6 Types Of Online Marketing Channels To Help Grow Your Audience
There are many types of online marketing channels to help grow your audience, but which one is right for you? Here are 6 types of online marketing channels to look at.
Hi Trish Davies, here, founder of Build Your AU and personal branding expert. One of the areas I focus on when helping people create their own brands is developing their audience. You must have an online following which can generate leads and sales for your business.
That means you must leverage different types of online marketing channels to build that following. It is no secret that the internet has changed how business owners can promote and advertise the products and services.
In many ways it has revolutionised the industry you can access over 4 billion people with just a few clicks. That is the number of people in the world who actively use the internet. Therefore, you have a massive opportunity at your fingertips.
Now with increased opportunity comes increased competition as your competitors are in the same boat as you are. Fishing in this massive ocean to grab the attention of people who are aligned with what they have to offer.
Therefore, advertising and marketing is like fishing in respect that you must know where your customers hang out. Your advertisement is like your fishing rod, your strategy is like your bait, and the area of the ocean that is plentiful is the marketing channel.
When al those three factors work in sync you hook your leads in and then nurture them into paying customers. So, the question is, where do you fish?
Search Engine Optimization Starts The Types Of Online Marketing Channels
Search engine optimization, SEO, is a marketing channel that revolves around your website and the content you publish. I am sure that you are familiar with the likes of Google & Bing which are search engines.
Basically, they are informational resource hubs for any imaginable topic that comes to mind. They are indexes for billions of pieces of content which are hosted on websites. Those content pieces reflect specific topics that people are interested in.
Therefore, when someone goes onto one of the search engines, they enter a specific phrase. This is a keyword and when you use SEO as one of your types of digital marketing channels you have the potential to show up in the search results.
The content you publish on your pages and within your posts must be keyword rich and relevant to the keyword. To conduct keyword research, you can leverage resources such as Keywords Everywhere, Answer The Public, YouTube, and the Google Keyword Planner. There are other paid and more advanced software applications online so simply do some research on these.
Content Marketing As An Online Marketing Channel
It is a misconception that content marketing is solely blogging, as powerful as that is. Blogging is just one aspect as content creation along with videos that you may upload to YouTube.
Anything you create is content and it can be used in many ways and there are many platforms that you can leverage. Your authority website is one, as is YouTube and your social media platforms.
The most powerful thing about content marketing is the purpose behind the content idea. Everything must have purpose otherwise the content does not have the desired effect.
Much of the content you create will be to make the public aware of who you are and what you do. Then you want people to engage with your content so that your objective is achieved.
That objective is to gain commitment from the public. That commitment will be to share their contact details with you, therefore becoming a lead. Then it is about creating relationships with those leads and converting them to paying customers.
You must be clear on your purpose and then create the content around that purpose. This is more of a strategy that you use on different types of online marketing channels.
Content creation is something that I cover in depth with my Build Your AU training programs. To learn more about the Build Your AU process click here.
Video Marketing Channels
This is my favourite marketing channel, and I am close to 600 videos over on my YouTube channel. To get notified when I release new video content please click here to subscribe to receive the most up to date online marketing training.
Video marketing is both entertaining and interactive. It creates a lot of engagement with your viewers and they get to see the real you. I speak a lot about authenticity, and this is where you show your true authentic side. They say the camera never lies and when you are on camera there is no hiding place.
When it comes to video marketing especially on YouTube you can attract customers for free or pay for advertising. I utilize both formats and shoot regular content which I upload to my channel. This helps to create engagement and form a connection between myself and my viewer.
The other strategy is to place paid advertisements on YouTube. The strategy here is to attract leads and generate sales so the messaging is different to the videos I upload to my channel.
Also paid advertising with YouTube is very targeted meaning only people interested in my content will see it. This qualifies the viewer on a deeper level, so they are more likely to take action.
Social Media Marketing
It is very hard to get away from social media when you are online. Most websites have social sharing buttons on their pages and within their content. As a business owner you must leverage social media in the same way.
Social media has come a long way from it’s inception. Originally it was for people to connect with their family and friends, hence the title. Over the last 10 – 15 years though it has been a platform where businesses can connect with potential leads and customers.
Most people who have access to the internet have social media profiles. That equates to billions of social media users every month. The social media platforms have generated their audiences through their users so you can leverage that.
Like YouTube there is two sides to social media when it comes to marketing your products and services. You can do it for free through the content you create and publish which is designed to create awareness and engagement.
Think of it as starting a conversation that naturally evolves through people liking and sharing your content. It creates a viral effect, a virtual word of mouth endorsement.
Then you have the paid aspect to social media where you can place ads and pay when people click on them. Like with YouTube your message will be more direct than a normal post because you are looking for an outcome. That outcome is to generate leads or sales for your business.
Pay Per Click (PPC)
Now I have mentioned paid marketing strategies on different types of online marketing channels already. There are others though such as Google, Bing as regard to search engines.
Also, there are marketing solutions online that offer banner, interstitial and contextual advertising. Here you can advertise your product offer links within banners and specific words within website copy. Also pop up pages can appear on pages that are relevant to your products and services.
What I will say about any PPC advertising is that you must understand what you are doing. You must learn the processes, protocols, and strategies to make your campaigns effective. If you don’t then you can spend a lot of money without seeing a good return on investment.
Affiliate Marketing Is Also One Of The Types Of Online Marketing Channels
As with anything there are two sides to the story and affiliate marketing is no different. The first side is when you are an affiliate for third party vendors and receive a commission when you generate a sale. For the purpose of today’s post, I want to focus on the other side.
That side is you being the product vendor and recruiting affiliates to promote your products and services. This may be a bit further down the track, but it is something to keep in mind.
When you have affiliates working for you, they are the ones who are doing the majority of your marketing. As a marketer yourself you are limited on time, budget, and other resources. You still do it but the exposure you generate relies on your campaigns.
If you have an army of affiliates, they are your salesforce. Each one is promoting your products and services in their own campaigns. Suddenly there are more marketing campaigns online so the potential for growth is increased.
Yes, you must give them a commission when they generate a sale, but you have not incurred any marketing costs. That falls solely at the feet of your affiliates.
All of these types of online marketing channels are covered extensively within my Build Your AU programs. If you would like to learn more about Build Your AU, please click the button below and register for a free video series.
You must leverage different types of online marketing channels to grow your audience and generate revenue for your business. I wish you every success when exploring these channels and let me know how you get on in the comment box below.
Helping you build your authenticity, authority and audience.
Trish Davies
Build Your AU
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