In this article we shared last week, Danny Quick, spoke on how the channel doesn't really matter, but how much people care about the content. Marketing speaker Samuel Scott posted this controversial piece in TechCrunch just now, which speaks along the same lines.
For anyone in promotion, we recommend giving this piece a read-over.
"Marketing campaigns have always involved the creation of a message, the insertion of that message into a piece of content and the transmission of that content over a channel to an audience."
[This is] in an effort to build brands, increase demand and move people down sales funnels.
– Samuel Scott
Scott explains that it's not the channels that make or break your campaigns, but the quality of the message – and getting that message to the audience. Spoiler alert: it does involve some creativity to get this right. Endless direct-marketing campaigns are the quickest route to ad-blocker.
Campaigns built on easy to measure ROI statistics, can be run at the expense of the long-term value of the brand perception and the perceived quality of what it stands for.
Google Analytics has made us addicted to stats that are easily countable, but not necessarily the most relevant. It's the vanity metrics, or the term Quick used 'top level engagement'. They're helpful, but they're not everything. In Scott's words: "they track the source of traffic but not the cause of that traffic".
Better Practice
Marketing shouldn't be limited to a specific channel. It should be about communicating a message to an audience. Sometimes a billboard works best, and sometimes door-to-door sales. Facebook is excellent for somethings, and sometimes a geofilter can really make a difference.
Creating a commercial? Make it an awesome commercial, Scott describes and links to the brilliant ad by Dollar Shave Club. He goes on to explain that there's some confusion about terminology in marketing
Here is an explanation of the five elements to any promotion: Direct Marketing, Advertising, Personal Selling, Sales Promotion, Publicity.
The elements are not bound to the channel. And advertisement can be online or offline. Publicity can be printed, and then circulated online. It's not the channel that matters, it's the activity.