What are the main marketing channels?

Thinking about marketing generally leads us to think about actions carried out by brands, or companies, to publicize their products and services. Although it is a correct idea, we must clarify that in addition to this, we can talk about metrics, customer attraction, strategies, and branding, to name some of the actions that are related to this area.

In this article, we will focus on the main marketing channels that are used in companies. Each marketing strategy that is put into action is different and depending on its objectives, it will be where its dissemination is directed and therefore, by what channel it is done.

What types of channels are there?

Communication channels are how information, or the message, is transmitted. Marketing uses various means to position its strategies.

Among those that exist, we can find the traditional ones (radio, television, and public roads) or the digital ones (social networks, search engines, web pages, and emails). Depending on which channel you decide to communicate, it will be the impact, the segmentation of the public, or the possibility of measuring the results, for example.

Each type of channel, whether traditional or digital has its characteristics that can be used according to the objectives of each marketing campaign that the company decides to carry out. Today, many companies choose to do marketing in both types of channels, to achieve the necessary mix that connects them with all audiences.

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Traditional channels:

• In these channels, it is difficult to segment the audience to which each action will be directed. If the pattern is made on radio, for example, it is most likely that the ad will be agreed to for a specific time, and in that case, it will be heard by all the people who are listening to the chosen station at that time. The same thing happens when you choose to advertise on television: the message is broadcast at a certain time on a certain channel and reaches all the people who are watching it at that moment.
  In the case of public roads, the third traditional channel, we can say that the segmentation occurs by geographical area. The message is published in a certain physical space (a poster on an avenue, on a route, or a wall) and can be seen by all the people who pass through that place, at any time and at any time.
  
  
• These types of communication channels are widely used by companies seeking to position their brand in the market. Although it is not impossible, it is very difficult and expensive to measure the impact of the actions carried out in these channels, since the results obtained from possible measurements may be approximate but never 100% real.

• On the other hand, we must bear in mind that choosing to communicate on this type of channel implies a high capital investment, since the better the location of the poster on public roads or the time of greatest audience on radio and television, the costs they will increase. Also, for this reason, these types of channels are the most used by companies with a great reputation that have a budget available to do so.

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Digital channels:

• Taking into account the 4 types of digital channels that we mentioned above (social networks, search engines, web pages, and emails), we can say that in this case, the segmentation of the public is much more specific. Although each channel already has its audience segmented (for example, on TikTok, most users are between 9 and 20 years old), these networks offer publication options for different audiences, segmenting by age, searches, interests, geographical areas, among other points. The same happens in the other channels, the segmentation is much simpler to carry out since in digitization everything is measured and each user has a name, and each click is registered. Statistics is an allied tool of these channels and most actions are governed by them.
  
  
• Dissemination through digital channels is often chosen by young companies that seek to attack new markets and young age groups, which are the ones that, statistically, use virtuality the most. They are a very useful tool for those who market from business to customer, BtoC, as they facilitate contact with consumers and humanize companies. Likewise, in social networks such as LinkedIn, for example, contact is used to establish BtoB relationships, and this network is very useful for companies that want to create ties with other companies.
  
  
• One advantage that these channels have over traditional ones is the investment cost. Advertising on social networks or by email is much cheaper compared to a traditional medium. In search engines, you can even appear in most searches by implementing SEO strategies and offering quality content. This is also why many emerging companies choose virtuality to position their marketing, it implies less budget, although we must clarify that achieving the expected positioning takes longer than in traditional channels.

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The organic traffic that is generated through digital tools is also an advantage over traditional ones. In these cases, by offering quality content, related to what people are looking for, you can get a greater number of quality leads than in traditional channels, since by not having a segmented or "educated" audience by the company, a high number of potential customers may arrive that are not significant for the company.

As we can see, today, we would say that choosing digital channels such as those used for a company's marketing has more advantages than traditional ones. But, in any case, it will always depend on the profile of the company, and as we said before, on the objectives that each strategy seeks to achieve.