New marketing channels and ROI: drive your brand to new heights

Integrating new channels into your channel mix and accurately determining channel-ROI can push your products, services and brand to new heights and optimise your marketing efforts. The House of Marketing-specialist Marijke Smets explains how to do this in the best possible way. ‘Before adding a new channel to your marketing strategy, it is essential to understand the why.’  

Understanding the why

There are countless reasons why companies and brands would want to add an additional channel to their channel mix: better personalised communication, expanding their target audience, or just reaching a specific niche. ‘Before integrating a new channel into your marketing strategy, it is essential to properly understand the target audience you want to reach’, stresses Marijke Smets, Senior Consultant and Marketing Strategist at The House of Marketing. ‘It makes no sense to add a channel simply because it has a large audience or it’s trending. You need to make sure it aligns with your business and marketing objectives.’ 

Everything starts with an analysis of the target audience you want to tap into: what platforms and channels do they use, what content triggers their attention, and which messages would you like to bring? Aside from the common social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok or LinkedIn, there are more niche media like Twitch, Discord and Reddit that allow to reach a very specific audience. ‘It is important to choose a channel that matches your brand identity and your target audience’s communication preferences. A simple example: ‘if you want to reach a younger audience via TikTok, you will need to let go of your branded promo videos and switch to more authentic storytelling.’ 

Testing and ROI

Once all that is clear, it is wise to put in a test phase before investing fully in a new channel. This involves, for example, launching a pilot campaign and closely monitoring the results. ‘This way, you will immediately notice whether the new channel and the marketing approach used contribute to your intended goals’, explains Smets. Are those test results positive or promising? Then you can start fully integrating the new channel into your channel mix.  

‘This includes not only deploying the new channel, but also adjusting your marketing strategies, budgets and your marketing team to achieve optimal synergy’, says Marijke Smets. ‘It is important to define which long- or short-term goals you want to reach with this new channel, and how that will impact your resources. If for example, you want to start with TikTok to generate brand awareness in a younger audience, you will need a significant budget to create short-form video content, and it will take time to build your brand. Our specialists can help companies define their goals and take a much more targeted approach.’ 

At the end of the day, you want this new channel to give a positive return on your investment (ROI). This will tell you if, and how cost-efficiently, a specific channel contributes to your business objectives. To measure this, clear goals must be set. ‘Do you want more traffic to your website, increased sales or improved brand awareness? Then calculate these metrics against the sum of all your costs of managing the channel, creating content and advertising spend’, says Smets.
 

KPIs and flexibility

Also measure the right Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that are directly linked to your goals. ‘For example, for sales these are the number of units sold, while for brand awareness the number of impressions or interactions may be relevant’, Marijke Smets clarifies. Specialists at The House of Marketing (THoM) and Customer Collective help companies in setting up the right analytics and dashboards to measure channel performance. ‘From these also flow valuable insights into the behaviour of your target audience, and the effectiveness of the channels used, says Marijke Smets.

Moreover, measuring KPI’s does not stop at simply collecting the data. Analyse the results thoroughly and look for trends and patterns. Which channels and type of content are performing best? Where can improvements be made? ‘Based on these analyses, you can continuously optimise your marketing strategy, within your long-term planning, which typically looks three to five years ahead’, concludes Marijke Smets. ‘In short: integrating new channels into your channel mix and determining their ROI are crucial steps for a successful marketing strategy. In doing so, remain flexible and willing to learn continuously, because the world and marketing approaches are constantly evolving.’