How you market your business or non-profit organization is very important. When you get your marketing right, you can reach a wide array of people and attract users who want to engage with your brand.
Currently, the most used marketing channel for both businesses and non-profits in social media. That makes a lot of sense: it’s cheap to use well, and it can get your brand in front of many people. You can also target specific types of users, which helps marketing.
However, with there being a clear favorite among marketers, it does mean that many other channels are left neglected and unused. Of course, some channels aren’t that effective anymore, especially if you’re marketing to a younger demographic.
However, if you’re not using the following three marketing channels, you’re missing out massively.
SMS Marketing
SMS marketing is a method that has a lot of potentials when used right. However, very few engage with this channel, and a lot that do use it doesn’t optimize it in the right way.
When you send a text message to a previous customer, you’re accessing a direct form of marketing communication. Instead of the user having to come across your content as they do on social media, you can instead send them exactly what you want them to see.
Email is another more widely used form of direct marketing. However, when you compare the engagement rate of an email and a text, far more people open and read a text message than they do emails from businesses.
This means that SMS messages have a wide reach, but what can they be used for?
The main thing marketers use SMS marketing for is sending offers and information. Businesses can send discount codes to incentivize more spending. They can also send information about upcoming events, product launches, and more.
If you’re running a non-profit, you can also use SMS to ask for direct donations. Major charities use it already, but it’s definitely something that smaller brands can try. Users can pay directly from the text message, making it convenient for them. Text messaging is a great marketing channel, and there are multiple texting platforms for non-profits to get started.
Also Read: Basic Youtube Marketing In 8 Steps
Snapchat
Snapchat falls in a weird category, as despite having some social media elements, it can’t be defined as a social media platform. Yet, it remains a unique and quirky messaging service with an interesting hook.
When you send messages on Snapchat, the images are deleted once they’re viewed. It’s a good mechanic for implementing privacy, although it’s not been enough to keep users on the platform, and it’s dropped in popularity since its heyday.
However, Snapchat is still very popular among Gen Z, and there are marketing opportunities on the platform in the form of stories. Here, you can share your brand’s video content to get more engagement hopefully.
Social ads very much influence Gen Z, being the demographic that makes purchases straight from apps like Instagram and TikTok the most, so targeting the platforms that they use is sensible.
Plus, your brand can also create sponsored filters that users can use to boost brand awareness or build hype over a new product being launched.
Podcasts
Everyone already knows how popular podcasts are, and cutting-edge businesses will already have their own podcast for users to listen to. However, with many businesses and non-profits flocking to create their own podcasts, a lot of people are neglecting another aspect of them: podcast ads.
Much like YouTube videos, many podcasts allow brands to sponsor episodes, where the host will then talk about your brand to their audience. This is very useful because if you sponsor the right podcast with users who are likely to be interested in your brand, you can build authority and credibility and reach a new audience.
Having a host talking about how good your brand is can build trust, and it makes listeners far more likely to check out your business.
You can also simply pay for ads that are played during the podcast runtime, similar to TV ads. Although you won’t become an embedded part of the show, running podcast ads can be cheap and effective and allow you to build the message that you want to put out there.
Also Read: TikTok: Social Media’s Latest Gift To Business Marketing
Conclusion
There’s so much competition for businesses, and getting noticed and seen can be challenging. To help you better market your brand or non-profit, it can be useful engaging with some underrated and vastly underutilized marketing channels.
With text having the ability to create a direct communication channel to your customers, and with Snapchat being able to attract a younger market, there’s value in these marketing channels that are going under the radar.
When you also consider the reach of podcast sponsorships and adverts, it’s clear that there are many great options for you to diversify your marketing channels.