This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
More Channels and Platforms
On top of massive amounts of data, new channels and platforms are also proliferating rapidly. Although they can be useful for reaching new prospects and customers, their usage can come at a cost: the time needed to learn how to use a new platform, hire someone else to do it, or find an outsourced resource to help. For example, social media encompasses a broad array of possibilities, but what is the appropriate mix—and is it even possible to learn every platform? You might use Twitter and LinkedIn, but should your company also be on Pinterest and Instagram, which weren’t even around a few years ago? What about YouTube? And what will be new tomorrow that needs to be added to the mix?
This never-ending channel proliferation takes time, money, and effort to learn and feed with new content, and should be evaluated over time to ensure that chosen channels are still relevant to buyers. This puts enormous pressure on B2B marketers to continually learn, evaluate, and maintain new channels and platforms. It’s one thing to be responsible for the company’s website; it’s entirely another thing to be responsible for the company’s website, LinkedIn page, Facebook profile, Twitter page, Google+ profile, YouTube channel, AdWords campaigns, Bing campaigns, LinkedIn ads, Facebook ads, retargeting campaigns, analytics reporting, experimentation program, automation platform, targeting and personalization efforts, content marketing, and e-mail marketing, among other things. That’s a lot to learn, master, keep up with, feed, evaluate, and report on, but if you want to be where your buyers are and create the best experience for them, it’s what you have to do.