Marketing channels are channels used by any company to reach their end customers. These channels are generally interdependent on each other and interact with each other so as to ensure that the product reaches from the company to the end customer.

These marketing channels will be examined in full throughout this article. We want to know what they are, why they are important and how they can help your business.

What is Marketing Channels?
What Are The Four Types of Marketing Channels?
What Are The Functions of Marketing Channels
What is a Channel Marketing Strategy?
What Are Digital Marketing Channels
What is Field Marketing
What is Alliance Marketing
What Are The Best Marketing Channels
What is in a Marketing Plan
What is Direct Marketing Channels
What is Integrated Marketing Channels
What is International Marketing Channels

What is Marketing Channels?

Marketing Channels can be defined as the set of people, activities, and the intermediary organizations that play a crucial role in transferring the ownership of the goods from the point of production or manufacturing to the point of consumption.

Read Also: How Word of Mouth Marketing Can Increase Business Revenue

Basically, they are the various channels or platforms through which the products reach to the consumers or the end-users. They are also known as the distribution channels.

What Are The Four Types of Marketing Channels?

Direct Marketing Channel

Direct selling is that medium of distribution in which there is no middle person involved, and the manufacturer directly sells the goods or services to the customer. It is also termed as ‘zero-level channel’.

This type of channel is popular among the services industry. Most of the services like travel, catering, salons fall under the direct marketing channel.

Even when the products are complicated to use like the industrial machinery require direct selling and support from the manufacturer.

The small manufacturer of general goods finds this channel more profitable and cost-efficient since they cannot afford giving margin to the intermediaries.

For Example; In restaurants, the food is prepared as well as served to the consumers.

Indirect Marketing Channels

In this channel of distribution, the goods produced by manufacturing units passes through different intermediaries to reach its final consumer.

The indirect channels can be further classified into the following types, each of which is supported by an example:

One-Level Channel

The single-level channel involves only one middle person, i.e. the retailer who purchases the goods from the manufacturer and sells them to the customers.

The shopping malls and marts use this channel for acquiring products at a low price and selling them to customers at a reasonable price.

Also, the manufacturers of some specialise products like furniture, clothing, footwear, etc. preferably go for the one-level marketing channel.

For Example; Big Bazaar is a retail mart which buys the products directly from the manufacturer and makes it available to the consumers.

Two-Level Channel

The wholesaler buys the goods in large quantity from the manufacturers and supplies it to the various retailers in small amounts. The retailers to the customers then sell these goods.

This channel is preferred by the manufacturers who want to sell their products to obtain market share. It eliminates the expenses which the manufacturer incurs on the sales force, warehousing of goods and other retail selling practices.

It also facilitates mass production and a high volume of sales by increasing the scalability of the manufacturers.

For Example; Rice yield by farmers is purchased and stored in bulk quantity by the wholesalers. The retailers then buy the rice in small portion from the wholesaler and sell it to the customers.

Three-Level Channel

The manufacturer appoints agents or gives the goods to agencies which further distribute the products to selective wholesalers in large quantity. The wholesalers then sell the rice to the retailers in smaller amount who finally sell it to the customers.

This is one of the most commonly used channels of distribution for confectionery products. It is used by the manufacturers who look forward to capturing a massive market by reaching the consumers scattered over a vast geographical area. For instance; in rural marketing.

Even the perishable goods manufactured in large quantity need to be distributed through this medium since the manufacturers cant acquire customers more quickly through any other channel.

For Example; Tata Tea manufactured by the company is sold to the agencies in different regions; these agencies sell it to the wholesalers of their respective areas. The wholesaler further sells it to the retailers from where it reaches the customers.

What Are The Functions of Marketing Channels

Marketing channels serve many functions, including creating utility and facilitating exchange efficiencies.

Although some of these functions may be performed by a single channel member, most functions are accomplished through both independent and joint efforts of channel members.

