How to do multi-channel marketing (hint: it’s not just two platforms)
In 2024, how should brands be engaging with their audience?
The days of simply posting on one (or even two) platforms are long gone. To cut through the noise, reach new customers, and maximize ROI, brands must create high-performance strategies on multiple social channels. That means utilizing platforms you may not have thought of and thinking outside the box with your omnichannel approach. Newsflash – omnichannel does not just mean TikTok and Instagram.
The problem is that many brands are activating on these two social platforms and then calling it “multi-channel”. While these platforms certainly hold massive influence, limiting presence to just these could mean brands miss out on reaching key audience segments.
We spoke with Sophie Booth, Growth Director at Brainlabs, to discuss what a multi-channel approach should actually look like and how brands can implement it into their strategies to get ahead in 2025.
Short-form isn’t the only way
There was a time when “short-form” was king. Things have changed. To engage younger customers, many brands are stuck on using snappy vids – often thinking the shorter the better. It’s true that attention spans are shorter than ever (in all generations), but longer-form content is increasingly popular, especially on YouTube and now TikTok. Storytelling videos up to 10 minutes long are at an all-time high on TikTok, and it’s believed the algorithm favors this type of content. TikTok announced back in March that viewership of long-form videos had increased by almost 40% in the previous six months, showing just how much of an uptick this kind of content is getting. Short-form isn’t dead of course, but it’s a tool to be used as part of a wider strategy.
Today’s younger audiences are as diverse as they are digitally aware, and they’re not all on the same platforms or consuming content the same way. Gen Z makes up around 32% of the global population – they’re not all solely on TikTok or Instagram. In fact, there are a number of seriously underutilized platforms (in our opinion).
So if your brand is not using these, ask yourself why:
- YouTube
In a 2023 survey, YouTube came out on top in the U.S. as the most popular social media for 18-29-year-olds. Ninety-three per cent of this demographic is on the platform. YouTube has been a place for influencer marketing since its inception all those years ago. It’s a place where long-form content still remains king.
Now, YouTube is not completely overlooked. In fact, 45.9% of marketers will use YouTube for influencer marketing in 2024. But we should be looking at YouTube as part of our wider strategies – an indicator of strong brand advocacy which is the pinnacle of our ecosystem. Imagine a user sees a massive makeup TikTok trend that a brand has hopped on (or created). They jump on YouTube to see tutorials for the makeup trend, and soon they’re consuming hours of content based on a short-form video.
Brands can connect with audiences looking for more immersive content, and the evergreen nature of YouTube means the impact can last beyond a single campaign.
Historically, Reddit has been perceived as a platform for older audiences due to its text-heavy format, but now 44% of Gen Z users are using the platform, and it’s expected that this will continue to increase. Younger users value it as a space for honest conversations and peer recommendations, allowing brands to be very straightforward in their advertising. The demand for discovery, learning, and recommendation is so prevalent on the site that Google has recently agreed on a deal to the tune of $60M to use posts from the online discussion site for training its artificial intelligence models and to improve services such as Google Search.
Sophie says, “We ran a platform index investigation a month ago and found the platform with the highest index for 16-24-year-olds in Germany was Reddit. There was a 500 index, which I’ve never seen before. Usually, a high index is around 180, so this is massive and not something to be ignored.”
Reddit can be used to build communities and talk to your audience in different ways. It’s a place where you can continue conversations started on other platforms, targeting your audience when they are in a moment of consideration and purchase intent. It’s somewhere to nurture your audience and drive brand advocacy. When done correctly. Just look at “BookTok”, the widespread community of fantasy fiction lovers who exploded on TikTok. There are, of course, multiple communities on this topic on Reddit. So brands should consider how they can build conversations and communities and continue their growth on the social platform.
- Snap
Snap is seen as a community space for younger audiences, who rate the platform’s real-time, personal interactions. But when it comes to influencer strategy, it’s even more than that. Eighty-five per cent of Snapchat users make a purchase after seeing influencer content—beating TikTok, Instagram, X, and YouTube.
Despite this, only 23.1% of marketers use Snap for influencer marketing. With its distinctive social approach and AR and VR capabilities, it’s a place that should not be overlooked for a full multi-channel approach.
The ever-popular ‘Pinterest Aesthetic’ and the rise of vision boarding solidifies the platform as one not to ignore. From fashion and beauty to home decor, luxury purchases and more, brands activating in this space find customers searching for inspiration. It’s also proving to be a place for nurturing customers in the consideration phase. Brands who utilized Pinterest Performance+ saw a 10%+ improvement in cost per click (CPC) for Consideration campaigns.This provides an excellent opportunity to drive meaningful connections with a full funnel approach. There is a massive opportunity for influencer-led posts on the platform with Pinterest creators building niche followings and die-hard communities, especially when it comes to high-value purchases.
Brands that are branching out
Formula 1 strategically revamped their social media presence after the success of their docuseries Drive to Survive. Following this series, conversations sparked on Reddit, and they attracted a younger global audience. F1 recognised the potential and diversified their content to cater to this new audience across multiple channels.
What’s even more interesting is that there are brands who are taking advantage of this. Toyota promoted a video-based post in the Formula 1 subreddit. Why was this smart? First, Toyota was honing in on a specific target audience who were already interested in cars. One of the reasons brands are a little scared of Reddit is it’s sort of a free-for-all all platform. There are no verified accounts, so any person can technically “run” a brand subreddit. But the bonus of this is… there is freedom to leverage communities that already exist. You’re not stuck in one lane on your own channel.
On YouTube, Victoria’s Secret has 2.8M followers – so they’re clearly doing something right. One of their biggest tactics is live streaming. They stream their iconic fashion shows to the community, building excitement and an online buzz for the brand. Combine this with more behind-the-scenes footage and model interviews through YouTube shorts and you have both long-form and short-form content working in harmony to drum up views and build loyalty within the community.
Luxury brands have also seen success in stepping away from traditional platforms. High-end fragrance brands YSL, Armani, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, and Burberry have all successfully activated on Reddit in the last six months, leaning into the platform’s strength for peer recommendations.
Now is the time to expand
A multi-channel approach isn’t just about covering all bases – it’s about being intentional in finding and engaging your audience where they already are.
Social media preferences are constantly evolving, so even if you’ve already analyzed your audience, it’s likely to change. Only by constantly testing and learning about what’s right for your brand will be you able to gain optimized results.
To achieve high-performance marketing in 2025, brands need to be bold.
Sophie says, “You have to be brave and step outside the norm. You’re competing with hundreds of different brands at any given time, and you’re not going to win if you’re just doing what everyone else is doing.”
Our expert Brainlabbers have the knowledge and tech tools to test strategies and drive your brand to stand out from the competition. Get in touch to see how we can help.
