15 marketing channels: How to Choose the Best Ones

Want to grow your business? Choosing the right marketing channels can boost customer retention by 91% and increase revenue by up to 23%. But with so many options - social media, email, SEO, TV ads, and more - it’s easy to waste money on the wrong ones.

Here’s the key: Focus on channels that align with your audience, goals, and budget. Most marketers stick to 3–4 channels for maximum efficiency. Whether it’s digital (websites, social media), direct (email, SMS), or indirect (affiliate, influencer), each type has its strengths.

Quick Tip: Use tools like Latenode to automate and integrate all your channels, saving time and cutting costs.

Let’s break down the 15 channels and how to pick the best ones for your business.

Marketing Channels: Explained in 10 minutes

Types of Marketing Channels

Marketing channels are the routes businesses use to connect with and engage their target audiences [6]. By understanding the four main categories, businesses can make informed decisions about where to focus their efforts and resources. Each type serves a unique purpose and works best in specific contexts. However, the real advantage lies in blending these channels effectively. Companies with robust omnichannel strategies retain 89% of their customers on average [8], demonstrating how a multi-channel approach builds trust across various platforms [6]. Let’s explore each type for a clearer understanding.

Digital Channels

Digital channels include websites, social media, email, and online advertising [8]. These have become the cornerstone of modern marketing, with 93% of businesses in the U.S. leveraging social media [7] and 81% of small businesses relying on email as their primary marketing tool [8].

What makes digital channels so appealing is their ability to target specific audiences with precision. Unlike traditional methods that cast a wide net, digital marketing uses data to engage particular groups more effectively [5]. For instance, email marketing is highly cost-efficient, delivering an impressive $42 return for every $1 spent [8].

Another advantage is real-time tracking, which allows businesses to monitor performance instantly and adjust strategies on the fly. This adaptability makes digital channels a must-have for companies aiming to remain competitive in today’s fast-paced market. Tools like Latenode can automate key tasks in this area, ensuring seamless integration with broader marketing efforts.

Next, let’s consider how traditional channels contribute to building brand recognition.

Traditional Channels

Traditional channels encompass TV commercials, print ads, and billboards [5]. While digital marketing dominates the conversation today, traditional methods still hold a vital place in a well-rounded strategy. They are particularly effective at creating widespread brand awareness and reaching large audiences all at once.

Although traditional marketing often lacks the precision of digital methods, it excels in establishing credibility and making a lasting impression. For example, TV ads during major events, billboard campaigns in high-traffic areas, and print ads in respected magazines can leave a memorable impact that digital channels sometimes struggle to replicate.

The success of traditional marketing depends heavily on timing and placement. These channels are excellent for businesses looking to quickly build awareness or establish authority in their industry. Local businesses, in particular, can benefit from targeting specific geographic areas. Latenode can assist here by automating tasks and ensuring these efforts align with your overall strategy.

From traditional methods, we move to direct channels that focus on personal connections.

Direct Channels

Direct channels are all about one-on-one interactions with potential customers [6]. They provide opportunities for personalized communication, immediate feedback, and tailored messaging. Examples include direct mail campaigns, sales teams, and direct response marketing.

The growing significance of direct channels is evident, with direct-to-consumer (D2C) sales expected to increase by 16% in 2024 [8]. These channels give businesses more control over the customer experience, enabling them to build stronger, more personal relationships with their audience.

While direct channels often require a higher initial investment and more active management, they also offer significant benefits. These include higher profit margins, better opportunities for collecting customer data, and complete control over distribution and customer interactions. Latenode simplifies the management of direct channels by automating processes and integrating them into your overall marketing strategy.

Finally, indirect channels leverage partnerships to widen a business’s reach.

Indirect Channels

Indirect channels rely on intermediaries like wholesalers, retailers, and third-party partners [8]. These channels use the networks and credibility of others to expand their reach. Common strategies include affiliate marketing, influencer partnerships, word-of-mouth campaigns, and events.

The key advantage of indirect channels is their ability to extend reach without a proportional increase in marketing expenses. Sharing costs with partners can reduce financial strain, and strong vendor relationships may result in additional savings [4]. This allows companies to focus on their core activities while partners handle distribution and customer acquisition.

However, there are trade-offs. Businesses have less control over the customer experience and must share profits with intermediaries. Success in this channel hinges on selecting the right partners and maintaining strong, collaborative relationships.

Latenode plays a vital role in managing these diverse channels by automating data flow between systems. Whether you’re tracking leads from social media, analyzing direct mail responses, or coordinating with affiliate partners, Latenode helps unify these efforts into a single, cohesive system. This ensures complete visibility into your marketing performance and simplifies the complexities of multi-channel strategies.