When managed effectively, the relationships among channel n embers can also form supply chains that benefits all members of the channel, including the ultimate consumer.

1. Price Stability

Maintaining price stability in the market is another function a middleman performs. Many a time the middlemen absorb an increase in the price of the products and continue to charge the customer the same old price.

This is because of the intra-middlemen competition. The middleman also maintains price stability by keeping his overheads low.

2. Promotion

Promoting the product/s in his territory is another function that middlemen perform. Many of them design their own sales incentive programmes, aimed at building customers traffic at the other outlets.

3. Financing

Middlemen finance manufacturers’ operation by providing the necessary working capital in the form of advance payments for goods and services.

The payment is in advance even though the manufacturer may extend credit, because it has to be made even before the products are bought, consumed and paid for by the ultimate consumer.

4. Title

Most middlemen take the title to the goods, services and trade in their own name. This helps in diffusing the risks between the manufacturer and middlemen.

This also enables middlemen to be in physical possession of the goods, which in turn enables them to meet customer demand at very moment it arises.

5. Information Provider

Middlemen have a role in providing information about the market to the manufacturer.

Developments like changes in customer demography, psychography, media habits and the entry of a new competitor or a new brand and changes in customer preferences are some of the information that all manufacturers want.

Since these middlemen are present in the market place and close to the customer they can provide this information at no additional cost.

6. Pricing

In pricing a product, the producer should invite the suggestions from the middlemen who are very close to the ultimate users and know what they can pay for the product. Pricing may be different for different markets or products depending upon the channel of distribution.

7. Help in Production Function

The producer can concentrate on the production function leaving the marketing problem to middlemen who specialize in the profession. Their services can best utilized for selling the product.

The finance, required for organising marketing can profitably be used in production where the rate of return would be greater.

8. Matching Buyers and Sellers

The most crucial activity of the marketing channel members is to match the needs of buyers and sellers.

Normally, most sellers do not know where they can reach potential buyers and similarly, buyers do not know where they can reach potential sellers. From this perspective, the role of the marketing channel to match the buyers’ and sellers’ needs becomes very vital.

For example, a painter of modern art may not know where he can reach his potential customers, but an art dealer would surely know.

What is a Channel Marketing Strategy?

Channel strategy marketing asks brands to consider a selection of factors, including the competitive brand environment, consumer habits, and more.

The critical thing to remember is that not all channels will be relevant to every brand or business.

Since most companies only have a certain amount of resources that they can use, it’s important to find the right selection of channels to drive results. Some common additions to a channel strategy template include:

1. Retail or eCommerce

Perhaps one of the most traditional marketing channel strategy options, retail involves either opening local physical locations that your customers can visit or creating a website through which people can buy your goods and services.

Many modern businesses now combine their eCommerce and retail operations for a two-factor approach. For instance, retail locations can offer additional customer service for online orders, while eCommerce channels can provide additional support for local stores.

2. Digital sales and SEM

For companies who are selling directly to customers and other brands, search engine marketing and SEO have become common components of a strong marketing channel strategy.

“SEM” or search engine marketing is a combination of pay-per-click advertising and search engine optimisation intended to drive attention for your company.

SEM and SEO are all about getting a brand in front of their customers using digital channels, rather than speaking directly to customers or partners.

3. Social media marketing and personal selling

Although search engine campaigns are designed to suit the specific preferences and language of your target audience, they’re not as personal or intimate as some channel strategy options.

Social media marketing is one of the many ways that today’s companies are adapting their channel marketing strategy to suit customers that want to form deeper connections with brands.

Through social campaigns and personal selling, brands can actively promote themselves and engage with consumers at the same time.

4. Email marketing and direct mail

Rather than waiting for your consumers to find you through content that you post online, or in-person store advertisements, you can always take the right information to them. 

Email marketing and direct mail marketing are standard parts of many channel strategy template designs. So much more than just sending messages to your contacts, mail-based marketing is about nurturing your audience and maintaining relationships through valuable, ongoing interactions.

