family members to recreate an old family photo with the same people, outfits and poses. Each video follows the same format with participants getting into a pose and once it’s reached, the old photo appears on the screen.

Ways to use Instagram challenges

• Follow popular video creators to find the current trending challenges
• Start your own brand challenge

7. Support small businesses & nonprofits with stickers

Stickers in Instagram Stories have been around for a while but new ones are being continually added. Because small businesses are having a tough time with ever-changing dining guidelines, Instagram introduced new ways to help support them.

Each sticker allows the viewer to click through for an action. Restaurants can use the Order sticker to easily promote their to-go menus, anyone can use the Donation sticker to help fundraise for their favorite nonprofit and you can add the Support Small Business sticker to share about your favorite business.

Ways to use supportive stickers

• Add your preferred delivery service to your profile page to make use of the Order sticker
• Promote your favorite cause and help them reach a fundraising goal
• Collaborate with other brands by creating a series that promotes your favorite small businesses

8. Don’t be afraid to be more casual

With the spillover of challenges and memes from both Twitter and TikTok, Instagram brand accounts are not as beautifully curated as they used to be. And that’s a good thing! Creating content in a pandemic is challenging, which means videos and photos take on a more casual and fun tone.

Imperfect photography, screenshots of Tweets and jumping in on popular memes can only make your brand feel more engaging and relatable.

Reese Witherspoon created a 9-photo grid that showed her progression from January to September 2020. With the addition of her #2020challenge hashtag, accounts began posting their version of 2020 feelings.

Ways to be more casual on Instagram

• Take a fun Tweet that you’ve posted or a fan has posted and use that screenshot in a post.
• Find a trending meme and fit your own brand’s voice into it.
• Instead of creating a highly edited and produced video, see if you can film it on a phone and make it more casual.

What Instagram trends are you excited about in 2021?

If 2020 has any summarizing lesson, it’s that things can and will change often. Instagram trends get created with influences from other networks and introductions of new features. Keeping up with the current trends freshens up your content and shows your audience that you’re not afraid to try new things.

To get inspiration on what kind of topics and posts your audience would be most interested in, keep tabs on the most essential Instagram metrics.

About the Author - Jenn Chen

Jenn Chen is an SF-based digital strategist, photographer, and writer who works with specialty coffee companies to make them look awesome online. She also has a penchant for cake donuts. Connect with her online @thejennchen & at jennchen.com.

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Do Facebook Ads Work For Small Businesses?

Facebook ads are inexpensive, effective, and something any small business owner should consider getting involved with. The reason you should be running Facebook ads, whether they are sponsored posts or other types of ads, is that they do work. Here's why. People Use Facebook All Day Long People use Facebook on PCs and on their mobile devices, and keep it with them all day long. They take Facebook with them to dinner and some people never turn it off. This is a real chance to connect with your audience that you cannot pass up. They Are Relevant Due to Extreme Targeting Facebook allows you to target your individual audience down to their interests and gender, and you can even provide email addresses for the exact people you want to target. Easy to Include a Call To Action (CTA) The tools that Facebook offers the people who want to run ads help to create compelling CTAs that your audience will be more likely to answer, whether it's as easy as liking your page or downloading your app. 

It's Easy to Make Professional-Looking Ads The tools that Facebook offers let you create professional Facebook ads without having the ability to make ads. They lead you through it with their system to make it simple, so you're more likely to repeat the process. Easy to Include Great Value You can easily include enough information in each ad that shows the value of your offering. With just a few clicks you'll have an awesome ad that your audience can see the value in. They Offer Disruption with Significance In many cases people are blind to advertisements, but on Facebook the disruption is noticeable and your audience will want to check it out. This is due to the ability to target the ads so closely to your target audience.

 They Are Simple to Create The ads are easy to create and it gets easier all the time. As Facebook makes the ads work better for business owners, and easier to do with a click of a button, they become more relevant, more valuable, and more useful to you as a business owner. Easy to Run A/B Tests Due to the ability to duplicate an ad and then easily edit to change one part of the ad such as the title or the image, you can run ads simultaneously. You can even target different audiences to find out which works better. 

Facebook ads work for a variety of reasons. However, they will only work if you plan them out and spend the time ensuring that you run relevant ads. They must be of value to your audience, grab the attention of the viewer and include a compelling call to action. Facebook wants your business to succeed when using their social platform. This just makes sense. If you achieve your business goals while spending money on Facebook advertising, you're likely to use it again in the future. 