15 Marketing Channels to Consider

Every marketing channel has its own role in connecting with your audience, but the secret to success lies in choosing the right combination to meet your business goals. Businesses that adopt a multichannel marketing strategy see an average of 91% higher annual customer retention rates [1], underscoring the importance of thoughtful channel selection. Below, we’ll break down 15 key channels across four categories to help you craft an effective marketing mix. You’ll also see how Latenode can seamlessly integrate these channels to streamline your efforts.

Digital Channels: Website, Social Media, SEO, and Email

Website
Your website acts as the central hub of your online presence, where potential customers can explore your offerings and make buying decisions. A well-designed, mobile-friendly site ensures you maintain control over your brand’s image and customer experience. Costs can vary widely, depending on the level of customization. With Latenode, you can automate tasks like routing contact form submissions to your CRM or triggering follow-up emails based on visitor behavior.

Social Media Marketing
Social platforms connect you with billions of active users worldwide [9]. They’re ideal for building brand awareness, engaging with your audience, and driving traffic to your website. Costs range from minimal (organic content) to significant (paid ads). Latenode simplifies social media management by automating post scheduling and syncing leads directly into your sales systems.

Email Marketing
Email continues to be a reliable tool, with an estimated 362 billion emails sent daily by 2024 [9]. It’s perfect for nurturing leads and maintaining relationships with existing customers, with relatively low costs. Latenode can segment your email lists automatically based on customer actions and trigger personalized campaigns when specific conditions are met.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO ensures your website appears in search results when potential customers are looking for your products or services. While it requires time and effort, it’s a cost-effective way to generate long-term traffic. Latenode helps by automating content distribution across platforms and tracking keyword performance on a centralized dashboard.

Next, let’s dive into how traditional channels can amplify brand recognition.

Traditional Channels: TV, Print, and Outdoor Advertising

Television Commercials
TV ads are an excellent way to reach large audiences quickly, making them ideal for brand awareness campaigns or product launches targeting broad demographics. However, the costs - covering both production and airtime - can be steep. With Latenode, you can monitor the success of TV campaigns by analyzing website traffic spikes that align with ad schedules.

Print Advertising
This includes newspapers, magazines, and direct mail, making it effective for local businesses or targeting specific groups that consume print media. Costs range from moderate to high. Latenode integrates print ad inquiries into your digital workflows, automating responses and follow-ups.

Outdoor Advertising
Billboards, transit ads, and digital displays in high-traffic areas help build brand awareness in specific locations. Costs vary but tend to be moderate to high. Latenode can align outdoor campaigns with digital efforts by tracking location-based mobile engagement.

Traditional methods often complement direct interactions, which we’ll explore next.

Direct Channels: Personal Outreach Methods

Direct Mail
Sending physical promotional materials can effectively target local customers or specific demographics, especially with high-value offers. Costs are moderate. Latenode streamlines direct mail campaigns by using customer data to trigger mailings based on specific actions.

Sales Teams
Sales representatives provide a personalized touch, addressing customer needs and questions in real time. This approach works best for high-value products that require detailed explanations or customization. While costs are higher, the returns can justify the investment. Latenode enhances efficiency by automating lead distribution and syncing customer interaction data across platforms.

Direct Response Marketing
This includes phone calls, SMS, and other immediate-action campaigns. With SMS boasting a 98% open rate - much higher than email or push notifications [9] - it’s ideal for time-sensitive offers. Costs are relatively low to moderate. Latenode automates SMS campaigns based on customer behavior and integrates responses into your marketing database.

Now, let’s look at how indirect channels expand your reach through partnerships and referrals.

Indirect Channels: Partnerships and Referrals

Affiliate Marketing
This approach involves partnering with individuals or companies who promote your products in exchange for a commission. Spending on affiliate marketing in the U.S. reached $9.56 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow to $10.72 billion in 2024 [9]. It’s particularly effective for businesses with high-margin products. Latenode simplifies affiliate management by automating tracking, commission calculations, and payment processing, while also integrating performance data.

Influencer Marketing
Collaborating with social media influencers allows you to tap into their audience, especially younger demographics or niche communities. The industry is valued at $24 billion in 2024 [9]. Costs can range widely depending on the influencer. Latenode helps by automating outreach campaigns and tracking metrics for each partnership.

Event Marketing
Whether it’s trade shows, webinars, or conferences, events are ideal for B2B companies or showcasing products that require live demonstrations. Costs vary but tend to be moderate to high. Latenode automates event registration, follow-up communications, and lead qualification workflows, saving time and effort.