These campaigns take place over a period to build your brand awareness and trust.

5. PR and marketing partners

Speaking of raising brand awareness, when you’re new to an industry or niche, one of the best ways to upgrade your marketing channel strategy is to work with partners.

Marketing affiliates, ambassadors, and even PR partners help to drive attention towards your company by securing media coverage through a range of outlets. The more partners you build in the right environments, the easier it will be to reach customers.

What Are Digital Marketing Channels

All digital marketing channels play a role in the solution for a business and harmoniously play off one another.

Although the most effective digital marketing channels for your business will depend on the considerations we outlined, here are the 5 most effective digital marketing channels that are trending and have been shown to generate considerable results.

1. Video marketing

One of the most dominant digital marketing trends today and likely for the next 5-10 years is video marketing.

These statistics illustrate the importance of incorporating video, into your digital marketing strategy:

• 70 percent of consumers say that they have shared a brand’s video
• 72 percent of businesses say that video has improved their conversion rate
• 52 percent of consumers say that watching product videos makes them more confident in online purchase decisions
• 65 percent of executives visit the marketer’s website and 39 percent call a vendor after viewing a video

Video marketing not only has been proven to build brand awareness, but it’s also extremely effective in boosting your traffic and conversions. Create video blogs (vlogs), based on your blog content.

Smartly embed that video in blog posts, as part of your content marketing strategy. This will attract readership and conversion, plus get more mileage out of your content.

To achieve a broader reach and increase your chances of showing up in search engines, distribute your videos on sites like YouTube and Vimeo. Users view more than one billion hours of video each day on YouTube.

Promote your video on your own social media platforms, to increase social sharing. Presenting key information will help you hook and quickly draw in the user.

Social videos that tend to get the most engagement and shares are short, to the point, provide great content and entertain in a way that’s easy to digest.

Another way to effectively use video and increase conversions is to have it on your website. The reason why video is so valuable on your website is because it enables you to convey your personality. It also leverages influence and persuasion, to a greater capacity than just the written word.

2. Email marketing

Email marketing is one of the most important digital marketing channels because it has the highest ROI of any marketing tactic, according to LYFE Marketing.

It can get as much as a 3800 percent return. That’s $38 in revenue for every $1 you spend. About 20 percent of companies are seeing an ROI of $70 to $1 spent.

Email marketing delivers highly relevant content to a subscriber’s inbox in a non-invasive way. Email campaigns are an excellent way to increase your customers and sales.

Also, it empowers you to get in touch and stay in touch with your customers, by informing them of upcoming events, other services or new product offerings. Be sure to have an updated email list, personalize the emails and incorporate a clear call to action to improve click through rates.

One of the top ways to engage a customer or potential customer and increase traffic to your website, is through an email newsletter.

You can maintain engagement through ongoing email newsletter communications, either weekly or monthly, and offer valuable information to convert or increase your customer base.

Newsletters should inform your target audience about the latest news, updates and tips.

3. Content marketing

Similar to email marketing, content marketing is another one of the most effective digital marketing channels for producing ROI. LYFE Marketing also reported that content marketing can generate three times the leads for about 62 percent less than traditional marketing.

Leads are people who are very likely to buy your product and become loyal customers, as you nurture that relationship, which is different from website traffic.

Pieces of promotional content include blog posts, infographics, video content, news, checklists, case studies, webinars and white papers—which are excellent lead magnets.

Think about which ones will be most effective in speaking to your target audience, depending on where they are in the five stages of the buying cycle and how they consume information.

To increase organic traffic and lead generation, you must deliver consistent, high quality content. This type of traffic is unpaid and generated by users who find your website after using search engines.

Once you have great content, promote it! Some of the best vehicles to promote content is through personalized email marketing and sharing your posts on social media. These are just some of ways to get traffic to your blog and generate leads.

Are you starting to see how the different digital channels are working together, to make the most impact?

