Different activities are used to evaluate marketing channel options.  Here is a brief overview of some of the different stages in a marketing plan, and, how channel options can affect your decision making process with internal or customer marketing.

A. Determine customer requirements

Do some market research.  There are various types of channels that we can utilize to reach our goals.  What is the customer trying to accomplish?  If the customer is looking to advertise online, do they want to brand, or do they want to generate leads by marketing white papers?  Are they looking for people in the United States only, or maybe an international audience?  It is crucial to understand the client’s requirements.  Finally, it is also important to find out what contextual channels they are looking to hit.

B. Evaluate potential intermediaries

Sometimes there is room for third parties, and with channel options, these third parties can many times be necessary to achieve a diversified reach.  In marketing, third parties coming between an advertiser and a publisher are typically known as agencies.  Agencies can be great because they do the market research for you, plan to target a select niche, come up with creative, and sign on the publishers.  Advertising agencies know more about marketing channels than anyone out there, and they will indicate which options are best, and get approval, all before marketing your message.

C. Analyze costs

Different options carry different costs.  Going back to the online advertising example, budget is key.  In the information technology sector, advertising with the use of banners and interactive marketing units can cost anywhere from $20-$80 CPM, meaning cost per thousand impressions.  Lead generation, however, can be as much as $80 CPL, or $80 per unique lead in a white paper program.  It is essential to analyze costs and budget before deciding which channels make the most sense for your company’s message.

D. Specify constraints-create the bounded system

What are your constraints?  The limitations or restrictions that you may possess can interfere with your channel options.  For example, if you had made the decision to utilize a specific, or several specific channels, not having the right budget in place can hinder your plan.  Other constraints such as geography can play a role in your channel decisions as well.  If you are only located in the Northeast like Tastykake, this is a geographic constraint, since it realistically makes no sense to market to everyone in the US.  In other words, rather than the simplicity putting one ad in the USA Today, you’re forced to put many of the same ads in several, more local publications to hit the proper crowd.  This can be more expensive depending on the circumstances and your business process.

E. Compare options

Different channels are going to offer different options.  With marketing in mind, who are you trying to reach – a specific age group perhaps?  Men and women combined, or maybe just one gender?  Comparing options can help you find the right niche to target.  It’s also important to compare channel options due to different pricing models and different duration periods.  Do you want to saturate a market for a few months, or, just hit them quickly with a hard message?  Is it B2C, or B2B marketing?

F. Review constraints and assumptions

Constraints and assumptions are always going to be present in any marketing process.  Different constraints can limit your target audience or even your advertising budget.  It is okay to make assumptions, but it is not okay to act on them blindly.  Use some secondary or firsthand research to determine whether or not your assumptions were on point, and if so, make the decision to use the proper channel options in enacting on these market assumptions.

G. Evaluate gaps

Where are the gaps in your marketing plan?  Are you sure that you are hitting all of the target groups that you had planned on?  Or, even worse, are you hitting too many different groups – some of which who will have no interest in your solution?  Gaps can become large problems if overlooked before implementation.  Make sure that everything is written out and concise, and then use the proper channel options to saturate your plan with exposure.

H. Implementation

Upon implementation, channel options are already in place.  Sometimes, however, certain parts of a plan get scrapped and new parts added on. Upon implementation, it is possible to run out of funds prematurely.  It is also possible to get a late, or even an early start on things (rarely).  If any of these events occur, it is important to look at your channel options and decide which ones are critical.  Once you have this in place, you can look into which options are alright to drop, and what additional (new) options might be worth picking up.  Targeting and market decisions are never complete, even in the implementation phase.