From taking advantage of AI functionality to the captivating power of opinion pieces, here are the 13 answers to the question, “What are the best marketing channels that businesses should double down on in 2023 and why?”
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- AI Marketing
- Email Marketing
- SEO
- Cold Emailing
- Multimedia Content
- Your Primary Website
- TikTok
- YouTube
- Social Media
- Events
- Op-Ed Pieces
AI Marketing
We’ve seen artificial intelligence develop in 2022, but it’s time to double down on AI marketing. Automation is not only the future, but it provides precise marketing tactics based on data gathered from consumer behavior.
By automating customer service, feedback, and other forms of marketing, you can build loyalty and satisfaction. You’ll improve the entire customer experience and better target your consumers.
Jenna Nye, CEO, On the Strip
Email Marketing
Many small businesses and nonprofits overlook and underestimate the power of email marketing.
While it’s useful in building your databases through website sign-ups and direct engagements, it is also an effective way to spread company news or new product announcements—and to re-engage disengaged audiences by establishing yourself as an authoritative thought leader in your field.
Yet, some businesses overuse email marketing to where the message—if there even is one—gets lost.
Companies that have a logical point of view, an interesting brand voice, and a rational purpose behind each communication they send see much better engagement with their audiences. And when engagement numbers rise, business metrics follow suit!
Isaac Kiehl, Marketing Director & Owner, Digital Sunrise
SEO
Businesses often pull back on marketing spending during a recession. The threat to cash flow pushes leadership to reduce costs. Unfortunately, this puts marketing on the chopping block because of the mistaken belief that leadership has to choose between retention vs. marketing.
SEO takes time to see results, around 6 – 12 months or longer (depending on the size of your business). Most recessions last around the same time. This means that if you stop SEO now and start back up when the market opens up, you’ll have to wait even longer to see results.
With competitors dialing back on marketing efforts, it is best to invest in SEO now. You’ll have a lot less competition and can establish lasting revenue streams.
James De Roche, Managing Partner, Lead Comet
Cold Emailing
Cold emailing is the practice of sending unsolicited emails to prospective customers or clients to generate leads or make sales. Businesses expanding their customer base or reaching new audiences often try this tactic.
A cold email campaign is a great way to generate leads, but it can also be seen as spammy or intrusive if not done properly. For cold emailing to be effective, it is important to ensure that the emails are personalized, relevant, and well-written and that they follow best practices for email marketing.
John Martyn, Lead Content Strategist, BrightestMinds
Multimedia Content
Content that is consistent with the brand and persistent in its frequency provides the opportunity to reach prospects before the competition—this also applies to attracting top talent.
Everyone learns differently, so invest time in producing and publishing content in a variety of formats, including video, long-form articles and short graphical/bullet points. Leveraging multimedia enables the biggest impact on the greatest number of people. And, before publishing content, ask yourself, “would I take action if I received this content and was looking for this type of solution?”
The more you appear, providing relevant, useful content, the quicker customers will see and remember you as an authority and trusted resource.
Suzan Marie Chin-Taylor, CEO, Creative Raven & The TUIT Group
Google has the vast majority of internet traffic and market share. The Google Display network holds 90% of all internet users on the planet, 65% of whom they reach daily.
To put it into perspective, Facebook fits entirely into YouTube, and YouTube fits into Google three times. I recommend focusing on Google, especially since it has Performance Max, which is AI-driven marketing and the most powerful mechanism ever created.
Kasim Aslam, Founder & CEO, Solutions 8
Your Primary Website
We often neglect brand websites in favor of the next shiny social channel or network. However, a brand’s website is truly the only experience in the digital space where marketers can control the user experience.
Increasingly, we are seeing brands, B2C & B2B alike, shifting their efforts away from performance-based marketing and toward brand-led marketing. A website is one of the first places that directs users to discover and engage. That impression will make or break their digital brand experience.
From a functional standpoint, your website drives search and editorial planning needs, and with the massive changes to data privacy, it is becoming one of the few reliable places to build first party data to continuously learn about your visitors and consumers.
Jason Miller, Vice President, Integrated Marketing Strategy, Heart & Soul Marketing
TikTok
According to Pew Research, almost 1/3 of TikTok users in the US are over the age of 40. That means a lot of businesses are on the platform, and it means that your customers are there too. Here are the tips for business success on TikTok:
- Get Started with a Business Account: With a business account, you will have access to analytics to help you see what’s working on your profile.
- Best Practices for Your Videos: (1) For short-form video, 23 seconds is the max length. (2) Use keywords for the text-on-video pop-ups. (3) Use Captions in your video.
- Use Paid Ads: Paid Ads expand your audience, increase brand awareness and can get you more clients.
Louie Bischoff, Owner & Founder, Next Right Thing Marketing Solutions
YouTube
Recent data shows that a whopping 90% of consumers use video to make buying decisions. Plus, you become much more real to your audience, and that means forging deeper connections.
Consider using YouTube as a starting place with pre-recorded videos. As you get more comfortable, go live! Using a tool like StreamYard, you can live stream from YouTube right into LinkedIn, so you show up in two places at once! Then repurpose segments of your videos as short quotes and video clips for even greater reach. Try it! It’s definitely worth expanding your comfort zone.
Tina Lorenz, Founder and Mentor
One of the most impactful marketing channels I’ve used has been LinkedIn.
Properly building a business brand on LinkedIn has the potential to drastically change your success. Three top tips for using LinkedIn:
- Build community, grow your audience. This extends your reach further and creates value for your customers.
- Company Newsletter through LinkedIn. This is the only avenue that will notify everyone who is subscribed straight to their notifications page at the top. It can not be missed. This is one of the most under-used sources with the highest impact.
- Post content that is educational about your industry. Content is not just sharing your services/products and/or wins.
If you’re not building a personal or company brand on LinkedIn, you’re definitely missing an abundance of opportunities.
Corina Burton, Founder & Owner, Unstoppable Media/CPR Construction Cleaning
Social Media
Be memorable by using one of the top three strategies for engagement:
- Trigger an emotion
- Make them laugh
- Teach them something
Keep your content relevant to what your customers are living on a day-to-day basis. Additionally, incorporate your brand as a solution to make their lives better. Get creative and, most of all, be authentic rather than egocentric.
Remember the “what’s in it for me” concept. The common mindset on social media is “If you are not showing me things that are interesting to me, why should I pay attention to you?”
Social media is not the place for overproduced commercials or graphic design pieces.
Maria Lipp, Founder, Spotlight Media Services
Events
Businesses must move from just targeting people in marketing efforts to actually involving them in something.
People are desperately seeking connections to who and what matters most to them. Meaningful events are a great way to build an inclusive experience with customers, employees, shareholders, and the community.
The functional benefits of quality, convenience, and price still matter, but personal and collective benefits enhance our well-being, and people want more of them. Meaningful events provide an opportunity to communicate how your business will go the extra mile.
Stacy Bayless, Owner, Tandem Uncommon
Op-Ed Pieces
I often ghostwrite opinion pieces for CEOs and help them get their stories published. It is an amazing way to share insights about the industry you are working in and provide valuable information that can help put your corporation on the map, as well as provide credibility.
Writing is an art, and in this competitive atmosphere, you have maybe three seconds to attract a person’s attention. One of the best ways to convey a message is through storytelling. I find the more personal, and the more interesting, the better.
Two years ago, I wrote a personal story for the Wall Street Journal opinion section. When asked what my favorite story was, I mentioned the one about my son’s friendship with the recycling man.
A perfect stranger turned to me and said, ” Wow! I read it, and it stuck with me. What a beautiful story.”
Masada Siegel, Master Storyteller
