Multi-Channel Marketing

Posted on November 8, 2007 - Filed Under Integrated Marketing

When I first started getting serious about my blog, the two audiences I wanted to target were a) bloggers who wanted to be successful (and this can be from making money or building their personal brand online) and b) home business entrepreneurs who wanted to know how to use blogging to market their business. The simple reason why I chose these two audiences are because they are the people I have most to offer to from my years of experience in online and B2B marketing and branding. The latter audience has not been well addressed, and from my recent readings and interactions with online bloggers, have decided to write a post on what I feel is a much needed post on Multi-Channel Marketing.

What is Multi-Channel Marketing?

It is simply the use of various channels to market a product, service or brand. While this concept is not revolutionary, it can do wonders for your blog business if you know how to execute this with a good integrated marketing strategy. A good example of a multi-channel marketer is Aaron Wall of seobook.com. He is primarily an SEO consultant, and how he has managed to differentiate from his peers is his ability to use various mediums to promote himself. He has written a book, put up an online blog to market himself and his book, speaks at various events, and is even found in YouTube.

You may say - hang on, I’m only interested in building a blog business and not a business business. My reply to you is - any business is interested in making money, and whether you intend to earn money online or through real life transactions, the principles remain the same. Aaron Wall is just creating different ways for his target audience to find him through various mediums. If you think about this concept alone, the opportunities become a lot broader. There are not many people who are multi-talented like him, but you don’t necessarily need to be an Aaron Wall to be successful.

The blogosphere is becoming increasingly competitive, and niche markets are fast disappearing. Stand out from your competitors by creating more ways for your audience to find you. A list bloggers are fast catching on to this concept and if you look at their success, they will either have done a few things like writing a book (or ebook), be involved in affiliate marketing, started podcasts (shoemoney), uploaded videos to YouTube, spoken at conferences, or marketed their own brand of paraphernalia. Apart from generating revenue, these are additional channels they are using to build their brand. That is why multi-channel marketing has always made it easier to market a product or service in a very short time, compared to if you are using a single channel for telling people about yourself.

How Do I Know Which Channels to Use?

This depends on two factors: the nature of your blog / business, and your personality. Both are equally important. If your blog is on innovation and ideas like Skellie, I would recommend that you write a book. Not an eBook, but a book that people can find at bookstores under Self Improvement or motivational books. Skellie already has enough comments on her blog to know what her audience like about her blog, and what they are looking for. She is a great marketer because she has great instinct on what readers want. In fact, as her blog builds, she can simply take the posts that received the highest number of comments, compile them and publish them into a book.

If you are an aromatherapist, you are headed in the right direction if you have a blog about your products and services. Start a podcast channel and hold annual sales for essential oils. Think about where most of your (potential) customers are best reached through a channel. Also, look into developing a newsletter for your business if you are selling a service. While newsletters are not a marketing channel, they are a great tool for developing customer loyalty and spreading the word for your business cheaply.

The key is to ask yourself this question “How can my customers find me?” - and I mean target customers waiting to be converted and not the mass media. Think about the various channels they can be reached, and where your strengths are. If you are a great people person and good at establishing relationships, start a newsletter and give a referral reward program, like 10% discount for everyone 5 customers recommended. If you are photogenic and talk well, start podcasting or submit videos to YouTube (learn how you can create viral videos from Charles Trippy). If you are good at writing, start an online blog, write a book, contribute articles as an expert in your field to other blogs or eZines. The list goes on.

Running Your Blog Business the SMART Way

Regardless of which marketing channels you are looking at, always remember to do it the SMART way: make your goals Specific, Measurable, Action oriented, Realistic and Timebound. This is something any marketer or self made business person will tell you, but which I am repeating here because they are so basic. Given the nature of the blogosphere, many bloggers rush into setting up their own blog business without taking the time to plan. Darren Rowse of Problogger has cautioned bloggers about quitting their jobs to start making money through blogging without having a plan.

Make your plan specific. Which target audience will you be addressing? Which channels do you want to use to reach them? What is their demographics? What are the topics that they will want to hear about?

Make your goals measurable. How will you know whether you have succeeded if you do not have measurable goals? Plan how many viewers you want to attract to your blog monthly, and target how much you need to earn from it in order to sustain the business.

Be Action Oriented. Once you have started your blog, don’t wait for your customers to find you. Seek them out and hunt them down via your unique strategy, through various marketing channels, and reach out to fellow bloggers for help and advice. Now is not the time to be shy or to let embarrassment hold you back. Take the initiative and be the first to generate new ideas in your field / business.

Be Realistic in your goals. While there have been bloggers who have seen meteoric rises in subscribers and revenue over a very short time, they are more the rarity than the norm. All A list bloggers took time and a lot of hard work before they attained the success they enjoy today. John Chow took about 2-3 years, Shoemoney about 2-3 years as well, and massive sites like problogger has been around for 5 years. As nice as the idea of becoming rich from your blog is, it doesn’t happen overnight.

Make your goals Timebound. The greatest enemy of procrastination is a good time schedule. Give yourself a time frame to achieving goals or milestones you have set for yourself. Having a timeline will let you know if you have been too ambitious in your goals and if you need to adjust your plan and resources a little. It also motivates you to action with a deadline, and helps you develop an integrated marketing plan.

There you have it. If you have been running your blog for some time and are looking to expand your reach or business, multi-channel marketing is a great way of adding to your brand and readership. Similarly if your blog is not growing at a desired rate, go back to the drawing board and think what other channels you can use to build readership to achieve the goals you have set up for yourself.

I would love to hear your comments on what channels you are using and how that has worked for you (or not).

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