What does
Multi-Channel Communications Mean?
There are a lot of marketing and advertising agencies out there who only deal with one media channel. Be it digital, broadcast or experiential, that’s all they do. And when you come to them with a marketing challenge, they immediately know the answer – a digital campaign, a series of television commercials or a live event tour. That kind of thinking is not only short-sighted, it’s just plain wrong.
The idea behind Multi-Channel Communications is simple: Look at the marketing challenge, the target audience and the current marketplace before deciding which medium to use. Perhaps the target audience is older and does not consume much digital media. Or maybe the ideal marketplace is a busy metropolitan city where advertising on mass transit trains and subways brings tremendous ROI. Or, more likely than not, the best solution may be to create a campaign that spans across multiple communication channels. There are a lot of things to consider and questions to answer long before the media channel is chosen.
Why is it important to advertise in multiple channels?
Think about your stock portfolio or 401k. Do you have everything tied into one category? No. You diversify. Advertising in multiple channels works along the same principle, but for slightly different reasons. Sure, like finance, if you have all your marketing eggs in the digital basket and there’s another dot com crash, you’re in trouble. Unlikely, but possible. The real reason you want to advertise in multiple media channels is to capture more mind share. When you understand the marketing challenge, your target audience and the marketplace, you can identify where you should focus your brand messaging. It’s not about being everywhere, but it is about being everywhere your potential clients and customers are. Once you know where they are, you can focus your marketing efforts on those media channels and have a much greater chance of success.
How does Test Pilot choose the right marketing channels?
There is no magic formula to how to choose the right media in which to advertise. But there are a few things to consider and questions to answer that help guide us:
What is the marketing strategy? Have clear goals been established?
Who is the target audience and what media channels to they consume?
What channels give us the best opportunity to get our client’s message across in the most clear, impactful way?
Where is the competition advertising?
What is the most effective media mix for the budget?
Can we measure the success of each channel?
Do the channels align with the brand? Do they enhance the brand message or detract from it?
At Test Pilot, we create compelling, relevant marketing and advertising that elevates a brand to heights they never before imagined. And we can only do it by having the knowledge and ability to think across multiple marketing channels. This media-neutral approach enables our advertising agency to create brand messaging that utilizes the full potential of each channel to deliver the brand message to the right audience, in the right place, at the right time.