To learn how to make your social media marketing successful and profitable, download my Free Checklist, Successful Facebook Ads at https://jonallo.com/FBads 

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How to Target Baby Boomers Through Paid Ads

 The baby boomer generation may seem like an afterthought when you put together the target audience for your paid marketing campaigns, but they still hold a lot of the country’s wealth and remain a key purchasing demographic.

When Was the Baby Boomer Generation Born?

Baby boomers were born between 1946 and 1964. This generation still makes up a large portion of the population, with a 23.5 percent share as of 2019. In fact, they were the largest generation in history until millennials surpassed them.

The baby boomers have had a huge impact on social and economic policy and were the target audience for many marketing and advertising campaigns for decades.

The term “baby boomers” actually comes from the fact that there was a high birth rate following the soldiers’ return from World War II. As a result of their high numbers and growth to adult age during a time of economic prosperity, they’re also considered one of the most financially successful generations of all time.

What is Different About the Baby Boomer Generation?

This article focuses on the best strategies to deliver paid ads and marketing campaigns to boomers. To do this, you need to understand the generation’s personality traits, interests, and habits. Keep in mind that the majority of this generation is reaching retirement age.

Their retirement may look much different than previous generations though. As many as 65 percent do not plan to retire. This is not just due to financial hardship; many enjoy their work, find their work time valuable, and think it’s important to stay active and involved to remain youthful.

They’re also more likely to spend money than previous generations. Their parents and grandparents were pretty tight with their pennies due to growing up in the Depression-era.

Compared to younger generations, boomers may be a bit slower to adapt to technology, and rightfully so. Many still use a landline and write checks rather than using debit cards.

They also don’t have the same trust in technology as younger generations. While younger generations accept that the internet poses a security risk (and are fine with it), many boomers haven’t felt the need to take the risk.

As a result, trust-building is far more important than design and aesthetics. Trust, brand loyalty, reputation, and security are critical to paid ad campaigns targeting baby boomers.

Why You Should Target Baby Boomers Through Paid Ads

Why even target this generation, to begin with? Why not focus on millennials and Gen-X instead?

It’s because this generation still makes up a large portion of the population.

They also possess a lot of the country’s money and are working past retirement age, which means they’re still spending.

Interestingly enough, they’re the only generation experiencing growth in the workforce, so their influence on the economy is still very real. Plus, 40 percent are starting to spend money online, which opens the doors to more opportunities.

The big question is, do you own a business that could potentially benefit from targeting baby boomers? What are their interests as of right now, and what types of products are they buying? Keeping in mind these individuals are between ages 57-75, what are some baby boomer marketing characteristics you should implement?

First, any business providing accurate and actionable financial opportunities could be one. We find more of this generation is still looking for opportunities at an older age, and the days of “sitting on the front porch retirement” are over.

Businesses selling products to help seniors stay in their homes or help make their lives easier will also have a better shot at selling to this generation.

It’s less about what you’re selling and more about how you sell it.

Strategies for Targeting Baby Boomers Through Paid Ads

First and foremost, keep ethics in mind at all times. There are so many slimy methods of marketing to people who are not as “tech-literate.” You don’t want to go that route. There are too many great ways to provide baby boomers with value while also growing your brand.

Marketing to baby boomers is all about trust, brand, reputation, simplicity, and transparency. Keep these five factors in mind as we go through the next few sections.

1. Target the Social Platforms Baby Boomers Use the Most

Most baby boomers are on Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest, so you’ll want to focus on these three platforms.

Facebook has a vast assortment of ads and ad types you can use like carousel ads, videos, static images, sidebars, and pre-roll ads. Each of these has its time and place, but you want to make sure it’s not too intrusive. Keep in mind that “click-bait” will not work with boomers because they won’t trust you.

Remember, this generation grew up with infomercials, the ultimate bait and switch.

If you’re advertising on YouTube, think about what this person may be doing on YouTube when they see your ad. What are they watching? What are they looking up? One in three use YouTube to learn something. They’re not wasting the day away watching videos for entertainment like younger generations might.

Many of them also turn to YouTube to save time. They’re learning that they can quickly look something up on YouTube to get the information they want, rather than sifting through dozens of TV channels trying to find the right media source.

They want to save time and learn something.

2. Use Themes in Your Paid Ads That Appeal to Trends in the Boomer Generation

Marketing to baby boomers is all about appealing to their feelings and emotions. The same is true with any generation.

What are they feeling?

We know a majority likely have grandchildren, so they might be online looking for activities to do with their grandchildren or for gifts.