4. Social media marketing

The latest social media marketing statistics show that 73 percent of marketers believe that social media marketing has been “somewhat effective” or “very effective” for their business.

Moreover, 54 percent of social browsers use social media to research products. Seventy one percent of consumers who have had a positive experience with a brand on social media are likely to recommend the brand to their friends and family.

One of the ways to use social media to grow customers is to create original social media content, such as blogs and video, and share it on your social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

You can utilize these platforms to increase video sharing and photo sharing. In addition, engage with your audiences by asking questions. Most critically, promptly answer questions and reply to comments.

You can take that one step further and boost social media engagement by:

• Employing tagging
• Analyzing what posts have worked
• Incorporating holidays and/or trends

Leverage social media advertising platforms, through Facebook’s Custom Audiences and Look-a-Like Audience. This will increase your reach to pages that have similar characteristics to your current fan base and email list.

5. SEO & PPC

There they are. Two of the digital marketing acronyms I previously mentioned. One of the many advantages of SEO and PPC is the ability to streamline your campaigns and optimize results.

Let’s start with SEO. Recent marketing statistics show that 64 percent of marketers actively invest in SEO. There are two general elements to successful digital marketing—traffic and conversion.

SEO-generated traffic is more likely to convert at a higher rate than ad-generated traffic, since the person doing the search is actively seeking out information and has a specific want and need.

SEO helps your business appear in search results from keywords. This drives organic traffic to your business. Genuine visitors—with an interest about and need for your brand—build a higher conversation rate, click through rate and a sustainable lead.

SEO will help your website rank higher, in search engine results, thereby driving more traffic to your site and potentially more business. It also will allow your business to show up at the right time, when your audience is searching for you.

Optimized conversion content, based on the buying stage your audience is in, will present them with the right message.

PPC, or search advertising, lets you position yourself near the top of searches, even if that’s not where your website would organically show up. It works by advertisers paying each time a user clicks on one of their online ads.

One advantage is that you’re only charged when a user actually clicks on your ad. Another is that you can more precisely target people based on buying behavior, pain points and demographics.

The digital marketing world is vast. Other effective digital marketing channels to consider include display advertising and mobile marketing.

What is Field Marketing

Field marketing is a branch of marketing in which brands get their products in front of consumers “out in the field” at retail locations, events, college campuses, or in public locations. Field marketing initiatives include promotions, demos, and direct sales.

The objectives of field marketing vary by company and campaign, but some common goals include brand awareness, increased sales at targeted locations, and increased engagement with local buying communities.

Benefits of Field Marketing

Increase Brand Awareness

Even in the smallest of retail locations, the fight for consumer attention is fierce. With so many competitive products, it can be hard for manufacturers to get their products to stand out.

This is where a team of field marketers can break through the noise. And that’s at the point of purchase. It’s even harder to stand out with advertising when consumers are barraged with marketing messages for most of their waking hours.

Field marketing is important because it disrupts the routine and gets them to pay attention to you.

A live demonstration, a chance to try a product, an opportunity to give feedback—all of these grab consumer attention and help people associate faces and experiences with your brand.

Bolster Brand Perception

It’s not hard to understand why some consumers tend to be cynical about advertising when they pay attention to it.

In a crowded field, marketing messages tend to blur for people and lose their impact. This is especially true for shoppers who have not yet tried your products.

Field marketing is a way to counteract that by giving manufacturers a way to back up their product claims.

Telling consumers how effective your product is can help, but letting them see it for themselves can be the difference between passive acknowledgment and active interest in what you offer.

Improve Sales

Field marketing at the point of purchase can be a great way to go straight from awareness and interest right to a paying customer.

If you’re launching a product or trying to get an existing product to catch on with a segment you haven’t yet targeted, field marketing done right can be enough of a “wow” moment to get people to make a purchase on the spot.

