When it comes to advertising, there are many different ways to reach your audience and get them to take action. Your marketing mix needs to have the right platforms to help you get the highest ROI.
But too often businesses fail to realize that there is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to advertising. Each platform has its own unique set of advantages and disadvantages and picking one simply because it is more popular can actually lead to a waste of your resources.
In this article, we are discussing the power of using a multi-channel approach to advertising to avoid overdependence on one channel and increase your ROI. So, let’s dive deeper!
How advertising works
Advertising is an essential part of any business’s marketing strategy because it helps build brand loyalty, increase sales and promote awareness of a product or service.
The best way to understand how advertising works is to realize that every time someone sees an ad, it is because they are interested in something you have to offer. Thanks to the power of cookies, you have the opportunity to reach your audience where they are.
Online advertising relies on three pillars for its success: the right place, the right person, and the right time.
- The right person: Finding the most qualified lead for what you are offering. Ex: if you are a shoe brand, you can’t target your campaigns at people who wear shoes. That’s everybody. You need to narrow down your target to people who would be interested in wearing the specific kind of shoes that you are selling by asking questions and developing a buyer persona.
- The right place: Reaching your prospective customer where they are the most active. Ex: if your brand is looking to communicate with new mothers, you have a better chance of making a conversion if you run your ads on Pinterest along with Google and YouTube because Pinterest has the largest female community on the internet.
- The right time: Talking to your prospective customer when they are ready to be spoken to. Ex: if you are looking for customers who are ready to make a purchase, you need to make sure the campaign you create is BoFu-ready (bottom of the funnel) so that it can directly speak to them and be more effective in converting them.
Advertising works because it creates an emotional connection between a brand and its consumers. The more people know about your company, its products, and its history, the more likely they are to buy from you.
The problem with picking your advertising channels
Countless businesses let their bias cloud their marketing decisions. You may not want to show your brand on TikTok because you don’t like the platform but you can’t deny the fact that it is slowly overtaking Google when it comes to searches.
That’s right! TikTok has become Gen-Z’s preferred search engine. So, if you are a business that’s catering to this specific segment, you can’t afford to keep TikTok out of your media plan.
Besides, many small business owners tend to “pick” their digital advertising choice by the platform that makes it easiest. If you are reading this, you may have received a Google Ads credit in the mail – it automatically arrives when your address is verified on Google maps. You would opt for it because of its ease of use. However, Google may not be the right fit for your business goals.
Similarly, you could click on “Boost Your Post” on Facebook because you don’t want to miss out on the thousands of potential customers. But your prospects may not be looking for you on Facebook. They could be on LinkedIn, instead.
The goal of advertising is to persuade viewers, listeners, readers, and other consumers to buy products by appealing to their emotions and desires. So, targeting specific audiences based on demographics such as gender or age; psychographics such as attitudes or behaviors; or interests such as hobbies or sports without restricting your business to certain platforms can help you achieve your goal more effectively.
That’s where holistic advertising comes in!
What is holistic advertising?
Holistic Advertising is a type of advertising that uses the same technique as content marketing to build brand awareness, drive leads and increase sales. It is a 360-degree approach to advertising, which revolves around the concept of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.
Instead of running your campaign on a single channel, say Google search ads, holistic advertising aims to create a diverse campaign, which can be run on different platforms all at once.
As a business, you are much better positioned to benefit from an advertising campaign that’s run on multiple channels at the same time than choosing one channel for all your creatives.
For instance, if you create a video tutorial to demonstrate the use of your product, you can benefit more from running it on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook instead of Twitter alone. The reason is simple: you can reach a wider set of audiences who are interested in your video when you leverage the power of diversification.
Besides, you aren’t relying on a single channel to generate revenue for your business or build your brand. You are taking an integrated approach, which can provide you with long term returns.
Benefits of holistic advertising
Better reach
Holistic advertising is a great way to reach more people with less effort. With holistic marketing, you will be able to target your audience based on their interests, location, demographics and past purchases across various channels. This will help you reach a wider range of prospects and boost your brand awareness at the same time. This also means that no matter where your prospective buyer is, you will be able to speak to them using your ads.
