Marketing channels are the various platforms on which a business can present its products & services to the users. The central role of any marketing channel is to overcome the barrier between a company and its prospective clients.

After a product is launched, various marketing channels are employed to spread the word and familiarize the target audience with the product. But, marketing channels can do more than product promotions; they can help to build brands, engage customers, and foster long-term customer relations.

In this blog, we have listed the top seventeen marketing channels that will trend in 2022.

Digital Marketing Channels

Online marketing channels exist on the web. Digital marketing or online marketing is becoming increasingly popular due to the rapid boom in online purchases and social media interactions.

Here are some of the most productive digital marketing channels:

1. WEBSITES

If your website achieves the top position in the Google SERP results, it can drive an unbelievable amount of traffic to your web pages. That gives you a critical, decisive advantage over the competitors.

Website traffic is measured by the CTR or the click-through rate. CTR is the percentage of total clicks that any given page generates.

According to Smart Insights, web pages ranking at 1st position receive a CTR of 39.6%, those at the 2nd position get 18.4%, and the ones at the 3rd position get 10.1%

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) plays a significant part in getting your website meaningful traffic.

There are a lot of SEO techniques you can utilize, like enriching ordinary content with well-researched keywords and long-tail phrases. You can also help your SEO by generating backlinks and ensuring your site is responsive.

Some of the world’s top search engines:

• Google

• Bing

• Baidu

• Yahoo

• Yandex

2. ONLINE ADVERTISEMENTS

Online advertising is similar to physical advertising but with a far more extensive reach. Thanks to the world wide web, a brand from Australia can take its products to the European market.

Online advertisements also help businesses to reach the correct audience meticulously. Advanced provisions like region-based targeting or retargeting allow digital marketers to customize and target a very pinpointed audience.

The best online advertising platforms:

• Google Ads

• Bing Ads

• Facebook ads

• Youtube ads

3. GUEST POSTS

Content Marketing is a methodology fixated on reliably creating and dispersing substantial content- blog entries, recordings, infographics, digital books, contextual analyses, interviews, white papers, and so forth- to draw in a particular fragment of the market.

One of the many ways content marketers generate a readership following is through guest posts. Let’s say the business leader of a brand named XYZ contributes an opinion piece to another company’s blog or a blogger’s personal blog. That will count as a guest post.

Guest posts can be either sponsored or unsponsored contributions.

Examples of guest-post submission sites:

• Semrush

• Hubspot

• Story Chief

• Get Social

• Outbrain

4. EMAIL MARKETING

Email marketing utilizes email to foster associations with current and forthcoming clients. It’s a channel regularly used for brand building, keeping clients informed about new products & company updates, and promoting personalized offers.

By integrating marketing automation CRM , businesses can streamline their email marketing efforts, automate personalized communications, track customer interactions, and optimize their marketing campaigns

This inescapable utilization of email is the reason email marketing is still a powerful method for constantly keeping in touch with individuals who have shown interest in your site or product, or brand.

Examples of applications that help in email marketing:

• ActiveCampaign

• Constant Contact

• Hubspot

• Sendinblue

• Mooseend

5. SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Social media is one of the most thriving and, according to some, the best marketing channel. The primary business objectives, such as website traffic generation, customer acquisition, and brand awareness, are fulfilled with well-planned social media marketing.

The desire of your audience to share your content is what you must nurture.

You should follow these three rules to make your social media marketing successful:

1. Consistently posting

2. Creating relevant & contextual posts

3. Being responsive to your audience

Social media marketing is also a fantastic way to source user-generated content and use it for the advantage of the business. Hashtag contests, live interactions, and incentivized participation are among the trending social media marketing strategies that prompt customers to interact with your brand.

The top social media marketing platforms:

• Facebook

• Pinterest

• LinkedIn

• Instagram

• Youtube

• Reddit

• Quora

• Medium

6. WEBINAR

If you are ready to try new ways of reaching out to the prospects and engage with them better, a webinar would be your key. Unlike other marketing channels, it gives you a chance to communicate with your potential customers through interactive sessions.

At a webinar, experts can share personalized advice to potential clients, provide live product demos and conduct fruitful Q&A sessions. Recently, more and more companies have started organizing webinars as an effective marketing strategy.

Webinars are perfect channels for lead generation. When the attendees take their time to register and attend an online event, they are sure to look for a connection in return. Hence, webinars tend to generate high-quality leads.

Some examples of webinar hosting platforms:

• Livestorm

• Demio

• WebinarJam

• Riverside

• EverWebinar

7. AFFILIATE MARKETING

Affiliate marketing is a framework for brands to collaborate with people or organizations in a financially-savvy way. It generally involves paying external marketers to advertise your products & services on their websites.

Examples of affiliate marketing programs:

• Reseller Club

• Flipkart Affiliate

• V Commission

• BigRock Affiliate

• DGM India

8. PRESS RELEASE

A press release is a rather direct and official approach to marketing. With press releases, businesses can announce the launch of a product, share their success stories, and publicize events, participation, investment, or company growth.

Media agencies often distribute press releases to hundreds or more platforms. Therefore, it is a supremely-effective marketing channel.

Some of the top PR agencies are:

• PR newswire

• Businesswire

• 24*7 Press Release

• Global Newswire

• Pressat

9. INFLUENCER MARKETING

The term ‘Influencer Marketing’ has been a catchphrase for a while now. This marketing channel blends the traditional ‘word-of-mouth’ game with modern-day digital marketing tactics.

Influencers are celebrities who can influence a large group of followers. Brands utilize their fan-following to get their products & services endorsed.

