Marketers who fail to utilize cross-channel and omni-channel strategies risk lagging behind.
Cross-channel marketing lets advertisers create a comprehensive, personalized experience for each of their target audiences. Advertisers can reach them through various channels simultaneously, including mobile, email, web, apps, SMS, in-store, and direct mail in order to prevent overlapping messaging and create a more holistic strategy.
Currently, there are a wide range of programmatic advertising platforms available, this makes it crucial for advertisers to use cross-channel strategies.
Marketers need to consider each and every platform available so that they can target customers who switch between devices and channels in order to enhance their entertainment and avoid ads. In addition to TV ads, marketers need to consider CTV ads and social campaigns.
With so many channels to choose from, how do you narrow it down and choose which channels to focus on?
Cross-channel puts personas in the driver’s seat
The deciding factor in choosing a channel is always going to be your persona. Who your customer is will determine where they are most likely to see, and engage with, your ads.
Creating a unique set of customer personas for your company gives marketers an essential upper hand. Without a persona in place, marketers won’t be able to effectively determine which cross-channel activities are right for them.
TV ads
While traditional TV audiences are trending downwards, certain audiences remain loyal to cable television. If your brand is targeting one of these demographics, then TV is likely an essential channel for your cross-channel strategy.
Older customers are one of the most obvious groups to still pay for, and regularly watch, cable. Baby boomers consistently make up the largest demographic of TV viewers. This makes cable networks the ideal place to advertise when targeting older audiences, but also a great place to fill the gaps left by CTV.
When TV and CTV strategies compliment each other, markets have the opportunity to ensure their content is not only tailored to their audiences, but that no one is left behind.
CTV ads
As audiences shift away from traditional TV, streaming services offer a viable solution to reach them. To fully understand CTV advertising, refer to our comprehensive Guide to Connected Television Advertising (CTV).
Certain demographics are more likely to choose CTV for their entertainment; by creating strong personas for your brand’s target audiences, you can best decide which CTV platforms perform well for your organization.
The audiences most known for hanging out in the CTV space are young adults, but millennials, as a whole, are the audience with the highest viewership. 85% of CTV subscribers are under the age of 45. The greatest viewership is among those 25 to 34, although the greatest penetration is among those 33 to 44. This makes the millennial generation the most impactful target for CTV ads.
Digital ads
Who doesn’t love digital? Digital marketing is, of course, a necessary part of any businesses marketing strategy in the 21st century. But it is also a critical space for cross-channel considerations.
Social advertisements and paid search are just a couple of channels that fall under the guise of digital marketing.
Most social media users in the US are between the ages of 25 and 34. But that being said, different social networks attract different demographics. TikTok, for instance, still has a majority user base of 25 to 34 year olds, but 18 to 24 year olds are only 0.3% behind. These nuances are important when creating ads for individual platforms.
Marketers need to utilize cross-channel and omni-channel strategies in order to stay ahead of the competition and by creating a unique persona for their company, marketers gain the necessary intelligence to decide which platforms make the most sense for their business.
Cross-channel approaches informed by well-researched personas give marketers the opportunity to create a customer journey tailored for their target audience.
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