Most direct-to-consumer businesses focus primarily on the social media powerhouses (Facebook & Instagram) and Google Ads (including YouTube), dabble with a bit of TikTok, and use email marketing for retention, according to the widespread consensus.
But there are also underappreciated platforms that can provide businesses with quick wins. Here are some of them:
1. SMS Marketing
SMS marketing is often underrated but can be a highly effective channel for customer retention and engagement. With high deliverability and click-through rates averaging between 20% and 35%, SMS marketing can offer a higher ROI than email marketing.
2. Bing Advertising
Bing, which includes Bing search, Yahoo search, and AOL search, is often overlooked in favor of Google when it comes to paid search efforts. However, Bing has less advertising competition, which can result in lower CPCs on average.
Bing also reaches 63 million searchers that are not reached with Google, making it a valuable channel to add to the digital marketing mix.
3. Reddit
Reddit is a unique social platform with around 50 million daily active users and over 430 million monthly users. While it may not have the reach of social giants like Facebook and Instagram, it makes up for it with high social engagement, particularly among Gen Zs.
With the ability to hyper-target niche markets through subreddits, Reddit can be a cost-effective advertising channel with cheaper CPMs and CPCs than other platforms.
4. Pinterest
Pinterest is a visual discovery and shopping platform with an estimated 445 million monthly users. Pinners are actively looking to discover new products, making it a prime venue for commerce.
Ads on Pinterest have been shown to generate a higher ROI and lower cost per conversion compared to other social platforms, making it a worthwhile channel for brands with rich visual content or videos to share.
In summary, businesses wishing to diversify their digital marketing efforts and reach new audiences greatly benefit from these low-cost underutilized channels to engage with customers, generate leads, and increase conversions.
