Plan a Campaign Using ALL Your Channels

You’ve got a big event, product release or company changes to announce, so you’re thinking about ads, or social media, or an eBlast.

Before you dive in, make sure you’ve considered the goals of your marketing efforts. Let’s say you're a law firm celebrating 25 years of practice. These might be your goals:

*Inform your audience about your news;

*Share some of your history and your plans for the future;

*Connect your audience to further information resources;

*Encourage your audience to pass along your news to their audience;

*Invite your audience to respond.

What are "Channels"?

Channels are tools for communication: classic mail, email, social media, the works. No campaign plan is complete without a full accounting of how each channel can be leveraged to facilitate communication.

Some communication platforms serve one or more of the individual goals listed in the "hypothetical" scenario above better than others. For example, the social arm of your campaign can be used to inform your audience, encouraging sharing and engaging responses. Printed mailers offer your audience succinct facts coupled with great visuals, while content developed for your website can provide more detailed information about services.

Utilizing multiple channels allows you to connect with different audiences since some may not be apt to read marketing mailers and others may avoid social media. Utilizing multiple channels also allows you to connect with the same audience in multiple ways, and because they are being reached (or touched) in many ways, they’re more likely to remember your message, and more importantly, act on it.