How does APP choose marketing and promotion channels?

Q: How to choose marketing promotion channels ?

Answer: Products determine channels .

Q: How do I know the feasibility of this channel?

Answer: One try and you will know everything.

Is it easy to understand? Let’s explain it in detail!

A truth: quality is more important than quantity

I believe you must have heard: "Online marketing requires a multi-pronged approach, exposing the brand on different channels, allowing the brand to reach different users, thereby deepening the user's impression of the brand." You may have heard of a brand that has both a physical store and a Facebook Page, Twitter, Instagram, Blog, Pinterest, YouTube , etc. It has all the channels you can think of and seems to be very successful. But Haiyao SEO just wants to say: "Of course you can do this if you have money! But you don't have that much money and time to do everything well!"

For a newly established brand, every penny must be spent wisely, so it is important to concentrate resources on highly efficient channels! You choose the most suitable marketing channel according to your ability and cost. If you want to focus on one channel, you must do a good job of screening. Let’s get to the point!

Products determine marketing channels

When you are reading this article, you should have decided on the target audience of your product (who do you want to sell your product to?), so the problem you need to solve now is: "How to reach your target audience." Simply speaking, for physical store sales, beverages can be sold through hawking in stores, consignment sales to restaurants, online store sales, and trial drink promotions , etc. The store owner can choose which channel to use for sales. Online stores are all the same. Let’s take a look at the 8 most common online marketing channels and how to know if this channel is right for you?

1. Keyword advertising marketing ( SEM ): Will people who want to buy your product search online?

SEM (Keyword Search Engine Marketing) mainly uses keywords as the target of advertising and places ads on large search engines such as Google , Bing, and Yahoo. If your target customers do not make online shopping choices through Google Search, then search engine marketing is not suitable for you. Generally speaking, this situation is not common. It will only occur when the leading brand of the product is extremely well-known and people can directly contact the brand itself. Taking computers as an example, people who want to buy computers mostly directly contact the brand itself or large platforms, and rarely search for keywords such as "online computer shopping".

So, “What performance means this pipeline is worth investing in ?” The answer is that if testing for a month can almost break even, then it’s worth investing more resources. Keywords are not a channel that can become popular overnight, so don’t expect to make a lot of money right from the start. However, if the ad has been running for a few weeks and the profit and loss are close, then there is a good chance that it can grow through various optimizations in the future. Also, even if you break even, don’t forget that you gained a lot of exposure, which is valuable.

Of course, there are some tricks in execution. Newly established stores usually have limited budgets, so you can try longer but more precise keywords to get traffic at a relatively cheap price. In addition, be sure to remember to test different bids and find the one with the greatest marginal benefit. This task is simple but critical. The cost in the early stages of a business is much more important than the revenue, especially for sellers with lower costs. Finally, you must remember to test several different ads to ensure that the ad content is satisfactory so that you can find room for improvement.

2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Will people who want to buy this product search online?

Search engine optimization is to make the website easily visible in search results through high-quality website content. The situation is somewhat similar to the former. The feasibility also depends on whether the buyer will find the product through keyword search.

I believe that those who follow Haiyao SEO Training Network must be very familiar with SEO. The operating strategy of SEO is very similar to SEM, and both require finding suitable keywords. There are two tips for operating keywords in SEO. One is to focus on popular keywords that are easy to think of, such as "sneakers". The other is to target niche but precise keywords, such as "2017 limited edition basketball shoes". No matter which one you use, as long as your target audience can reach you, it’s a good method.

If you decide to focus on SEO, I believe you must know the importance of content, but in addition to that, remember to observe the traffic coming from other websites. This is a very critical judgment for SEO. If an authoritative website is willing to link to your page, it means that your content is recognized and your ranking will be greatly improved.

3. Content Marketing : Is buying this product an impulsive small decision or a rational large decision?

The characteristic of content marketing is to create valuable content through websites and blogs to gain the trust of customers and make them willing to buy products or services. It is usually used in products with higher unit prices and longer decision-making periods. The benefit is that this content will create an image of a brand leader and increase customer interaction and customer loyalty. For example, a restaurant chef can use online recipes and cooking tutorials to convince the audience of his professionalism, deliciousness, and health, and further promote the restaurant's menu.

