Top Online Marketing Channels | 10 Online Marketing Channels You Should Be Using

Nowadays, being ‘digital’ is not a luxury—it’s a necessity. As consumers, we are all aware that traditional marketing is becoming increasingly obsolete. In 2020 alone, digital marketing is expected to grow 21% year from 2020 to 2025.

While most businesses are still figuring out how to effectively use social media and digital marketing to grow their business, the internet has provided a wealth of resources for consumers to discover products and services that fit their needs and budgets. This has opened up a whole new world of possibilities for marketers looking to stay ahead of the curve.

1. Email

Email marketing is one of the most effective and affordable ways to reach out to potential customers and keep them interested in your product or service. The key to effective email marketing is to segment your list of subscribers based on their interests, and then target them with relevant content.

You can do this by utilizing a tool like HubSpot’s Interest-Based Organizing, which suggests segmenting your email list based on user behavior. For example, you can use the tool to group together people who have visited your site the most (i.e. top tier subscribers), or those who have purchased a specific product or service (i.e. bottom tier subscribers).

Based on their interests, you can then blast them with relevant content such as;

Newsletters relating to your industry
White papers relating to the product/service they’re subscribing to
Webinars relating to the topics they are interested in
Announcements of new products/services your company offers
Promotions for upcoming events or products your company is promoting
And the list goes on

The benefit of segmenting your email list is that you can send more targeted and relevant messages to your subscribers. This results in an increase in engagement and interest in your product or service, as well as boosts sales.

One of the most effective ways to increase engagement and interest in your product or service is to regularly communicate with your audience. However, you need to make sure that the content that you are sending is of quality and is relevant to your target audience. Fortunately, this is easy to do with email marketing.

2. Blogging

Blogging is a fantastic way to create content that is both targeted and relevant to your audience. When done right, blogging can provide you with immense value, all while being a relatively affordable way to grow your audience.

The key to effective blogging is to create content that is helpful to your target audience rather than just pitching your product or service. This means that you should be including tips on how to use your product, or providing information on the subject matter that your audience is searching for.

You can start a blog for free using a tool like WordPress.com. You can then use a tool like Google Adsense to earn revenue from displaying ads on your site. You can also use WordPress.com to create landing pages for your website, which can be used to attract potential customers.

The benefit of creating a blog for your product or service is that you can then use various channels to engage with your audience. This can include using;

Events to engage with your audience (i.e. ‘brandspeak’ event in Sydney)
Q&A sessions with subject matter experts
Case studies relating to the products/services you’re promoting
And the list goes on

The above channels offer you the ability to both inform and entertain your audience, which can result in a much greater engagement rate. This is why blogging is such a popular channel, especially among younger consumers. It’s also a fantastic fit for B2C brands, as it allows you to create engaging content without the need for a sales pitch.

3. Podcasting

Podcasting is experiencing a bit of a ‘renaissance’ in terms of usage and popularity. This is largely thanks to services like Spotify, which have made it easy for people to discover and listen to podcasts within their apps. It’s also due to the fact that podcasting allows you to create and share content at any time. This means that you can add value to your audience wherever they are, rather than solely relying on a few platform-specific promotions.

The benefit of podcasting is that it’s a versatile channel that you can use to inform and entertain your audience. You can also use a tool like Stitcher to discover podcasts based on an interest area or subject matter.

This area of the internet is also home to numerous vloggers, or ‘video bloggers’, who regularly upload videos relating to current events, product reviews and general lifestyle content. Vlogging is a type of blogging where you are expected to constantly be informative and entertaining, rather than simply informative.

4. Online Shopping

Last but not least, let’s not forget about online shopping, which is experiencing a bit of a ‘boom’ at the moment. Thanks to firms like Shopbop, which have created a safe and secure space for people to research and purchase clothes online. Thanks to QR codes and digital wallets, scanning a product’s QR code or using an app like Shopbop’s Verified Purchase allow customers to make fast and easy purchases, without having to type in their credit card numbers.

If you’re a small business owner looking to make some fast and easy sales, or a marketer looking to attract potential customers to your website, online shopping is a great place to start.

It’s also a really versatile channel, as customers can purchase almost anything from a car to household goods online. The key is to make sure that your website is secure and easy to use, as customers will often choose to avoid shopping on websites that are difficult to navigate or contain lots of spelling errors.

Which channel do you use to reach your audience?

As you can see above, there are a plethora of channels available to marketers today, with some being more effective than others. It depends on your specific goals and the type of content you want to create. Do you want to create engaging content that will allow you to grow your audience? Or do you want to gain some sales?