TABLE OF CONTENTS
What Is a Marketing Channel? | Top Channels for B2B | How to Select the Best Channels for Your Business
Chances are, you’ve had plenty of people tell you which marketing channels you should be using. But what worked even a year ago isn’t guaranteed to work now, especially with major shifts like Google’s AI Overviews and the rise of zero-click searches changing how people find and interact with brands online.
That’s why it’s more important than ever not to view marketing channels in a vacuum. Instead, focus on what your unique brand needs today, and evaluate each channel based on how well it can meet those needs in this evolving landscape.
What Is a Marketing Channel?
A marketing channel is the pathway your product or service follows to reach your customers. It includes the tools, tactics, and touchpoints that guide your audience through the buyer’s journey, from awareness to consideration to decision.
It’s important not to confuse marketing channels with distribution channels. Though the two often overlap, distribution focuses on the physical delivery of goods, while marketing channels focus on creating the journey to purchase.
Types of Marketing Channels
When it comes to B2B marketing, there’s no shortage of channels to choose from. Some of the most popular include:
- Social media (organic and paid)
- Search advertising
- Email marketing
- Video marketing (YouTube, streaming platforms)
- SEO, website content, and B2B blogging
- Display advertising
- Referral programs and word-of-mouth
- Online review management
- Influencer partnerships
- Webinars and virtual events
- Press releases and public relations
- Direct mail
- In-store marketing
- Door-to-door outreach
- Cold calling
- Retargeting ads
Each channel has its own strengths and challenges. While you wouldn’t use all of them at once, selecting the right mix allows you to build an effective B2B omnichannel strategy — one that supports your brand, engages your audience, and drives your business goals forward.
Top Marketing Channels for B2B
It would be nice if marketing followed a single, straightforward path. In reality, effective marketing plans combine multiple channels working together to create a seamless, omnichannel experience.
Take email marketing, for example. It's one of the highest-performing B2B channels, delivering an estimated 36:1 ROI.
But how do you grow your email list in the first place? You can't just send emails to people who haven’t opted in. You need other channels to do what email alone can't: attract your ideal audience and show them why signing up is worth it.
Maybe it’s offering a case study that reveals how to boost website traffic. Maybe it's sharing valuable insights through social media, content marketing, or search engine optimization (SEO). These channels work together, creating a smooth journey from brand awareness to brand advocate.
That doesn't mean your marketing needs to be complicated or overloaded. You don't need to be everywhere, but you do need to be strategic. Here are some of the most popular marketing channels for B2B and how they may benefit your business, too.
Search Engine Optimization
SEO helps your business show up higher in search results for phrases your target audience is already using. These phrases are what people type or speak into a search engine like Google or Alexa.
For example, if you offer B2B bookkeeping services, you want your business to appear when someone searches for “bookkeeper” or “accountant,’ as well as more specific terms like ‘bookkeeper reviews’ or broader topics like ‘how to create a business budget.’
If you serve a specific region, local SEO is critical. It ensures your business appears in local search results and is featured prominently on Google Maps and Google Business listings.
SEO is a powerful channel. Around 53% of all traceable website traffic comes from organic search. Not only that, but 99% of people conduct online research first when thinking about buying something.
Yet, despite its power, more than 96% of websites get zero organic traffic. That's why building a strong SEO foundation is critical for long-term success.
Blogging for SEO
A key part of SEO is your business blog. Blogging gives search engines more content to surface, helping your website rank for a wider range of searches.
It’s also a proven lead generation tool. 76% of marketers say their blog is essential for attracting new business. Plus, about 47% of B2B buyers read three to five pieces of content before reaching out to a sales rep.
Blog content doesn’t just boost SEO either; it powers your social media, email marketing, and overall content strategy by keeping your audience engaged and moving through the buyer’s journey. In short, SEO helps B2B companies:
- Boost online visibility
- Attract high-quality leads
- Build brand trust and authority over time
- Reduce reliance on expensive, lower-ROI channels like paid ads
That said, SEO may not be the best channel for every business. Before we dig into how to choose the right ones for you, let’s explore a few other options.
Social Media
For B2B businesses, social media isn’t just for casual browsing. It’s a powerful way to connect with your audience.
LinkedIn, in particular, is a go-to platform for B2B marketers, where people already have a business-focused mindset. In fact, LinkedIn was rated the top social media platform for B2B lead generation.