Word-of-Mouth Marketing
Encouraging satisfied customers to recommend your business is one of the most cost-effective strategies. It works best when paired with a referral system. Costs are generally low, limited to incentives for referrals. Latenode automates the entire process, from tracking referrals to distributing rewards and following up with both referrers and new customers.

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How to Pick the Right Marketing Channels

Selecting the right marketing channels can significantly impact the success of your marketing efforts. Missteps in this area are costly - every year, $37 billion is wasted on ads that fail to connect with their intended audience [11]. To avoid this, it’s essential to make informed, data-driven decisions. Here’s a practical guide to building an effective channel selection process.

Know Your Target Audience

Understanding your audience is the cornerstone of choosing the right channels. Personalization matters - 68% of consumers now expect tailored experiences [10]. To meet these expectations, you need a deep understanding of your customers' preferences, behaviors, and motivations.

Start by gathering data. Tools like Google Analytics can help you track user behavior, such as traffic sources and engagement patterns [11]. Combine this with demographic insights to build detailed customer personas. These personas should include key traits like age, interests, and preferred platforms. For example, professionals aged 30–49 often favor platforms like Facebook (78%), Instagram (66%), and YouTube (94%), while email remains highly effective, engaging 92% of U.S. internet users by April 2024 [15].

As Sunil Gupta explains, "While you can try and market a product to everyone, consumers have different needs and preferences. What appeals to one group of consumers may not appeal to another group" [10].

This highlights why audience research is critical - not only to avoid wasting resources but also to enhance engagement and results.

Check Your Budget and Resources

Your budget and team capacity directly influence which channels you can manage effectively. High-quality customer data is pivotal, with 82% of marketers emphasizing its importance for success [10]. Evaluating your resources allows you to focus on channels with the highest potential return, which, according to McKinsey, can increase marketing ROI by 15–20% [14].

Consider both initial and ongoing costs. For instance, email marketing may have low upfront expenses but requires consistent effort for content creation and list management. On the other hand, television ads involve significant production and airtime costs. Social media campaigns are often more flexible, starting with minimal investment and scaling as needed.

Allocate more resources to channels that consistently deliver strong results, and monitor performance throughout your campaigns. This approach ensures your spending aligns with what works best for your goals [15].

Define Your Marketing Goals

Clear, measurable goals are essential for selecting the right channels and allocating your budget effectively. Objectives should align with your broader marketing strategy, whether it’s increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic, or generating leads [13].

Different channels excel at different tasks. For example, direct response channels are ideal for immediate conversions, while billboards are better for building awareness. Email and content marketing often work well for nurturing leads.

Your strategy for acquiring new customers might differ from how you retain existing ones. Tracking metrics like ROI, ROAS (Return on Ad Spend), and customer acquisition cost is crucial for understanding the impact of your choices and refining your strategy over time [13].

Test and Track Results

Testing is a safeguard against expensive missteps and can uncover unexpected opportunities. Use A/B testing to refine ad creatives, landing pages, and audience segments, optimizing for better conversions and ROI [13]. Experiment with new platforms and messages to see what resonates [15].

For instance, personalized emails can generate six times more revenue than generic campaigns [12]. Start small with new channels to evaluate their potential before scaling up. Keep an eye on emerging platforms with fewer competitors but high engagement potential [15].

Continuously monitor performance metrics and adjust your budget as objectives and market conditions evolve. Reviewing past results can reveal trends and guide future campaigns.

Once you’ve tested and refined your approach, integration becomes key.

Connect Channels with Latenode

Bringing your channels together creates a unified and efficient marketing strategy. Integration ensures that your campaigns work in harmony, maximizing their impact. Automation, for example, can increase email revenue by up to 320% [16], showcasing the value of connected workflows.

Latenode simplifies this process by enabling seamless integration across multiple channels. For instance, when a user fills out a contact form on your website, Latenode can automatically add them to your email marketing platform, send a welcome message, create a lead record in your CRM, and notify your sales team - all without manual input.

You can also automate retargeting campaigns triggered by user behavior, schedule follow-up emails, and sync social media leads into your sales system. This ensures no leads are overlooked and every interaction is optimized for conversion.

Additionally, Latenode’s robust analytics and customizable workflows provide a comprehensive view of your marketing efforts. This helps you better understand your audience and refine your strategies in real time [2]. Whether coordinating email campaigns with social media posts or aligning offline event leads with digital follow-ups, Latenode handles the technical details so you can focus on strategy and creativity.

