Explore, Validate, and Build Your New Advertising Channel Strategy for Q4 Success

The paid media landscape is changing, and now more than ever, it's essential to determine touchpoints consumers have with your brand to identify and map new opportunities. Understanding the gaps you are looking to fill in your existing marketing mix is critical to maximizing your paid media strategy's return on investment (ROI). 

A single-channel strategy in the face of ongoing iOS and user-privacy updates is no longer a viable solution. With the rise of Meta-adjacent platforms, relying on a dated ad strategy will not yield favourable results. Launching a new channel strategy requires understanding your audience's nuances and interactions with your brand. Now is the time to explore, validate, and build new channel strategies - before Q4, when budgets scale and the stakes increase.

Considerations for Developing Your New Channel Strategy

Rising cost per mile (CPM) on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram make it beneficial to explore other channels for an upper-funnel acquisition strategy. 

Performance Creative

Whether Pinterest, TikTok, Snapchat, or any other channel, one of the first steps in developing your new channel strategy is to consider how users leverage these platforms. Specific channels align better with certain demographics—you may notice Pinterest has a significant proportion of users who identify as women. Once you’ve thought about your target audience and where they live, you must determine how you will curate your brand message to fit within the platform experience. 

What works for Pinterest will not work for TikTok; this extends from creative to the landing page experience. While Facebook and Instagram have shown extended viewing from paid sources, consumers watch TikTok in shorter bursts. If your landing pages are not concise, you will notice a high bounce rate as the experience does not match the platform.

With this in mind, consider what creative assets and landing page requirements you will need to scale into the new channels. For example, if you are using a platform like TikTok or Snapchat,  where polished content is not as prized as a platform like Instagram, a DIY or humanized approach may resonate more with the intended audience. 

Channel Measurement & Validation

The paid media landscape has become increasingly complex with the rise of new platforms. Media mix modelling (MMM) and unified measurement and reporting are essential for any new channel strategy. Your new channel strategy should include tools that allow you to draw insightful conclusions across vast amounts of data.

MMMs help draw connections across all of your advertising investments. Do they provide answers to questions like "What drove sales?" "What was my ROI?" You can miss out on critical insights needed to drive future campaign success without the ability to compare advertising efforts across new channels.

Need Help With Your New Channel Strategy?

Fill the gap in your marketing mix and reach new audiences for Q4 success. To learn more about developing a new channel strategy, contact Northern today.