The Three Channels Most Important for Marketers

According to the recently released Cross-Channel Marketing Report 2015, produced by Econsultancy, 57% of company marketers say their company website is the most important channel for publicity. They are followed in second place by the group (48%) who place their bet on email.

It’s not surprising, therefore, that instead of print media, content marketing managers are spending more on digital channels such as email marketing and intelligent website development and optimisation to generate brand publicity. In fact, spending on digital media is expected to snare 24% (or almost a quarter) of the global advertising budget by 2016.

However, what’s equally noteworthy is the role of social media marketing. 42% of marketers surveyed suggested that social media had become a hugely significant marketing channel, and that it presented the most opportunities in the coming year.

Let’s look at these three channels in greater detail:

1. Website: Since websites are still the primary point of interaction between a user and a company, it’s critical for a company’s website development team to ensure that users have a seamless experience, whether accessing websites from a desktop or from a mobile platform.

Add to this the fact that more and more users are now employing mobile devices for online activity, and it has sent website designers, content managers and digital marketing professionals back to the drawing board in a bid to optimize websites for access through mobile platforms.

2. Email: It is estimated that the number of email users will grow from 2.6bn at present to 2.9bn by 2019. That’s a massive number of potential customers. Also, email marketing has held on to its significance in this day and age of instant messaging and social media, simply because email offers a rather personalised mode of reaching out.

In fact, another report by Econsultancy found that marketing managers rated email messaging as “excellent” or “good” in terms of return on investment (ROI).

3. Social media: Earlier it used to be just Facebook. Today, however, there are a plethora of social media platforms that can be employed to spread the word about a company or a product. Be it Instagram, Twitter or Pinterest, social media platforms have a steadily growing following amongst online users. Therefore they are widely acknowledged to hold immense potential in terms of social media marketing. 

Interestingly enough, the days for traditional media seem to be pretty much over. The customer reach of channels such as television and newspapers was judged to be almost insignificant by the participants assessed in the survey. Just a sign of the times, we think!