For years, marketers have told you that you need to be everywhere. Have a website, start a blog, build your email list, do a podcast, get a YouTube channel, post on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and don’t forget LinkedIn! That’s a lot to wrap your head around. A more effective strategy is to focus on one marketing channel at a time.
When I started The Brand Sketch I tried to do it all. I was blogging, building an email list, making training videos, recording podcasts, writing articles on LinkedIn, and using every social media platform at my disposal. It was dizzying work, but I wasn’t making any traction. I felt overwhelmed and I was getting burned out. I had to change something.
I was reading Joe Pulizzi’s book Content Inc. where he outlines a pretty solid content marketing strategy: build your audience before you create your product. I’m not going to dive into that topic today, I’ll discuss that in a later episode, but he mentioned something in the book that caught my attention.
He said:
“In the beginning, it’s important to focus on creating amazing and relevant content with mostly one content channel (podcast, video, blog, etc.).”
“Over the long term, you’ll be distributing your content through a number of channels, but right now you need to make a decision about the “core” channel.”
That was a lightbulb moment for me. I realized I was trying to do too many things all at once, and I wasn’t doing any of them very well.
I needed to get laser-focused on one marketing channel. I needed to pick a core channel and master it before moving on to the next one.
Today, I’m going to dig into this idea of focusing on one marketing channel at a time. Why should you use only one marketing channel? How will this help you grow your business? Why is this a better strategy than being everywhere?
Content marketing channels
Content marketing is any type of content you’re creating to promote your business. Content can be in the form of words, audio, images, videos, infographics, presentations, etc.
Channels are the platforms that you choose to distribute your content. Your website, blog, email, podcast, YouTube, Instagram, and other social media platforms are all considered marketing channels.
Why you should focus on one marketing channel at a time
1. You get to focus on your passion and your strength.
When you adopt a one-channel marketing strategy, you don’t have to spread yourself all over the place, and you don’t have to use something if you don’t want to. You get to pick which channel you want to use as your core channel.
Let’s say you love doing video. Maybe you’ve been creating videos on Facebook Live or a YouTube channel for years. You already understand video, how the platforms work, and you’re already good at it.
So then if you decided to start a blog, you’d have a bit of a learning curve. And you might not even like blogging, in fact, you may hate it. My advice is don’t do it!
Stick with what you know and what you like.
If you’re a passionate writer then, by all means, start a blog. If you love taking photos, Instagram might be a great place for you to concentrate your marketing efforts.
Do what you love and you’ll love what you do.
2. You will get really good at your core channel.
Have you ever tried learning a musical instrument? It’s usually a slow and tedious process. It takes a while to get good at playing the piano, for example.
Can you imagine trying to learn two or three or even four instruments at the same time? If you want to play the piano, focus all of your efforts on learning the piano.