Which marketing channels should you focus on as a new business owner?

As a new business owner, it can be a daunting prospect sitting down to create your marketing strategy and deciding which marketing channels will bring the most benefit. Not only do you not want to waste precious budget but you also want peace of mind that you’re setting your new mobile app design business up for success. With that in mind, let’s look at one of the most important components of your marketing plan; that of determining which marketing channels to focus on as a new business owner.

Read on for our suggestions…

1. Owned media

Owned media refers to those marketing assets that you own and control – that is to say, your business website, your social media channels and similar. The up side of owned media is that it is exactly that – something that you own and can therefore exert total control over, from the look and feel to the content, frequency of update and how it is promoted.

For any business owner, owned media is a key marketing channel. This part of your marketing activity will play a key role in attracting and converting clients. It’s where you’ll showcase your knowledge, your expertise and your capability. As you control every aspect of it, you can decide how it develops and how and why you use it.

2. Paid media

Paid media is, as the name suggests, something that you pay for. Paid social meida ads, Google ads, newspaper ads even radio spots or conference sponsorship or influencer marketing. Paid media is a way to amplify your message and extend your reach by tapping in to someone else’s audience. You’ll need to allocate a budget and decide how that budget is split between all of the paid for activity that you deem appropriate. While you will have control over certain elements such as ad text and creative, you won’t control other aspects.

3. Earned media

Earned media is distinct to both owned and paid in that you can’t pay for it and you can’t control it. It isn’t something you can book or in most cases, plan for. This marketing channel is purely the result of someone writing about your business – that could take the form of a newspaper article, a link in a blog post or a shout out on social media. As you become more established and well known in your field, it could also encompass things such as invitations to speak at conferences and seminars.

Earned media is often one of the most valuable of media channels because it adds third party credibility to your brand. Being featured in a prominent publication for example may carry more weight for a decision maker than one of your own PPC adverts.

As a business owner, you’ll realise that there is no perfect mix of owned, earned and paid media. You should aim to have some of each and balance your channels to give the best reach. Over time, as you gather data and track conversions, you’ll be able to adjust your focus and spend to those channels that serve you best.