This is especially true if you do your testing in a retail location. Anyone there is already in a buying mindset, so they are primed to make a purchase if they like what they try.

Test New Concepts

When you launch a new product, you don’t have the benefit of real-life testing in your target markets. Field marketing is a powerful way to test concepts with real customers in a buying setting.

The feedback you get, whether it’s through surveys, discussions with field marketers, or seeing how many items you sold, is invaluable when deciding whether or not to push forward with a new concept.

Gain Consumer Insights

Even if you aren’t testing a brand new concept, hearing directly from customers gives you the feedback loop you need to refine your messaging, iterate on your product, change your price point, and anything else you need to better understand your customers.

What is Alliance Marketing

Alliance marketing is marketing activity undertaken by more than one company, jointly to promote and sell a concept, product or service which has benefit to all the associates including the stakeholders.

Alliance Marketing enables to gain access to a non-competitive businesses’ customers. It helps to pool knowledge and expertise. The combined resources and efforts can reduce inefficiencies.

Alliance Marketing can turn competitors into partners. It is one of the easiest way to reach new markets especially the global market.

How Alliance Marketing Works

Fundamentally, it involves pooling resources—whether those resources are knowledge/expertise, distribution infrastructure, brand recognition/reputation, or simply money—to achieve a result that would be more costly to obtain independently.

Examples include:

• Alliances of non-competitive businesses. This would include the baker/florist example above; or a tow service, auto-repair shop, and car-rental business teaming up to offer end-to-end service to the same customer.
• Destination alliances, where hotels, restaurants, and tourist businesses pool resources to market their location to prospective travelers.
• Technology alliances often are formed to promote a new device or concept. In this case, firms that might potentially compete in offering new technology face greater competition from other firms representing the existing, established alternative technology. An alliance allows these companies to create a greater market presence to displace the old technology—and ensures that they get to establish the standards for production of the new technology.
• Alliances to expand into new markets are particularly useful, since independent expansion requires a huge investment of resources and the development of new distribution channels. This is especially useful for tapping into overseas markets; a firm in one country can offer a product through another firm already established in another country, thus tapping into the new market immediately.
  
  This principle also works for domestic expansion. Starbucks, for example, allied with Pepsi in order to distribute its ready-to-drink beverages to gas stations, groceries, and convenience stores. Starbucks accessed Pepsi’s established distribution network without having to build their own; in return, Pepsi got revenue from new products (such as bottled frappuccinos) that didn’t directly compete with their own beverages.

What Are The Best Marketing Channels

1. Social Media

Social media is a big player in the marketing world right now. Customers are actively seeking out brands they like or are interested in and increasing numbers of users are taking to social media to research or make buying decisions.

Social media also offers valuable community-building opportunities that you really won’t find anywhere else.

Whether you’re just sharing behind-the-scenes content on your personal page or creating a group involving your business, you should be leveraging social media for all it’s worth.

2. Pay-Per-Click Marketing

As far as marketing channels go, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is still an unbeatable juggernaut, especially with the diverse options now available to brands. There is a learning curve for each platform, so if you can afford to hire an agency to handle your campaigns for you, we obviously recommend that.

There are two dominating forces in the PPC world these days: Google Ads and Facebook/Instagram Ads. Google search ads will help you connect with users who are searching for products or services like yours.

3. Word of Mouth Marketing

Word of mouth marketing has always been one of the most effective marketing channels, and that will continue on an on-going basis.

You’ll brush it off if a salesperson tells you that you need that watch, but when your friend points out how much they love wearing it every day because of all the smart features, you’ll take more notice.

There are two primary methods to encourage word of mouth marketing. Referral programs and motivating online reviews for different platforms online, including Google, LinkedIn, and Yelp.

4. Content Marketing and SEO

Content marketing is kind of like a savings account. As time goes on, you get compounding interest, making it even more valuable.

Your evergreen posts can offer SEO benefits for a very long time to come as people continue to search them out, and all of your content can provide valuable relationship building and lead generation capabilities.

