3 ways to select the right channel for your message
Walker Sands’ vice president of marketing shows that to effectively reach your audience in 2020, you must meet them where they are.
As people continue to stay at home during COVID-19, they’re connecting and consuming information online in new ways—and more of it.
However, as organizations struggle to grab attention as well as respond to historical crises and changing consumer behavior, audiences are served more content—which is quickly leading to an even more crowded digital media landscape.
How can you effectively select the channels to send your messages, ensuring they’re delivered to the right audience? Courtney Beasley, vice president of marketing for Walker Sands, says communicators must reach people where they are.
In her presentation at Ragan’s Social Media Bootcamp, “The data has it: How the rise of WFH has impacted the buyer journey,” Beasley outlined three ways you can select the right channel for your messages and campaigns:
Image courtesy of Walker Sands.
Though “ask,” “listen” and “research” might sound easy, they require communicators to adjust their strategies to meet their audiences’ shifting behaviors.
Gone are the days of creating marketing personas based on limited data. Today, PR and marketing pros should use these guideposts to develop their connections with intended audiences, asking questions designed to better understand their wants, needs and values.
Communicators must not only listen to the answers (and avoid the temptation to only highlight what fits their assumptions), but also to conversations across digital media channels and social media platforms. Beasley points out that “LinkedIn is a goldmine for B2B [organizations].”
Finally, do your research, using the insights you’ve already gained.
Are there new channels or features on existing platforms that cater to your target audience? Where are they migrating and spending their time? Doing your due diligence on platform and channel research is especially crucial for digital marketing and social media campaigns, to ensure you’re not wasting resources on a platform that won’t help you meet crucial business goals.
You can learn more about how WFH has changed consumers’ purchasing journeys in our Ragan Training library.
I enjoyed reading about how social media and marketing experts suggest brands optimize their social channels in order to better craft messages that reach and connect with audiences. COVID-19 has forced everyone into their homes, and, as a result, made it imperative for brands to leverage social media in order to maintain consumer relationships, as well as foster new ones. These tips were very insightful and easy to follow, great read!
– Emie Garrett, writer/editor for Platform Magazine