If your B2B organization is looking into strategic media planning, you have many channels to pick from. But how do you decide which ones will best connect with and convert your audience? Whether you develop data management software for insurance agencies or you breed blue-tongued skinks for pet stores, you need to start with an understanding of your audience’s channel and content preferences (learn how in our media planning blog). With this knowledge in hand, the next key step is to gain an understanding of each channel. In this article, we share expert tips on choosing the right channels for your brand and measuring their impact once your campaigns are up and running.
Evaluating Channel Effectiveness to Aid in Channel Selection
As you’re considering channels for your brand, you need to be aware of their capabilities in meeting your marketing goals. This means probing into their strengths and limitations.
Even as you narrow down your choices to a few priority channels, it’s important to keep an eye on potential channels as their advertising capabilities, algorithms and even audiences evolve.
Dan Jeans, Sr. Paid Search Manager at Elevation Marketing advises, “Don’t base your strategy on past experiences with a platform. Changes are constantly being made. A good example of this is Facebook, which was never really seen as a B2B platform. Over the past year, Facebook has changed its audience segmentation and brand protection options enough to make it much more B2B friendly.”
Here’s what you need to know:
- Consider target audience reach: Evaluate each channel based on how well it can reach your specific B2B audience. How many of its users share the same industry, job roles and geographical locations as your clients? This will help you narrow your choices to the channels that are most likely to reach your audience.
- Consider your competitor’s channels: Pay attention to the channels your competitors use. How successful are they in reaching their target audience? This can help you identify which channels will be most effective for your brand, as well as which ones might be oversaturated with competitor content.
Pro tip: In this analysis, be sure to consider the value of your competitors’ efforts. How often are they posting? What type of content are they using? How are they responding to interactions? This will help you identify gaps and opportunities across channels. For example, you might have an opportunity to dominate a channel where competitor interaction is stagnant.
- Ensure content compatibility: Determine if the types of content that perform well on the channel align with your audience’s preferences and your content strategy. For example, if videos are your bailiwick and your audience loves them, then YouTube might be a good option. Alternatively, if your audience favors pithy industry updates and you’re a micro-content master, then X might be ideal.
Pro tip: Investigate how users interact with published content on each channel. This includes the likes, shares and comments industry-related posts typically receive. Also look at the quality of these interactions. Are they relevant to your brand? Do they align with your brand values? Whittle your selection to channels that will generate meaningful engagement for your brand.
- Align with brand values: Ensure that the channels you select align with your brand’s values and messaging style. Consider the type of posts and ads that could appear near your content and the values reflected in audience interactions. This will help safeguard your brand reputation while maintaining consistency and credibility in your marketing efforts.
- Read the fine print: Review channel policies, advertising guidelines, data privacy agreements and content restrictions. How well do they align with your brand policies and industry requirements? Eliminate any that may limit or penalize your content, damage your brand reputation or cause potential legal issues.
- Analyze algorithms: Evaluate how each channel’s algorithms impact visibility, engagement and content prioritization. These steps will help you understand how content is distributed, what types of content are showcased and how algorithm updates can affect content performance. With this information, you’ll be able to identify the channels that may be more effective for your content type and goals.
- Gauge cost efficiency: Calculate the ROI for each channel by comparing the expected cost per acquisition against the expected revenue. This isn’t meant to narrow your focus on cost leaders. Some channels may cost more while consistently generating high-quality leads and conversions. In this case, they may be worth the investment. Run different scenarios (best-case, worst-case and most likely) based on varying assumptions for conversion rates, customer lifetime value and costs. This gives you a range of potential ROIs.
Pro tip: It’s equally important to understand the synergy between channels in driving conversions. This means analyzing how channels might complement each other for a more effective cross-channel strategy.
Evaluating Channel Effectiveness Once Campaigns Are Active
Congratulations! You’ve made a channel selection and launched your media plan. But the task of evaluating channel effectiveness doesn’t stop there. Now, you need to evaluate the effectiveness of your chosen channels in reaching your audience and meeting your marketing goals. This will help you to optimize your efforts and ensure those channels remain relevant to your brand. Here’s how to do that:
- Track and analyze channel-specific metrics: Monitor engagement metrics for each channel, including clicks, shares, comments and time spent on content to determine the quality of interactions.
