When you set out to connect with your dream client, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer possibilities for marketing a small business. Each marketing channel, or place where you can promote your business, has its own pros and cons. You can save yourself a lot of stress by starting with a marketing channel strategy. 

A marketing channel strategy is, in short, a marketing plan. As we’ll show you, there are so many ways to attract your ideal client even without posting non-stop on social media. You can use a strategy to increase your reach, improve brand awareness, and even deepen connection with potential clients. Best of all, you don’t have to use a cookie cutter approach. The best marketing channel strategy is the one that’s tailored to your personality.

5 Examples of Digital Marketing Channels that aren’t Social Media

It’s definitely possible to market your business offline. At Brandcendent, though, we specialize in working with creative entrepreneurs and online service providers. Digital marketing channel strategies for small businesses can include so much more than you might think. And you definitely don’t need to feel tied to social media to thrive.

1. PPC Ads

If you’re looking to expand your reach, pay-per-click ads can get you in front of potential clients. Companies like Meta (operator of Facebook and Instagram) prioritize ads over organic content. On the other hand, PPC ads aren’t always the best way to connect with your ideal client. People are getting savvier at spotting an ad as distinct from organic content.

2. Email Marketing 

We don’t make any secret of the fact that we love email marketing for small businesses. It’s a low-cost, high-ROI addition to any marketing channel strategy. You can develop a long-term connection with clients and people who aspire to hire you down the line. By the time you’re ready to promote your services, they’re in the habit of eagerly opening your emails. 

3. SEO Blogging 

SEO blogging is another opportunity to be helpful to potential clients by answering questions related to your services. It gives you another way to show how your services could improve their lives. SEO blogging also has the power to increase your organic reach dramatically. An SEO blog post can have a lifespan of over a year (as opposed to the literal minutes you may get out of a TikTok). In our group program, Sales Off Social, we always advocate that entrepreneurs find a way to leverage SEO to streamline their marketing and take pressure off their social media content.

4. Pinterest 

Although Pinterest is integrating more aspects of social media with Idea Pins, it remains a largely SEO-driven platform. That means you need to include keywords in your Pins to show up in search results. The plus side is that there are millions of Pinterest users daily who come to the platform to do research before making purchases. That alone is a great reason to include Pinterest in your marketing channel strategy.

5. Networking 

Networking often gets left out of digital marketing strategies, but it’s really effective for some entrepreneurs. This can look a few different ways. You can join in the discussion on Facebook groups, or you could participate in online happy hours.

Not every marketing channel is right for every business. It helps to narrow down the channels that suit your industry and your personality. We’ll share more on that soon.

3 Benefits of a Comprehensive Marketing Channel Strategy

There are three major benefits to developing a cohesive, intentional marketing plan (as opposed to posting the occasional Reel and hoping something takes). 

1.Increase your reach.

By putting yourself on more channels, you can get in front of more people. Not only do different channels use varying algorithms to categorize your content. Different people use those channels. Someone might find you on Pinterest who never would have seen your social media post. 

2. Improve brand awareness.

A natural consequence of increasing your reach is improving brand awareness. Brand awareness goes beyond potential clients knowing you exist. It’s about helping them understand what makes your brand distinct from your competitors. Our goal for Brandcendentis copywriting branch isn’t just for people to know that we provide content marketing and email marketing support. We want them to remember us as providing those services powered by our deep knowledge of SEO and trauma-informed marketing strategies.

3. Increase connections with your ideal client.

Your time and resources are precious. Your marketing channel strategy should prioritize paths that will actually connect you to the people with whom you want to work. We don’t advocate for a client avatar approach to understanding your ideal client. For the sake of your marketing channel strategy, though, it’s worth knowing where your ideal client hangs out online. If your people don’t like the fuss of Facebook, you might as well skip the ads that won’t reach them.

Creating Your Custom Marketing Plan

When we support entrepreneurs in creating custom marketing channel strategies, we take a three-part approach.

1. Be realistic.

The only marketing channel strategy that will work for you is one you’ll actually act on. Be honest with yourself about what you’ll actually do. Ditch the guilt about what you “should” do.If you know you won’t post multiple TikToks each day, don’t hang your hat on that. 

Now you may decide you want to try TikTok or another platform without making it your main marketing channel. That’s ok. In fact, we encourage entrepreneurs to experiment when they have capacity. Your main marketing channels should be ones that you can work with consistently. (And by “consistently,” we mean in a way that creates some stability for you. That’s different than emailing your list like clockwork.)

2. Know when to outsource.

To that end, you may know something is a valuable part of your marketing channel strategy but also recognize that it lies outside of your strengths or capacity. That’s exactly why most of Stephanie’s SEO blogging clients work with them. If you have the money, outsourcing is a great way to make sure your marketing actually happens.

3. Build your marketing channel strategy around your personality.

The reason we never copy and paste a strategy from one business to another is simple: It doesn’t work. In our experience, it’s a recipe for burnout. That’s especially true for neurodivergent entrepreneurs. If you need periods of rest, embrace marketing channels that allow for that. SEO might be your new bestie. If you crave consistency in your routine, email marketing or Instagram could be perfect for you. Remember that with the right strategy, you won’t thrive despite your personality; you’ll thrive because of it.

Are you curious how you can design a marketing channel strategy grounded in your personality? It all starts with understanding what kind of entrepreneur you are – not who the coaches on your FYP tell you to be. Take our quiz to learn your entrepreneur archetype!