More opportunities for lead generation
Better reach automatically means that you are more likely to generate more leads because you have a bigger audience to work with. The phrase “there’s plenty of fish in the sea” actually applies to holistic advertising, too. More platforms means you never run out of leads.
Better presence
Instead of bringing them to you, you are meeting your ideal customers where they are active. So, in addition to helping build awareness and drive sales, holistically-designed campaigns can help improve your overall conversion rate by making it easier for users to find what they are looking for.
Higher chance of brand recall
When people see your brand across multiple channels, such as social media and search engines, in different formats like posts and videos, they are more likely to think about you than when they only see you on one platform. Holistic advertising actually allows you to be the opposite of ‘out of sight, out of mind.’
How to begin with holistic advertising for your business
Using too many channels at once can be daunting when you are just starting out. Here’s what you need to begin your holistic advertising activities.
Figure out your basics
The first step is to identify what people are interested in. That’s where research comes in. You have to understand which customers you want to reach and why they are worth it.
If you are not sure where to start, try asking yourself these questions: What problems do my customers face? What are their goals? Where do they live? What do they like about my company or product? Once you have answered these questions, you will know exactly who your audience is and what they care about most.
Then, think about what type of bidding are you comfortable with and the tools you want to use to create, monitor, and manage your campaign. You also want to brainstorm your ad formats based on your ideal buyer’s choices to ensure you get the most out of your campaign.
Finally, you must figure out how much you are willing to spend on being seen. More platforms means more investment. So, unless you are an expert at budget allocation, we suggest you work with a professional marketing agency that will help you optimize your budget and keep you from going overboard with your expenditure.
Try out different platforms
Before you settle down on one platform, you need to do some A/B testing to know which platform works best for your business. You can choose from Google ads, Instagram ads, Facebook ads, YouTube ads, TikTok ads, and even Programmatic and Display ads.
Even though the goal is not to put all your eggs in one basket, if you are just starting out, it is probably a good idea to test out several different marketing channels and see which ones work best for you. Again, this may require more investment and it is easy to overspend. So, ensure you hire experts to do it for you.
Choose the metrics you want to measure
Your campaign would never be successful if you don’t flesh out its goal. For that, you need to decide what you want to measure. These can be anything from increasing sales, improving customer retention, and increasing brand awareness to generating more leads, increasing the conversion rate, and even improving brand recall.
Once you have decided on your metrics, you can create an action plan for each metric that will help you reach your goals. The best way to do this is by using simple tools like Google Analytics to identify problem areas and then creating a solution on how to fix them.
Remember to think about what’s important to you and your business and then build on it.
What makes a successful holistic advertising campaign
Get the creatives right
Creating effective ads is at the core of a successful holistic advertising campaign. You want your creatives to address your prospective buyer’s pain points as soon as they see it while offering them a solution immediately after.
Remember that the most effective creatives are those that are not just about the product, but also about the customer. So, find out more about your customers’ needs and wants through research and analysis before putting pen to paper.
Optimize your landing pages
Landing pages are the first impression people have of your brand after they click on your ads, so they should be quick and easy to navigate. They should be optimized for mobile users, including having a responsive design that automatically adjusts to different screen sizes. They should be short and concise and speak to the customer directly.
Bear in mind that a well-designed landing page should get the consumer’s attention and present them with an opportunity to make a purchase while also providing the information they need to make an informed decision.
So, if you want people to visit your site and not leave without making a purchase, then optimize your landing pages for conversion.
Connect with your CRM
CRMs help you store customer data for present and future use. You can then use this data to have a better understanding of your target audience, which will help you create more effective holistic ad campaigns.
Set up auto-replies on your email
After you connect with your CRM, you can send out automated emails based on what’s happening on your website or app (ex. cart abandonment emails). You can do this by setting up automatic email campaigns through tools like MailChimp or Drip.