To start online or offline business, you have to get complete knowledge on "what is Marketing channel?" and "how marketing channels help in business?". This is most important part of marketing your products or services.

In this article, I am going to share complete knowledge on marketing channels, which must help to get your business next level.

What is Marketing Channel?

A marketing channel is the strategy that use marketers to reach their consumers by people’s, organisations and activities to sell good products and services. It also called as distribution channel.

The purpose of marketing channel is to make connection with organisations, retailers and wholesalers to reach your manufacturing products and services on right customers who needs to buy it.

Why Marketing Channel Important?

In the competition world, marketing channels are mandatory and effective way for a business or organisation to sell their products and services in targeted customers. You can't set a good quality business without marketing channel. You must use this way to increase sales and profit.

A marketing channel not only help to increase sales, but also help to promote your brand manually and digitally. Moreover, it’s help you to understand market price and demand, which most important part to run successful business.

Types of Marketing Channels

Now question is, how many types of marketing channel have? Well, there are lots of channels in the market that you can choose to sell a products or services. Basically, It’s depends on what types of products or services you want to promote or sell and who can be your customer in our society.

However, In initial stage we can divided marketing channel as four part.

1) Direct Marketing Channels

2) Indirect Marketing Channels

•  Zero Level Marketing Channel
•  One-Level Marketing Channel
• Two-Level Marketing Channel
• Three-Level Marketing Channel

3) Multimedia Marketing Channels

• TV Advertisements
• Radio Advertising
• Newspaper or Magazine Ads
• Banner or Poster Ads

4) Online or Digital Marketing Channels

• Website & Blogs
• Content marketing
• Classified & e-commerce Advertising 
• Search engine Optimization
• Social media marketing
• PPC Ads
• Email marketing
• Affiliate marketing
• Influencer marketing
• Podcast Marketing

1) Direct Marketing Channels

The process of selling products to direct consumers from your store, online, organisation or factory is called direct marketing channel. In this process there is no involvement any third-party, which also called as zero-level marketing channel. Here only involved producer and consumer to sell and purchase products or services, which is most beneficial and profitable way for a business. 

2) Indirect Marketing Channels

The consumer buys your product from a wholesaler, retailer, dealership or some other intermediary is called indirect marketing channel. It’s can further be divided into one-level, two-level, and three-level channels based on the number of intermediaries between producers and customers.

# Zero Level Marketing Channel

(Producers-Consumers)

Zero-level channel is most beneficial and profitable method where interrelated only producer and consumer, which named as direct marketing channel. The producer sells their good and service directly to the consumer where no involvement any middle man such as intermediaries like wholesaler, retailer, agent, or reseller. The consumer directly goes to the producer to buy product without going through any other channel.

# One-Level Marketing Channel

(Producers-Retailers-Consumers)

In one-level marketing or distribution channel, retailers directly come to the manufacturer to buy products or services. On the other hand, we can say like producer or manufacturer directly go to the retailers to sell there products. Then retailers directly sell those products to the general consumers.

# Two-Level Marketing Channel

(Producers or manufacturers-Wholesalers-Retailers-Consumers)

In two-level marketing channel also called as wholesalers channel, where involve producer, wholesalers, retailers to reach products to consumers. This types of marketing is most familiar to our society, where work every channel as commission basis to distribute products. 

# Three-Level Marketing Channel

(Producers or manufacturers-Agent or Broker-Wholesalers-Retailers-Consumers)

Three-level marketing channel is perfect for large business, which most beneficial to promote your brand with products. Here in this distribution channel will give you low profit, but useful to reach your products in every marketplace, which help to build brand awareness. Here involved many channel to marketing like agent or broker, wholesaler, retailer to reach products to consumer.

3) Multimedia Marketing Channels

Multimedia channels are high level marketing platforms where you can advertise your products or services to reach every consumers and their mind. There are different types of multimedia marketing channels are tv advertisements, newspaper or magazine ads, redio advertising, poster or banner ads etc. Let's start to learn, how multimedia channels helps in marketing.

# TV Advertisements

Television is most popular multimedia platform and every people love to watch tv. Advertising product in different tv channel is an trends to promote products and this is most actionable way to reach lots of targeted customers to sell your products. It’s not only way to sell products, but also help to make brand awareness.

For example, Lux is most familiar soap in our society, but "why it is familiar". Because they are advertising there products in every tv channels for long time, that's way they catched every people’s mind. When a product get popularity, there will open great opportunity to sell large amount of products in every society consumers.

# Radio Advertising

Radio is another genuine advertising platform, where people’s spend some time in their daily life. In these day, there are different FM radio channels which people love to listen. This is related multimedia marketing channel like tv advertising. A audio advertise on radio will help you to touch your targeted customers mind.