Examples of influencer marketing:

• Instagram influencers

• YouTubers

• Public figures on LinkedIn

• Celebrities like famous musicians, actors, or industry leaders

10. PODCASTS

The popularity of podcasts exploded some years back, and it is only becoming mainstream since then. Podcasts are similar to TV shows but with just the audio. They are broken down into episodes, and each episode can deal with a specific sub-topic of a larger theme.

With Podcasts, you can let your customers get a more personal side of your business and you. Podcast listeners understand your brand personality better because you become more familiar and relatable to your prospects through the audio. They trust you and connect with you.

A few popular Podcast channels:

• BuzzSprout

• Spreaker

• Transistor

• PodBean

• Simplecast

• Captivate

• Castos

11. REVIEW SITES

If you have a product or service that has high competition in the market, then getting featured on review sites can directly increase your sales. From restaurant businesses to software products, almost every brand needs validation from the top review sites.

Some of the best review sites in different domains:

• Tripadvisor

• Techcrunch

• Capterra

• Goodfirms

• Yelp

12. EBOOKS

Your target audience may have many questions about your business or products or related matters. Through blogs and articles, you are already publishing necessary information for them. So, why eBooks then?

Because it helps you communicate complex matters in an elaborate way (which isn’t always possible with blogs).

The more you publish, the more your customers follow your link, and gradually your business becomes an authentic source of information. So, you get to build trust and credibility. You can promote your eBooks on social media platforms as it helps drive more traffic directly to your website.

Platforms suitable for publishing & promoting your eBooks:

• Amazon Kindle

• Apple iBooks

• Smashwords

• Draft2Digital

• Your organization website

13. INFOGRAPHICS

As the name suggests, Infographic is a combination of information and graphics. These are visual depictions of written content that are complex to understand. While creating infographics, you can divide the content into small chunks or bite-size readable. In this way, you improve audience engagement.

The best places to put infographics:

• Social media posts

• Blogs

• Webpages

• Landing page

• Brochures

14. MESSENGER MARKETING

Using chat apps to connect with prospects is known as Messenger Marketing. It is an easy & quick way to reach out to the global audience.

A business would generally allow prospects to subscribe to their campaigns. Once subscribed, marketing messages can be sent to the customers in various forms, including live chats.

After WhatsApp Business was introduced, the world’s favorite messaging platform turned into a valuable marketing channel for new & emerging brands. To get the full benefit of messenger marketing on WhatsApp, you must have a registered business account.

Facebook Messenger, with billions of users, is another prominent name.

More messenger marketing channels:

• LinkedIn InMail

• Facebook Messenger

• WeChat

• Telegram

• Snapchat

Offline Marketing Channels

For some businesses, offline marketing channels work wonders; for others, not so much. The general understanding is that B2C brands benefit far more from offline marketing than B2B brands.

Here is a look at the top offline marketing channels that never really stop being effective.

14. DIGITAL SIGNAGE

Readers, we have a confession.

We said that physical marketing doesn’t work that well for B2B brands.

Well, that’s not entirely true. And digital signage is the biggest example to support our new claim. Digital signage are screens that show various types of content.

While marketing on digital signage cannot help B2B businesses reach out and connect with prospects, they do help in branding and internal marketing. That is why it is so popular with corporates.

Digital signage is one of the most dynamic marketing channels and also the most visually appealing.

How does digital signage help as a marketing channel?

1. Easily attract customers with attractive visuals, dynamic videos, and animations

2. Enhanced brand recognition and recall

3. Easy to update anytime; no designing or printing cost involved

4. Content can be automated to save time

5. Results can be quantified

6. Digital signage software can be integrated with other systems to show any data on a screen.

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15. SPONSORSHIPS

There are thousands of events hosted online and offline at any given second: sports matches, charity balls, music concerts, & college fests. All these are exciting opportunities to make market your brand.

Sponsorship-based marketing is one strategy that has existed for a long time, and it continues to give us effective results.

16. BROCHURE

Wondering if brochures are still relevant in 2022? Yes, they are as essential as they have always been for business. You need to remember that not all your prospects are tech-savvy.

There can be numerous audiences out there following your products or services through traditional marketing channels only (television ads, hoardings, etc.) You need touch-and-feel marketing channels like brochures to familiarize such customers with your business.

Especially for start-ups and small-scale businesses, brochures are the most cost-effective marketing tool.

Brochures consist of straightforward & brief content. Moreover, there are no pop-ups or ads to interfere and irritate your audience.

17. EVENT

Have you ever experienced on-spot feedback on your product or service?

Events can make that happen.

Well-organized events on product launches or promotions can make your business more flexible and adaptable. Customer relations improve through events.

You can have a conversation with your prospects in real-time and answer their queries regarding brand or product. Face-to-face engagement with customers adds a higher dimension of loyalty to your business.

Some of the most effective offline marketing channels are leadership events. At these events, leaders, CEOs, co-founders, celebrity business partners deliver a powerful message of successful brand building and passively promote their products.

Summing It Up

It’s vital to identify what marketing channels you should use to promote your brand and products. The choice to utilize explicit channels should come from your crowd of knowledge. And that includes understanding your consumer demographic and especially your consumer habitat.

If your audience lives online, you MUST invest in digital media marketing. On the other hand, if you have a brick-and-mortar business, you SHOULD definitely consider digital signage as the number-one marketing channel

Once you’ve finalized which marketing channels fit the best for your business, tap into multifaceted distributions through those channels and soar higher with improved business growth.

All the best!