Content marketing demonstrates authority and expertise, all while helping you reach customers at different stages of the funnel and hitting as many keywords as you can.

Content marketing must be high quality in order to get these results

5. Your Website

Some businesses don’t think of their website as a marketing channel, but in reality, it may be the most important one.

This is where users will come when they’re interested in learning more about your business, and if they can’t find answers to their questions quickly, they won’t stick around long enough to find out.

Your site should offer a good first impression and it should clearly represent your business, brand, products and services in the way you want.

What is in a Marketing Plan

An effective marketing plan helps a company understand the market that it targets and the competition in that space; understand the impact and the results of marketing decisions; and provides direction for future initiatives.

Although marketing plans can vary depending on the industry, type of products or services, and the goals you want to achieve, there are certain essential elements that most plans include.

Executive Summary

The executive summary is a high-level overview of the marketing plan. This section should provide a brief summary of the plan for those who may not read the entire document.

Business Description

This section describes what the business is all about, including the location, names of the business owners, the current business situation (position in the marketplace), the company mission statement and core values, and external factors that are currently impacting or may eventually affect the business.

Situation Analysis

Your situation analysis details the context for your marketing efforts. In this section, you will take a close look at the internal and external factors that will influence your marketing strategy.

Many companies do a SWOT analysis, which combines the external and internal analysis to summarize your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Business Objectives

An effective marketing plan will help support the overall business strategy and goals. In order to reach this sort of alignment, marketers must be clear on what these business objectives are and which aspects of them they can affect.

Distribution and Delivery Plan

Distribution and delivery outline how the company will sell and deliver your products to customers. Methods of sales and delivery include retail, wholesale, direct to homes or businesses, or online.​

Marketing Goals

These goals will tie into the overall business objectives, but they’ll focus only on the portions of the business that marketing can influence.

For instance, if an overall objective of a company is to increase revenue from repeat business by a certain percentage in the next year, then the related marketing goal might be to get a certain amount of customers to sign up for a rewards program each month.

Target Market

The concept of target markets is one of the most basic, yet most important aspects of marketing. It is unrealistic to think that you can attract everyone, so you need to identify your ideal customers. What do they like? What don’t they like? How old are they? Where can you find them?

Unique Selling Proposition and Strategies

The unique selling proposition describes how the company will gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace by supplying one or more of the following benefits to customers:

• Providing a unique or superior product
• Delivering lower prices
• Providing better customer service

Strategies are the approaches you want to take to achieve those goals. For instance, if you’re trying to get a certain amount of people to sign up for a customer rewards program each month, your strategy may be to introduce new customers to the rewards program with personalized invites that highlight rewards that they may be interested in and then providing great customer service to help them get started.

Tactics

These are the specific actions you will take to execute the strategies that you set.

So, if your introduce new customers to the rewards program with personalized invites, then one tactic you could use is sending out emails that address each new customer by name and let them know about some specific rewards that they can get, along with a link to easily sign up for the rewards program.

Messaging Guidelines

The right messaging can help establish your brand’s position in the market, help it stand out from competitors, demonstrate value to potential customers, and reach specific audiences.

You can set some general messaging guidelines in your overall plan, then use them as a starting point to craft more specific messages for each campaign and different segments of your target market.

Budget

You must know what you can spend on your marketing campaigns and how much money your company is willing to put into different types of marketing efforts.

Tracking and Evaluation

This section of your plan should include plans and procedures for tracking each type of marketing activity you are using.

Tracking helps monitor the effectiveness of each marketing activity and is especially helpful with your overall program evaluation. If you are not tracking and measuring your efforts then you are not marketing effectively

What is Direct Marketing Channels

Direct marketing channels are a series of marketing methods which can be used to practice direct marketing. A direct marketing channel, as the name suggests, is always direct and always puts the organisation directly in contact with the customer or targeted prospect.

