Blog
Thinking
Channel-Strategy: Taming the demon
by
Fenya Lazar
April 13, 2023
The average person sees 5,000–10,000 adverts a day1. Let that sink in…
With that being said, how does the rule ‘a person needs to see a message seven times for it to stick’ fit in? Surely we would all be towing the company-line by now.
While in marketing we are all continuing to jump on the omnichannel/multi-channel/multi-verse three-part movie, are we losing our brand integrity and messaging to our hyper-channel strategies?
For example, social media has become a power channel over the years, but it’s also been the downfall of many brands and campaigns. It’s usually attributed to shiny object syndrome, wanting to be part of something new and exciting. However, we need to remain grounded while we make our way through Aladdin’s cave, holding onto our purpose.
There are four very common pitfalls that can trip up even the most seasoned channel strategy. These could be seen as common sense, but when you are heads down at hyper speed on a campaign and desperately looking to increase engagement, these are the first things to fly out the window.
Audience
This is where customer segmentation is key. Understanding your customer profiles means you can know where, how and even the juicy why (if you have behavioural insights). If your customer is a 70-year-old, why would you put 80% of your budget to a channel that caters for 18–35-year-olds? Understanding their day, what types of materials and channels they use, means you are able to be very specific in the channels you need.
When we open our channel-strategy and we don’t see social media, that’s okay! As long as our audience drives this rationale.
Content
So, is your messaging factual in tone or is it light-hearted? Does your content type match your channel type? Every channel has very different content structure, so understanding your campaign foundations is important to avoid spending time (and budget) where it’s not going to perform well.
TikTok’s content is grounded in humour, random, challenges. Does your brand fit with this style of content? This channel’s content is rapid and based on trends, can you turn around content fast/jump on trends? If not, this isn’t the place for you. Put down the shiny object and walk away.
Learn and adapt
Metrics as I live and breathe. Not everything you do will be an outstanding success. Actually, sometimes things will land flat. However, if you have measurement in place, especially for campaigns running over a long period of time, you can catch the fall early on and pull out the parachute. Or even better yet, turn the boat around to adapt.
Only 25% of your audience watched over 1-minute of your video; it is too long. You aren’t getting the desired viewers on your website; check your SEO. These simple turning points can be driven by metrics, saving you time and budget in the long run.
There is no golden rule to success
Finally, something that works well for one brand isn’t going to work well for another. That flashy new tech or social media channel may not be the holy grail you have been looking for to add to your channel strategy. I think we don’t say it enough, there’s no formula to make everything a success, and it’s okay to cut your losses for stuff that isn’t working, rather than pumping more budget into it.
However, if you set up the foundations for your brand or campaign and keep true to your audience and message, you maximise the chance of success.
By Fenya Lazar, Account Director