[How to find the right marketing channel that’ll work for you]
In the world where almost every app, website, and even internet browsers are tracking our digital footprint, more than ever before, we have the ability to place our adverts in front of any customer. But increasingly, I’ve seen this act as a double edged sword for founders and their startup, they end up buying all types of advertising, retargeting tools, across multiple platforms and channels, burning through their marketing budget without really moving the needle. This got me thinking, what’s the best practice in selecting the right marketing channel, especially with a constrained budget?
#Back_to_basics:
We start with the customer journey, what hurdles does your customer need to overcome in order to purchase your product. Can this decision be made by the customer alone? Or do they have to discuss this with their significant other? maybe a parent? or their manager? or even the CEO. Understanding the decision process and parties involved, lets you narrow down the audience segment and how to target them. You want to have marketing strategies for both your customer and the decision makers, selling to engineers and selling to CEOs are equally important but they are very different. The fundamental difference lies between:
#Eyeballs:
Your customer will most likely have a very different digital footprint compared to the decision maker. Just like a parent doesn’t watch as much Youtube as their kids, neither will a CEO compare to the average engineer. So if your customer’s decision marker hasn't heard about you, the hurdle you’ll need to overcome is much higher.
There is a high chance their digital footprint falls into the biggest websites in the world, like Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, and local forums like Dcard/Reddit. So as these websites invest millions of dollars in R&D to compete for screen time, the only way to increase your exposure is to find the touch points they engage with on these platforms. Which brings me to my last point:
#Influencers_KOLs_Entertainers:
As the entertainment industry follows the retail industry’s footsteps in decentralization, we become less influenced by mainstream media and top down commercials. Customers now have direct and uninterrupted access to influencers, opinion leaders, and entertainers, who they resonate with on a much deeper level. Whether it is their taste in food, music, fashion, or personal values. I’m very bullish on influencers, KOLs, and the future of social commerce. Although it is a very fragmented space, but with diligent testing and supervision, I have seen startups successfully operate influencers and KOLs as a positive ROAS channel.
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by Jack An
Analyst at AppWorks