Channels can be both direct and indirect in their use. It’s important to remember that a channel can be used both directly and indirectly. For example:

• SMS text – Sending a targeted message directly to a contact is direct, a mass broadcast to non-opted-in contacts is highly inadvisable but would be indirect
• Social media – Sending a message directly to a contact is direct, whereas a mass broadcast is indirect

A number of techniques which aren’t direct are associated with low-quality techniques and are best avoided (e.g. random number mobile text messaging, random number telesales, emailing from bought lists from unknown sources, etc.)

Examples of Direct Marketing Channels

Here are some examples of direct marketing channels:

1) Direct Mail – Perhaps for many, direct mail is the most recognised of direct marketing techniques and approaches. The key to remember is that effective direct mail needs to be to targeted contacts and could be through a variety of formats, e.g. brochures, letters, pamphlets and postcards, etc.

2) Direct Email Marketing – This involves sending an email to an opted-in email address for marketing purposes and is a classic use of direct marketing. This could additionally involve embedding a video which could contain another direct marketing message.

3) Event Marketing – Having staff at an event (e.g. in a booth) that talk directly to contacts is a proven effective form of direct marketing.

4) SMS Marketing – Sending a marketing message via an SMS text to a known contact is a direct marketing technique.

5) Social Media (direct) – Sending a targeted message to a known contact’s social media account (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) is another direct technique.

6) Telemarketing – This is direct marketing at its most direct where one-to-one contact with the contact is made via a telephone call

What is Integrated Marketing Channels

Integrated marketing is a marketing strategy that stresses the importance of a consistent, seamless, multi-dimensional brand experience for the consumer.

This means that each branding effort – across television, radio, print, Internet, and in person – is presented in a similar style that reinforces the brand’s ultimate mes.

Consider, for example, the Apple computer brand. Their advertising strategy is simple – showcase a sleek, modern product that works faster, smarter and in ways that the competitors never thought possible.

This ‘no gimmick’ strategy is carried across all aspects of the Apple brand. Their products are packaged in crisp, white boxes with almost no text. Their stores are white, clean and minimalist – with products on display for intuitive use.

Their commercials are stark, smart, and infectious. By branding their products as elite, intuitive, and futuristic, Apple is able to charge prices above those of their competition and still dominate the hardware market.

This style of marketing is becoming more and more important because media fragmentation and exposure have begun to desensitize consumers.

Every day, they are hit with such a barrage of advertisements that only the most integrated and consistent brands stand out as memorable.

Read Also: How to Become a Digital Marketing Analyst

Consistency in integrated marketing does not mean lack of creativity. Slapping a single color palate across all media or using the same tagline on a highway billboard as a product homepage is not the epitome of integrated marketing.

Instead, a marketing team must work behind-the-scenes to devise a compelling, unified voice for a brand, and transition it appropriately into every aspect of the brand’s persona, from advertising to physical presence and customer service.

What is International Marketing Channels

International marketing channels consist of interdependent organizations participating in business activities necessary to make a product or service available for use in markets around the world.

The structure or design of global channels can vary widely, comprising various organizational participants (foreign distributors, agents, subsidiaries, etc.) engaged in a diverse set of functional activities (selling to foreign customers, warehousing inventory, etc.).

The determinants of channel design include key drivers associated with manufacturers, international middlemen, and foreign end users.

A complex interplay among these key players and the characteristics of channel activities yields the particular contractual, ownership, and other institutional arrangements that govern cross‐border channel systems.

Further, channel designs are subject to important feasibility constraints emanating from the regulative, normative, and cultural‐cognitive elements of the institutional environment of the home and host countries.

International marketing channels are one of the most complex and dynamic aspects of global marketing, and require careful analysis to achieve the most productive balance among the many determinants of channel design.

Finally

In case of the large manufacturers of the products, the manufacturers require the well aligned and properly planned Marketing Channels so that the products reach to the end users in a convenient and effortless manner.