Many marketing people are currently devising their marketing plans for 2010. Working through strategy, customer profiles and competitive audits will ensure you have developed the proper strategic messaging. Beyond the strategy, take a hard look at the delivery tactics this year. It is very easy to get caught up using the latest trends such as social media or other online tactics that seem to receive a lot of attention. I am not suggesting these are not effective, but as you develop the tactical elements of your plan, take a moment to survey how your target audience is consuming their media.
The fact it, there are numerous potential media channels that you can leverage to reach your target audiences. Blogs, wikis, podcasts, vodcasts, social networks, mobile, web portals, webinars, e-newsletters, traditional print magazines, trade shows, RSS feeds, industry web sites, are only a few of these sources.
How do you know which are the right channels to reach your audience? In the B to B market, it varies widely and can change often.
Where do you start? Here are some simple suggestions for identifying where your audience consumes media:
1. Check your web site analytics to determine the top referring sources to your website.
2. Utilize sites like www.technorati.com or www.blogpulse.com to search your company name and keywords to find out if you are being mentioned in blogs.
3. Sign up for Google news alerts for your company name and keywords.
4. Ask your own technical staff where they go to follow the industry and get information.
5. Search social network sites like www.linkedin.com for groups related to your industry, then join and participate.
6. Identify your industry’s guru’s and opinion leaders; conduct a Google search to determine if they are blogging – if they are sign up for RSS feeds
7. Identify your industry’s lead generation sites, and evaluate the presence of your competitors.
8. Survey your current customers and prospects.