Compared with other channels, content marketing requires more time and energy. It is usually based on blogs and takes at least 6 months to operate. It is a method of first suffering and then sweetening, because after operating to a certain level, it can create traffic on its own. Haiyao SEO webmaster is an example. We publish various types of e-commerce related articles every day and are committed to helping stores grow. As long as people find the articles useful, they will naturally remember Haiyao and visit them regularly. One day, when you want to open an online store, you will definitely think of us.

Content marketing and SEO complement each other. Good content will attract more attention to your brand, and more people will click on your website, which means more traffic. This traffic can make your website rise in Google's ranking. As the ranking rises, more people will see your content!

4. Social advertising: Which platforms can reach my audience?

Advertisements on social platforms are usually one-way exposures, that is, customers usually don’t particularly need your products, and you expect users to make impulse purchases after seeing the ad; clothing, accessories, cosmetics and other products fall into this category. At this time, it is very important to choose a platform that can accurately reach the target customer group. For example, you would not sell denture cleaning solution for the elderly on Instagram because Instagram belongs to the market of young people.

The characteristic of social platforms is that they have strong reach. You not only deliver messages to the audience of the advertising platform, but also to the social circles of these audiences. However, there are certain risks. The risk is that the advertisement is a bit like forced sales, and the audience is "forced" to watch the advertisement. Therefore, forced sales advertisements are not suitable. After all, these people go to social networking sites to communicate rather than shop, so our strategy must also be adjusted accordingly. For example, in an advertisement selling jewelry, the messaging strategy should be to replace "Come and see, come and buy, it will be a pity if you don't buy it" with "Look how beautiful this jewelry is!" The difference between the two things is that the former does not involve any sales promotion, but only involves contact, while the latter does not.

It is actually difficult to determine whether the advertisements on social platforms are suitable for you, because we do not expect customers to buy after seeing the advertisements, but rather to see how the traffic conversion from these advertisements is. The entire conversion process is relatively long. The suggestion here is: "You can only compare it with other channels to see if the effect is better than others, and use it as a criterion for whether to continue."

In addition to advertising, the exposure effect of social platforms is worth making good use of. If you have a high-value article that may be funny, insightful, or have other content that can spark discussion and sharing, posting this kind of article on social networking sites can usually bring in multiples of natural traffic, which is also a strategy. This is what we often hear as "going viral".

5. Community management: Does my product belong to a niche market?

Social media management is suitable for all kinds of products, but it works particularly well in niche markets because these people are highly homogeneous and sticky, so the relative conversion rate is better. A product manager from a large e-commerce platform once asked me whether they were suitable for community building. I answered directly: "Don't worry." Because the essence of a community is a group of people who have some common characteristics, that's what a community is. Large e-commerce platforms sell everything, so the market they need to attack is even larger. Unless you can go beyond the characteristics of the platform, there is no need to invest a lot of resources in operating the community for the time being. On the other hand, if you run a community for photography enthusiasts, wouldn’t it be more efficient to sell accessories for SLR cameras on it? So first ask yourself whether my target customers are all in the same group or sector.

The meaning of community management is to help your target customers connect with each other, and then expect them to bring more people with similar needs to join you. As in the example we mentioned above, if you sell SLR cameras, it would be helpful to run a community focused on photography. Many like-minded people will gradually join in, bringing you free and high-quality exposure. There are two factors that determine the success or failure of community management. The first is how strong the cohesion you can create. This process can be through discussions, sharing, activities, etc. The stronger the cohesion of the community, the higher its potential value. The second is how many influential members you can "cultivate", especially those who like to "share" and "recommend", they are definitely worth your resources.

It is very important to maintain high-quality members in the early stages of community operation. No one wants to join a community full of nonsense. You can achieve this effect through some common understanding and norms. Many forums have similar practices. They set "rules" in the community to maintain the operation of the community and provide new members with a good user experience. Finally, let’s answer the question everyone is waiting for: Is the community worth managing? Generally speaking, running a community doesn’t require a silver bullet. As long as you have time and the product is suitable, you can give it a try.

6. Email Marketing (EDM): Is my product decision period long? Are products updated quickly?

There are roughly two types of businesses that need EDM marketing. One type has a longer decision-making period like content marketing, so they continuously provide value through emails and use professional knowledge to build a brand image to achieve sales results; the other type is businesses that update products quickly. For example, an online clothing shopping platform may send an e-mail to tell you that a new product is on the shelf, or Uber will tell you through email that a limited-time discount is being implemented. Email marketing is a method of proactively increasing engagement with consumers, delivering engaging content in the process to boost conversions.