Get Better Results with Latenode Automation

Selecting the right marketing channels is just the beginning; managing them effectively is where the real challenge lies. Marketing automation has been shown to boost sales productivity by 14.5% while cutting marketing overhead by 12.2% [19]. For businesses aiming to scale their efforts without overwhelming their resources, automation becomes a game-changer.

The impact of integrated marketing is undeniable. Campaigns using three or more channels achieve a 494% higher order rate compared to single-channel campaigns [17]. However, juggling multiple channels manually can lead to inefficiencies that drain time and limit growth. This is where automation steps in to unify and streamline your marketing operations.

Latenode simplifies this process by automating routine tasks, allowing teams to focus on strategy and creativity. With the ability to integrate over 300 apps, Latenode ensures your CRM, email marketing tools, social media platforms, and analytics dashboards work together seamlessly.

Businesses using marketing automation to nurture leads report a 451% increase in qualified prospects [19]. Additionally, every dollar spent on marketing automation generates an average return of $5.44 [20], making it one of the most efficient investments in modern marketing.

"We're saving on average over 16,000 hours annually on customized content creation, which translates to over $500k in annual marketing spend that can now be allocated elsewhere without sacrificing sales support." - Channel Manager, Fortune 100 Healthcare Company [21]

Latenode stands out with its adaptability. Its customizable workflows [3] let you design automation sequences tailored to customer behavior. Whether it's triggering personalized responses, adapting to specific actions, or maintaining consistency across multiple channels, the platform ensures your campaigns are both effective and flexible.

Another advantage is Latenode's cost structure, which is based solely on processing time [3]. This means you can build intricate workflows without worrying about arbitrary limitations or paying for unused features.

Start small and scale as you learn [22]. Automate repetitive tasks first, but keep workflows flexible to handle unique cases [18]. For example, you can connect contact forms on your website to an email marketing platform, sync leads from social media to your CRM, or set up automated follow-ups based on customer actions. Latenode equips you with the tools to make your marketing system smarter and more efficient, paving the way for scalable growth.

The businesses that thrive in the future will be those that can efficiently coordinate channels and deliver tailored experiences. By automating and connecting your marketing efforts, Latenode helps you unlock the full potential of an integrated strategy. With its advanced automation capabilities, you’re not just managing channels - you’re building a dynamic marketing system that evolves alongside your business.

FAQs

How do I choose the best marketing channels for my audience and business goals?

To select the most effective marketing channels, start by diving into your audience's habits and preferences. Identify where they spend their time - whether that’s scrolling through social media, checking their email, or engaging on other platforms. Understanding their behaviors and preferences ensures you focus on channels that genuinely connect with them.

Next, tie your channel choices to your business objectives. Use the SMART framework (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) to define clear goals. For instance, if increasing sales is your priority, focus on channels like email marketing or paid advertisements that are known to drive conversions.

Lastly, take stock of your resources. Assess your budget, team capabilities, and available tools to ensure you can manage and optimize the channels you select. By blending audience knowledge, clear objectives, and resource planning, you can craft a marketing strategy that delivers meaningful results.

What are the main advantages of using marketing automation tools like Latenode for managing multiple channels?

Using marketing automation tools like Latenode offers a range of benefits for managing multiple marketing channels more effectively. By automating time-consuming tasks - such as transferring leads from social media into a CRM or sharing blog posts across various platforms - these tools free up valuable time and reduce the need for manual work. This shift allows marketers to dedicate more energy to strategic planning and creative initiatives.

Another advantage lies in maintaining consistency across channels while enhancing customer engagement. Automation enables the delivery of personalized, timely messages that align with individual preferences, resulting in a better customer experience. This approach not only increases conversion rates but also improves overall marketing ROI. In essence, marketing automation simplifies processes, boosts efficiency, and enables teams to achieve more with less effort.

How can businesses combine traditional and digital marketing channels to boost brand visibility and customer engagement?

Businesses can effectively merge traditional and digital marketing methods by utilizing the strengths of each to deliver a cohesive and engaging experience for their audience. Traditional tools like TV commercials, print ads, and billboards help establish wide visibility and trust, while digital platforms - such as social media, email campaigns, and search engine optimization - excel in targeted outreach and real-time performance tracking.

A practical example of this integration is including a QR code in a print advertisement, directing users to an online landing page. This bridges the gap between offline and online engagement. To achieve the best results, companies should maintain consistent messaging across all channels, use insights from digital campaigns to enhance traditional approaches, and monitor performance metrics to evaluate the success of their combined efforts. This strategy not only boosts brand awareness but also builds stronger, more meaningful relationships with customers.