Many of them aren’t retiring any time soon, so they may be looking for solutions to make their working retirement more enjoyable. This could be something to save time or help them learn a new skill they can turn into a side-income during their retirement.

Lastly, Boomers don’t want to rely on their children as much as other generations. They value independence, they want to stay in their homes, and they don’t like when people classify them as “senior” or “elderly.”

3. Create a Simple-to-Use Paid Ad Strategy

The Baby Boomer target market didn’t grow up with technology, smartphones, retargeting ads, or artificial intelligence. No matter what way you look at it, they’re not going to possess the skills necessary to understand a complicated ad.

If you overcomplicate it, you’re going to lose interest.

You need to make sure the entire experience from front to back is simple, quick, trustworthy, and as transparent as possible. Take a walk through your entire funnel or sales process and look for areas where Baby Boomers may get tripped up.

Your price should be front and center, right at the beginning. Do not try to bait them in with videos to entice them, it won’t work. Your ad needs to be straightforward.

Essentially, “this is what I’ve got, this is how much it costs, and this is how you get it.”

3. Use Baby Boomer Language in Your Paid Ads

Avoid terms like elderly, senior citizen, golden years, aging, etc. They don’t relate to this language because most boomers don’t see themselves this way. They’re not looking to unwind and relax like previous generations. Boomers still possess a strong zest for life, so they may take offense to being called “old.”

This is where things get tricky. You can’t call them old, but you also don’t want to use language that is “too new.” While they’re not as out of touch as their predecessors, they’re still not up-to-date on trends and internet slang.

If they can’t understand your ad or what it is that you’re offering, they will move on. Simplicity is the goal. Advertising to boomers is actually easier because you don’t need to do anything fancy to get attention, but you still need to say the right things.

Millennials are so numb from marketing slapping them in the face that you need to be clever to grab their attention. The same doesn’t apply to boomers. For them, it’s all about trust. If they trust you, they’ll listen to you.

4. Use Different Content Types in Your Paid Ads That Appeal to Baby Boomers

This generation takes longer to make a purchase. They grew up when you had to shop in person or call and talk to a live representative to make a purchase. They wrote checks and money orders and did everything the slow way. They’re not going to respond to you talking a mile a minute about the latest and greatest product they’ve never heard before.

They’re also not going to take your word for it. You need to show them that it works. Including video as a part of your content is an important step in the right direction, as is social proof.

Boomers also value brand loyalty and think you should earn rewards for shopping specific brands and companies consistently. That’s why the majority are members of loyalty programs.

You could use this to your advantage by creating a loyalty program or offering a discount for signing up for a yearly service.

Examples of Paid Ads Targeted at Baby Boomers

Let’s take a look at some examples and break them down so you can see what we’re talking about in action. You look at this first ad, do you think that it will work for people in the baby boomers years?

Probably not.

They likely won’t get it, understand why the person has a beard, or get what the objective is here.

We might realize they’re saying you need a great razor to clean yourself up so you’ll get kissed but it’s a reach. An ad like this may be too “modern” for the older generation.

Here’s a perfect example where keeping it simple wins. There’s nothing creative about this ad. It’s plain and simple.

The ad tells you that it’s the best razor and here’s why. The only thing that could be better is a description of how many razors you get, how much they cost, and how long they last on average.

Transparency wins over cute and cliche.

How about this ad? Any idea why we think it’s a bad choice for boomers? They made the people look so old with a cane, the way they’re dressed, the use of the word “senior,” and the fact that they said, “make moving fun.”

This ad is patronizing and shows baby boomers in a way they don’t see themselves. The truth is, most are still quite active.

Conclusion

Understanding how to market to Baby Boomers is still a relevant topic and we believe it will be for another decade or so. This generation still holds a large economic share, they’re still active, and they show no signs of slowing down. The key is to focus on Facebook and YouTube.

If you’re lacking experience on these two platforms, we have a variety of resources to help you. No matter what, having a definitive buyer persona is the key to all marketing so start there and the rest will come.

What types of unique strategies are you using to target baby boomers? Let me know in the comments!

About Author - Niel Patel He is a New York Times Bestselling author. The Wall Street Journal calls him a top influencer on the web, Forbes says he is one of the top 10 marketers, and Entrepreneur Magazine says he created one of the 100 most brilliant companies. He was recognized as a top 100 entrepreneur under the age of 30 by President Obama and a top 100 entrepreneur under the age of 35 by the United Nations.