All it really takes is one marketing channel for a business to get started on the road to success. Maybe it’s Facebook ads or Google search or word-of-mouth that randomly takes off. That one channel becomes the lifeblood of new customer acquisition week over week. The opportunity presents itself as clear as day to funnel everything into the one channel that’s presently working and ride the wave as long as possible.
But businesses that sustain growth over years don’t operate that way. They acquire customers through numerous channels—even in the face of one working better than others. This is not to say there’s excessive cautionary operating or hedging for no reason; there are standard policies in place that lend to a healthy marketing ecosystem, and this allows for the coexistence of many channels regardless of performance, ensuring success over time.
The Platform is Not Controlled
Placing all marketing efforts into one channel creates a vulnerability that most businesses don’t recognize until it’s too late. When platforms change their algorithms, rules, or plans, there’s nothing a company can do about it. The steady stream of customers can be cut overnight through policy changes that favor the company but do nothing for those who rely upon them for digital consumption.
Look at organic Facebook reach over the last ten years. Those who thought free and organic posts would make the most sense built their entire businesses on such an ideology; now, however, they see their reach diminished from healthy double-digit percentages down to 2-3% of the people who like their pages. Those that survived this change diversified in their efforts.
The same is true on every platform. Google changes its algorithm and ranking with the wind. Instagram re-vamps how its channel works daily. TikTok alters the recommendation system for users. Relying on one platform as customer entry means any one or all of these changes will create chaos.
Channels Are Diminishing Returns – and That’s the Point
Channels operate at diminishing returns, but they also provide newfound opportunities that those with a single channel miss out entirely. There are various stages of audience intention where different platforms resonate best based on location and intention.
For example, a customer learns about a company through display advertising, does research in search, and through retargeting gets convinced to purchase. A second customer learns through content marketing, checks reviews and inquiries, but ultimately makes a purchase after seeing a great promotional offer at just the right time. The more opportunities presented through multiple channels and strategies, the better as each encourages different aspects of customer intentions and stages of decision-making.
Moreover, generally speaking for most channels, increased spend yields lower returns per unit and attempts at acquisition. The first $1,000 a company spends typically reaps greater rewards than the tenth. This means that instead of funneling everything into one single channel to try and maximize customer acquisition for businesses’ benefit at increased cost (especially with all of the channels operating on set percentages), it’s better to keep reinvesting at lower amounts across multiple channels without ever pushing any single channel into low-reward territory.
Test, Test, Test – But Choose Wisely
Creating a multifaceted approach does not come from starting day one with ten new channels at once. Instead, it comes from attempting to test new channels while sustaining what’s currently working. A business might stick with 70-80% of its budget for what’s currently working to foster growth for another 20-30% attempted through fledgling channels until a sense of direction emerges.
Moreover, context is king; certain advertising formats lend themselves to certain areas and intention; display ads work for brand awareness; search ads work for high-intent traffic; alternative formats work for users in fashions that traditional display advertising would miss completely. For instance, partnering with a popunder ad network connects relevant users through advertising that does not compete but works in collaboration with display strategy while providing different context.
A channel should be run long enough to acquire data—at least a month or several hundred conversions—ideally considered through its eventual role in the overall customer journey—and not just upon immediate ROAS, although that’s critical too. It’s important because all channels play different roles: some create awareness where others nurture effort at consideration.
How Diversification Helps Weather Chaos
Ultimately, businesses that succeed over time view channels as an investment portfolio instead of investing everything into one venture hoping it comes through big in the end. Companies benefit from reduced competition when an offer becomes increasingly competitive; what works for another company may not work for an existing competitor at the same time; therefore, revenue potential grows exponentially when no single offer gets overzealous appeal.
It also protects against shocks when working across multiple channels. How many brands run Facebook ads only? When iOS privacy updates made Facebook tracking virtually impossible when everyone opted out of cookies as best they could in an attempt to be private, those companies scrambling who relied solely on Facebook for traffic efforts found themselves in dire straits. Those with attention coming from various avenues managed to shift budgeting and resources accordingly while they adapted to new industry standards.
User habits change; market realities change. Those who are on Facebook might not be on Google during down times or upheavals elsewhere—but those with diversified investments find that a component is always working in their favor.
Multi-Channel Meets Practicality
Beyond this risk avoidance, practicality benefits come secondary to any additional consideration. Acquiring data from multiple sources demonstrates what different audiences find compelling about what other products or offerings appeal to various segments—intelligence that feeds back product development and pricing decisions and ultimately business decisions.
Moreover, customer acquisition cost benefits from diversification when companies boast equity upon reaching individuals capable of acquiring customers through numerous channels instead of just one. At times lucrative through paid search, they might otherwise be cheaper through display advertising alternatives or vice versa; either way, logical paths emerge based upon segmented audience considerations.
Final Thoughts
Market channels should complement each other instead of cannibalizing each one’s strengths. Different purposes are designated within multimodal endeavors that rarely work to get hold of cold audiences compared to retargeting efforts and immediate offers or extended brand awareness value.
The best way to start this process immediately is with low budgets without rethinking what’s currently successful. Instead, champion one or two new channels that suit business needs and audience characteristics and go from there with trial-and-error utilizing percentages of different investments until it makes sense along the way.
It’s not about making every single channel work equally; it’s about finding equity within an ecosystem that champions growth in various ways with different immediate options where multimodal efforts can stabilize and create additional opportunities otherwise unavailable from single-channel-based endeavors.
Those businesses who champion this from the start will enjoy long-term growth sustainably as they’ll take advantage of options that narrow-minded approaches simply cannot.