I wanted to simplify the whole subject of picking marketing channels.
The choice really comes down to a small number of key factors:
1. Repetition. Only pick channels where you can afford enough repetition to get noticed. This is why television commercials are a bad idea for most small businesses.
2. Targeting. The more targeted a marketing channel is, to the market segment (particular people) you are trying to reach, the more cost effective it will usually be. The right trade show can get you almost 100% targeting – everyone attending is a prospective customer.
But if you’re selling products aimed at deaf senior citizens, running a newspaper ad, you are paying for every copy of that newspaper that’s going to someone who isn’t deaf and isn’t a senior.
3. Believability. Some marketing channels aren’t going to be useful because the target market just won’t believe a message coming to them in that fashion.
This isn’t always what you would expect. We found for example that door hangers were a believable channel for delivering a message about non-traditional treatments for allergies.
Whereas ads in a Podiatry magazine were NOT a believable channel for a message about a new product for foot doctors. Their consideration was “it’s just an ad.”
4. Reach. It doesn’t matter how many theoretical impressions you get if the people you are trying to reach aren’t going to see them. You can mail postcards to Podiatrists till you go bankrupt. Which you will, because by survey, Podiatrists receptionists all have instructions to throw away all “junk mail.”
Now that’s easy isn’t it?
Follow these four points and you’ll be MUCH more likely to come up with an effective way to market your products or services.