“Impressions and clicks can help you weigh the effectiveness of an awareness campaign. But clicks aren’t conversions. As a metric, they can’t tell you how many completed form fills you have. To know if you’re meeting your primary goals –– which almost always revolves around lead generation –– you need key performance indicators (KPIs) that match those goals,” explains Dan Jeans.
- Set KPIs: Establish and track KPIs for each channel specific to your business and marketing goals. For example, if your goal is lead generation, you might evaluate the number and quality of leads each channel generates in terms of MQLs and SQLs.
Pro tip: Be sure to integrate your tech stack. This helps data flow seamlessly across channels and provides a complete view of your performance. Integration ensures measurements are accurate, your decisions are informed and your cross-channel marketing efforts are effective.
- Observe audience behavior: Note patterns and preferences in how your B2B audience interacts with your content on the channel. Pay attention to how channel metrics change depending on industry events and the timing of your posts as well as the devices your audience is using.
Pro tip: Different channels draw different behaviors –– understanding these nuances can help you tailor content for better performance. Behavioral segmentation enables you to create content and campaigns based on user actions and preferences on different channels.
- Use attribution analysis: Implement multi-touch attribution models to monitor how effectively each channel supports your lifecycle marketing efforts. This means tracking how well those leads move through the sales funnel and convert into customers. This approach helps you understand the interaction between various channels and touchpoints and optimize your overall marketing strategy accordingly.
- Analyze content performance: Take a closer look at the types of content that really connect with your audience on each platform. Also assess how well each channel boosts your content amplification strategies, like working with influencers or using paid promotions, to help expand your reach and engagement.
- Re-check cost efficiency: Regularly assess your cost per acquisition or lead and ROI to ensure each channel maintains cost-effectiveness.
Dan Jeans advises, “Keep in mind that cost per lead is never one-to-one. You could double your budget and get 10% more leads, or you could increase by 150% and get 300% more. It’s never linear in any channel, but there’s no reason not to go after the cheaper lead.”
Pro tip: Consider the nuances in ROI calculation. For example, some channels may be more focused on long-term brand building, while others may deliver more immediate ROI in terms of short-term sales. So, you’ll need to factor in the broader impact of different channels for a more accurate measure of channel effectiveness.
- Gather customer feedback: Ask your customers how they feel about their experience with each channel, including how easy it is to use and how satisfied they are.
Pro tip: Use Voice of the Customer (VoC) programs like Qualtrics or SurveyMonkey to capture honest feedback and preferences directly from your customers. This gives you real, qualitative insights into their experiences and what they really expect from your brand on different channels.
- Measure up to the industry: Check how your metrics compare with industry benchmarks to see if you’re on track. As your digital media presence grows, you’ll be able to set your own benchmarks and measure against those.
Pro tip: Use competitive benchmarking tools to get a closer look at what your competitors are doing right (and wrong), so you can identify areas for improvement and stay ahead of the game.
- Conduct experiments: Try out different content types, visuals and even timing to see what really clicks with your audience. A/B testing allows you to make incremental changes based on what works, improving your channel performance one tweak at a time.
“A theory that’s not based on data could go either way. It could potentially be a great strategy, or it could be potentially terrible. Testing it lets you see how it might perform before you sink your budget into it,” says Dan Jeans.
- Pivot as needed: Be prepared to adjust your strategy based on your learnings. This helps you to keep your content germane and your audience engaged.
Pro tip: Use predictive analytics to stay a step ahead. These tools help you to anticipate trends and channel performance, so you can smartly allocate your budget and refine your strategies early, making sure you get the most bang for your buck.
Partner With Media Planning Experts
The success of your strategic media plan relies on a deep knowledge of media channels and tactics and the expertise to continuously evaluate channel effectiveness. This approach ensures you’re leveraging the right channels and the right approaches to connect and convert prospects. Additionally, monitoring channel effectiveness enables you to adjust your strategies as needed to stay ahead of the competition and meet your marketing goals.
If you’re debating the right channels for your brand or struggling to determine the effectiveness of the channels you use, we can help. At Elevation Marketing, we develop strategic media plans that drive success for our clients. Contact us to learn how we can support you in creating a strong and impactful online presence.