# Newspaper or Magazine Ads

Newspaper or magazine advertising is an old techniques for marketing, but It's still working and many people love to read newspaper to know daily news.

In newspaper or magazine, there have advertising feature to marketing products or services. You can ads on newspaper or magazine for your products or services to increase sales.

# Banner or Poster Ads

Banner or poster ads is an powerful techniques to reach customers mind. This not only multimedia marketing channel, but also a manual distribution channel.

In this way, you can make wall poster or banner for your products or services. Then postering on your targeted market, city, different wall where people’s gather. It will help to build improve brand awareness and increase sales.

4) Online or Digital Marketing Channels

Online or digital marketing channels are big platform to marketing products or services. Today's world, we can't imagine of life without internet or online. Online is an big world to promote business, marketing products, increase sales and make brand awareness.

There are lots of digital marketing channel where you can marketing your products to increase sales. Here I am going to share top 10 digital marketing channels, which you can take as your serious marketing platform.

# Website & Blogs

In digital marketing channel, A company website is a maindatory and most effective way to sell your products in online. Make a website for your company with product review and buy button. Design website landing pages by a professional web developers.

Website or blog is an powerful platform to marketing products and services. So, make a website or blog for your company and write review about your products. Customers will come across your website to buy products directly, which also as called direct marketing channel.

# Content Marketing

Content marketing is a indirect marketing channel, which must help to increase reputation of your company or products in online. Now question is, how content marketing works?

Well, You can write review about your products, then send request on top products review sites to publish your content. Provide your buy button link in the content, which must help to bring targeted customers in your website to increase sales.

Also you can make products review video content and upload it in your YouTube channel. This is most valuable techniques to sell a products or services to direct consumers.

# Classified & e-commerce Advertising

Classified ads posting is one of the best cost effective direct marketing channel to sell your products or services in online. Submit your products or services on top classified sites with exact match category to bring direct consumers.

On the other hand, e-commerce platforms are also great way to generate direct sales. You can submit your products on top e-commerce companies (like Amazon, Shopify) to sell directly to your targeted customers.

# Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization is a big marketing channels to promote a business which help to bring genuine customers. SEO is an long term process, but you will start getting targeted customers by rank on right keywords. You can hire a professional SEO expert to start search engine optimization for your company website. This is most valuable marketing idea to get organic traffic to your company website which earn result to promote products and increase sales.

# Social media marketing

A big source of targeted customers is social media sites. There is not a single people you can found, who not using social media platforms in their daily life. So, you can use social media sites as your first chose marketing channels.

You will found huge targeted audience to sell your products or services in social media platforms (like twitter Instagram, facebook pinterest, LinkedIn etc). Share your products on targeted consumers to increase sales. As well as you can start ads campaign on different social media sites, which is cost effective and you can get huge targeted customers by run paid ads campaign.

# PPC Ads

PPC means pay per click. Now question is, what does ppc stand for in marketing? and how ppc help in marketing? Well, PPC is the way to rank your website by making ads campaign for your given keywords. It is most beneficial to promote business, sale products in short time.

You can run paid ads campaign on google adwords to show your company website in top of the search engine result pages on your targeted keywords. It is an costly process, but if you want to marketing a high price products, then PPC ads fit for you to get maximum benefits by sale huge amount of products.

# Email marketing

Email marketing is most popular direct marketing channel. Now a days, every people use email address to contact each other, as well as using for there business purposes. So, email marketing is an great technique to reach your direct consumers.

Collect email address of your targeted customers and make list. Send them email regularly with your products value, information, advantage of buy your products etc. Be sure you sending quality email content that can touch your customers mind. This is awesome way to sell products or services by direct marketing.

# Influencer marketing

Influence marketing is a type of social media marketing that uses to mention products and services by influencers. Now, question is who is influencer?, Answer is, Influencer, who have a social media account (like Instagram, pinterest, Twitter etc) with lots of followers (minimum 10000 followers) in a specific niche and always posting content on same topics or niche and getting traffic engagement and potential customers.

Find your niche or products relevant influencers on social media platforms like Instagram. Contact them to make a post about your products to get targeted traffic by pay them small amount of money. This is also very good and cost effective techniques to promote your products and you will start getting targeted customers.

Bottom line

I have tried to give details information on what is marketing channels, why marketing channel is important for a business and types of marketing channel, which will help you to set up profitable organisation or business by marketing in different channels.

Chose a marketing channel depends on, what type of business you have or what type of products or services you want to marketing. Let me know by comment here, which marketing channel you love most to promote your products or services.