Multi-channel marketing is the strategy of having multiple connections with potential customers across different advertising channels. A single customer may see a commercial on TV, hear a radio advertising spot, and also see a banner ad on the internet. Multi-channel marketing can be very powerful, but it also has to be used correctly, or it can become very expensive. Here's what you need to know.

What are the Benefits of Multi-Channel Marketing?

MCM gradually builds trust and brand awareness. It has been shown that customers need to interact with a brand a few times in order to trust that brand enough to purchase a product or a service. By interacting with customers through multiple channels, companies can build this trust through different venues. MCM can also reach across different demographics and reinforce the identity of the brand.

What Should You Know About MCM?

Multi-channel marketing is a fairly dense and specific discipline within the realm of marketing. A few things you should consider are:

1. Your core demographics. Different channels have vastly different reaches. TV ads may skew older while internet ads may skew younger. Consequently, each ad has to be tailored to the channel.
2. Your geographic proximity. You want to be able to target customers who have a chance of using your product and service. MCM operates through saturation, so you want to pare down to a very small audience selection. 
3. Your budget. TV ads can be expensive. Internet ads are cheap individually but require a large investment to get reach. Radio ads, on the whole, are the most affordable type of advertising for the amount of reach that they have. 

The idea of MCM is that you're going to be sending multiple messages to the same core audience. The size of that audience is going to depend on your budget.

How Can You Use Radio in MCM?

Radio is one of the most effective forms of advertising. When radio is listened to, it's usually being listened to exclusively with a captive audience; there aren't any distractions. Most radio stations have very tight control over their demographics, and radio advertising isn't as expensive as video advertising to produce or to distribute. In MCM, radio is frequently used to remind customers about products and services.

A good multi-channel marketing campaign is the hallmark of a good business. Companies today need to invest in their advertising to outpace their competition. That will often mean connecting many different media channels. For more information, contact your local radio sponsorships services.