No matter what kind of product you sell, you should collect emails from potential customers, because this is your only way to take the initiative and communicate directly with the other party. As long as your business reaches a certain number of customers, you can use email services such as Mailchimp Getresponse, E-Panther, etc. to send mass emails to deliver brand messages. In addition to sending emails, these services can even provide data and create AB Tests to help your company grow.

Generally speaking it will not be the main force of marketing, but it can accomplish many tasks from the side. You can provide online courses, provide customer service, introduce new products, etc., and communicate with the audience from the perspective of a "friend". To observe the effectiveness of emails, "assisted conversion" is a very valuable reference criterion, and stores using GA should be familiar with it. An assisted conversion is when this channel appears at any stage in the consumer behavior. For example, someone visited the website, left an email, and later saw the email sent by the store. Although he did not convert at the time, he returned to the website to make a purchase after a while. In this case, Email would be credited for assisting the conversion.

7. Bloggers/Influencer Marketing: Who has the same customer base as your product?

There are many internet celebrities, so it is very important to choose partners who are close to your target customer group. Common options include makeup bloggers, food bloggers, travel bloggers and other options with a strong commercial orientation. They are usually popular and expensive. Newly established stores can also start by targeting niche bloggers, which is cheap and efficient. The same customer base does not necessarily mean the products are the same. For example, the customer base of electronic games may also be players, but you don’t have to sell electronic game-related products. Instead, you can sell winter hot packs to solve the problem of cold hands when playing video games in winter, or food and beverage delivery to meet everyone’s needs of eating and drinking while playing games. Of course, this is just an example, and my purpose is to tell you that you should always focus on your products and target customers.

Blogger and influencer marketing are emerging marketing channels in recent years. The reason why these people are so popular is because of their distinctive characteristics, which usually indicates a certain degree of customer segmentation. As long as your target customers are the same as his, it is worth a try. Moreover, the time to verify the results is short, and you will soon know whether you should invest more resources. Of course, the key to cooperation lies in money. Whether you pay a one-time fee or a commission fee will affect the amount invested in the test, but the most important thing is whether you make money after the test. As a boss, of course you have to do things that can make money. Now there are more and more choices, and the testing speed can be very fast. A post may be accepted in two or three days, and the effect of the live broadcast can be known in just a few hours, which means you can get twice the result with half the effort.

There are many ways to find a suitable blogger now. You can use keyword searches, social networking sites, manufacturer recommendations, or even directly find a company that provides matchmaking services to help you find someone. In addition, blogger has another great use, which is that it can be used as a rapid testing channel for new products. With its fast response and feedback, you can quickly see whether the product meets market demand.

8. Brand Cooperation: Does the product have the same customer base as other companies in different industries?

This brand refers to different industries, but they all need partners with similar target customer groups. After the collaboration, you need to make your product or service more valuable. For example, the customer base of home cleaning services may be dual-income families, so it may be possible to consider forming an alliance with other services such as home appliance repair, babysitting, and garbage collection to create an all-in-one product. If a toy seller's target customer group is young children, it can consider forming an alliance with a toy food seller to promote sales growth.

Cross-industry alliances are also a marketing model that approaches zero cost. As mentioned earlier, you need to find partners with similar target customer groups to make the products and services after the alliance more valuable. Opportunities for cross-industry alliances must be sought proactively, and like-minded people are hard to find, usually because everyone has their own ulterior motives and hopes to gain the most benefit from it. Here we need to give everyone a correct mindset: the significance of cross-industry alliances is "having a good idea that makes me money and you make money too". If you want to find someone to cooperate with, you must help the other party think about his or her benefits and let the other party see the added value of the cooperative product, so that the cooperation process can become smooth.

Of course, not all profitable collaborations need to be undertaken. Compared to making money, there may be other more important considerations, such as your brand image. If your partner's image is completely different from yours, even if it can make your product more valuable or open up different channels and markets, you still have to consider whether it will affect existing customers and brands.

Summarize

No single channel or strategy is suitable for everyone. How to move towards success step by step depends solely on the store’s own strength. The article can only provide a general direction, but as long as you follow these tips and strategies, I believe it will definitely help you as you grow. Let me briefly summarize the key points of the article. First, clearly list your product features and target customers, because "products determine channels." Second, after the pipeline is selected, "testing determines feasibility", you need to select a minimum scale test to determine whether it is effective. The above methods may not be suitable for everyone, but they should be enough to give you some reference.