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How To Develop A Digital-Led Marketing Mix For Enterprise Brands

YEC

By Matt Bertram, Head of Strategy at EWR Digital & Co-Host of "The Unknown Secrets of Internet Marketing Podcast." 

Modern enterprise companies, such as those in the Web3 and blockchain space, understand how to leverage the latest digital marketing tactics to engage with their target audiences. 

This is where digital leads all marketing, although many wise marketers understand how to leverage traditional platforms such as print and TV ads for added traction. In contrast, most traditional enterprises built their marketing before the fast-moving digital marketing era and depend only on traditional platforms. And many have yet to create a digital-led marketing mix.

Utilizing different mediums such as SEO and paid digital advertising complement traditional mediums such as TV, radio and print. This provides a multiplier effect to marketing efforts, creating additional lift and saving money on the high costs of traditional marketing (ever price a TV ad?). The goal is to create a digital-first holistic marketing strategy that connects where your customers spend their time. 

Ready to learn how to build a solid digital-led omnichannel marketing mix? Let’s dive in. 

Why Is Omnichannel Marketing Effective?

According to one report, the conversion rate for mixed marketing campaigns performs 287% higher than single-channel campaigns. Implementing a marketing mix into your customer experience is no longer an option. 

When customers can interact with your brand anywhere and anytime to learn about those fundamentals, you can: 

• Provide a positive experience through every stage of your funnel.

• Reduce overall churn.

• Turn prospects into loyal customers.

Digital Marketing Channels

The core of your marketing mix should be a website infrastructure that supports both digital paid ads and search engine optimization (SEO). With over 3.5 billion Google searches per day, the majority of your target audience is likely already searching for services similar to yours. 

Firstly, it’s crucial to have a website that has a clean user interface that loads fast and creates a good customer experience. Additionally, how the site is built helps explain your important keywords to Google. Changes are constantly needed to improve conversion rate optimization (CRO), so having a good tech team in place is paramount for success. 

You’ll want to focus on a few key digital channels, such as:

• Content marketing.

• Paid and organic social media.

• Google Business Profile (depending on your business model).

• Email automation. 

• Native ad platforms.

The goal is that all your channels work together in tandem to connect and engage with your target audience. However, which channels you ultimately choose depends on your products, budget and resources.

Traditional Marketing Channels

While you may be stuck in traditional marketing mixes that you know work, or be tempted to jump on the bandwagon with every new digital channel to reduce costs, it’s still important to prioritize traditional channels in your marketing mix. They support your digital tactics and ensure that you can holistically reach prospects regardless of their funnel stage.

Think about this scenario: Someone searches for your company's product or service, and your website is ranking on the top first page. The user clicks on your website and visits a few pages. 

From there, they’re served Google, Facebook and YouTube remarketing ads, see a commercial on their streaming service and finally see an ad in their favorite magazine. You’re staying in the forefront of the customer’s mind —building brand awareness and authority until conversion.

Here are a few traditional channels to increase targeting and tracking.

• Television (OTT And CTV): Target particular geographic broadcasts through advanced TV or popular streaming services like Hulu with story-telling ads. Beware that TV ads are typically the most expensive.

• Radio (Satellite Or Streaming): While radio has less-advanced targeting, it’s more affordable if you want to promote your brand to the niche audience of a local radio personality. Consider Pandora or Spotify.

• Print: Print is not dead! How the world consumes information has changed. Branded publications now have a higher share of attention, allowing you to reach a niche audience with higher purchase intent. Many well-known print publications also offer digital extensions to make the most of your budget.

Selecting The Proper Marketing Channels For Your Business

Unfortunately, there isn’t an exact formula for selecting your enterprise's proper marketing channels. The best way to get started is to consider key goals around your products and brand and where that falls in your marketing funnel. Do you want to build top of the funnel brand awareness? Increase conversion and sales at the bottom of the funnel? Your answers should sway your strategy and channel choice.

To help you get started, consider these additional ways to select the right marketing mix.

• Who are your customers? Create buyer personas to understand your target audience’s wants, needs and preferences as well as what platforms they interact with most often.

• What is your budget, and how large of an audience are you trying to reach? This will help you prioritize channels that typically drive the most ROI and dictate campaign frequency. 

• What is the KPI you're tracking? Your channels will depend on how accurately you want to track results. Are you looking just to increase brand exposure and share of voice, or are you looking to track in-store conversions? All will influence how you allocate your marketing funds.

With these answers in mind, you can start building out a proper customer journey and use your marketing mix strategy to connect with your audience on their terms and platforms. Once you start running campaigns, it’s crucial to monitor for KPIs and optimize your channels and campaigns as you go to get the most out of your budget. 

Drive Growth With The Perfect Marketing Mix

If you’re looking to amplify your marketing strategy and get added uplift, it’s essential to look beyond just one or two channels. As the buyer journey evolves with new customer behaviors, businesses need to meet their audiences on their preferred platforms to drive more conversions and boost ROI. 

To get started, don’t be afraid to try out a few channels and test how they perform before making final decisions. And, remember: Customer behavior should dictate marketing strategy.