The Effectiveness of Digital Channels

The effectiveness of digital channels for companies has become more and more necessary and relevant. They allow companies to address and interact with consumer’s head on, sell products, stay updated on the business world from a competitive perspective and allow them the opportunity to gain and/or sustain their competitive advantage.



There are many digital channels out there especially if you interpret the word in its entirety. These channels could mean social media, email, mobile apps, display ads and much more than your attention span could absorb while reading this. Strategy is as big a deal as knowing the channels that are available and utilizing them. These channels can grow, sustain or not affect your business at all but that depends on you. The digital channels I choose are ones that I find effective for myself as a consumer which in turn gives me insight on how to utilize these same channels from a business standpoint.



Three digital channels that catch my attention are: email/newsletter, social media and advertising. My short definition for the reasons I chose these channels is as follows: you keep in touch with consumers through email, you reach out to them with social media and you bring them in and/or keep them with advertising.



I believe these channels are effective because they are more direct methods of getting to their core consumers. For instance, I love Papa John's pizza so when I receive a text or email about a special offer the chances of me going to their website and ordering something is very high. So not only am I satisfied with the product, I also put myself in a position to feel special enough for that company to contact me when they are doing special promotions. I think the psychological effect that occurs from the marketing strategy of a company is the magic that is marketing.



Tips:

1.) A good tip for a marketer to understand is the “psychology” involved that I mentioned before. Consumers hate ads but they love to be targeted in the sense that they are getting special offers or immediate updates and information on the companies/products they love.

2.) Another tip is that you should know how you can best reach a consumer and this to me is why social media is important and effective because most of our time throughout the day is spent on social media sites.

3.) The last and most important tip for any company is to formulate an objective for your marketing strategy to align with. Who are you trying to reach? What are you offering once you reach them? How will you keep their attention?



The best marketers are consumers because we know what we want. I think when a company can turn away from the bottom line and put themselves in consumer’s shoes I believe they can cook up a great and effective marketing strategy very easily.