That said, LinkedIn isn’t the only game in town. Based on HubSpot data from 2025, here’s where B2B marketers were focusing their efforts:
- Facebook (18%)
- Instagram (15%)
- LinkedIn (14%)
- YouTube (11%)
- TikTok (8%)
When used strategically, social media helps B2B companies:
- Boost brand awareness
- Engage and nurture their target audience
- Generate leads through a combination of organic content and paid social ads
The key is choosing the right platform and approach based on where your audience spends their time and how they prefer to engage.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is about creating valuable content that supports your audience throughout their decision-making process. You publish this content on your website, where it becomes a powerful lead-generating asset you can also share through social media and email campaigns.
The first step? Understanding exactly who your target audience is — your buyer persona.
At LAIRE, an inbound marketing agency, we map content to the stages of the buyer's journey:
- Awareness: The potential customer realizes they have a challenge or goal. They ask: What’s happening? Why? How?
- Consideration: They explore solutions and providers. They ask: How can I fix this? What do I need? At this stage, they officially become a lead, and you capture their information to start nurturing.
- Decision: They choose a vendor. If you’ve captured and nurtured them well, the choice will likely be you.
Content marketing is all about being genuinely helpful, not pushing a hard sell. It treats buyers like real people who can make smart business decisions when given the right information.
By focusing on respect and education early in the process, you build trust — trust that your sales team can then leverage to close deals. That’s what true marketing and sales alignment looks like.
And the results speak for themselves:
- 87% of marketers say content marketing generates leads.
- 88% of businesses prioritize helpful information over sales messaging — and those that do often achieve both better leads and more sales.
Why B2B Companies Invest in Content Marketing
- Create high-quality, reusable content assets that can be repurposed across channels
- Build trust and mutually beneficial relationships with future customers
- Provide leads with the information they need to make the best decision
- Reduce customer acquisition costs (CAC)
Email Marketing
Email remains one of the most powerful tools in B2B marketing because it gives businesses precise control over both timing and relevance.
With email automation and smart subscriber segmentation (dividing your audience into groups based on shared traits), you can deliver highly targeted content that speaks directly to each recipient’s needs.
Unlike many other channels, email is permission-based — people choose to subscribe. As long as you continue delivering relevant, valuable information, they’ll stay engaged and loyal. In fact, permission-based email marketing consistently delivers the highest ROI of any marketing channel.
Of course, building your list is the first hurdle. That’s where other channels like social media, blog posts, and content marketing come in, helping you attract subscribers and grow your audience.
B2B businesses lean heavily on email marketing because it helps them:
- Consistently nurture leads and move them through the buyer’s journey
- Stay top of mind and on the shortlist when decision time comes
- Retain customers and increase customer lifetime value (LTV)
- Build lasting, mutually-beneficial relationships with clients
How Do You Find the Best Marketing Channel for Your Business?
The best marketing channels are low-friction for your audience, easy and cost-effective for your team to manage, and able to consistently deliver high-quality leads your sales team agrees are worth pursuing.
Choosing the right mix of channels is critical to building a strategic plan that aligns with your company’s specific goals. At the end of the day, that’s what matters most.
While it’s helpful to look at industry data and see what’s working for others, the real value comes when you apply it to your own business. Start by asking yourself these key questions.
Where are your target customers?
Explore different marketing channels and social media platforms to find where your customers are already talking — whether it’s about your industry, what you offer, or even your brand specifically.
Look for the places where they're sharing ideas, tips, and how-tos. That’s where you need to show up and join the conversation. By doing so, you can guide that attention and engagement toward achieving your business goals.
How are your customers looking for you?
Use your existing customer data, like Google Analytics and social media insights, to understand how customers are finding you. Google Analytics shows you both the type of channel (search, referral, direct, social) and the specific source.
You can also survey your existing customers to gain deeper insights into their journey. Consider asking questions like:
- How did you first hear about us?
- Where do you typically go to learn about your industry?
- When you have a business challenge, where do you turn for information?
- What motivated you to sign up for our email list?
- What ultimately influenced your decision to buy from us?
Where are your competitors?
Your most successful competitors have chosen their marketing channels for a reason. If a channel wasn’t working for them, they likely wouldn’t be where they are today.
Of course, what works for them may not work exactly the same for you. Differences in size, business model, and target audience can all play a role. Still, understanding their approach can offer valuable insights to guide your own strategy.
How do you find out where your competitors are focusing their efforts? By doing a little strategic research.
Start by visiting their website and following the links to their social media profiles. Observe how they use each platform to engage with their audience. Next, subscribe to their email list, preferably with a personal email address, so you can see firsthand how they communicate with prospects and customers.
Dive into their content marketing by reading their blogs, watching their videos, attending webinars, or downloading their case studies. You can also use competitive analysis tools to uncover which keywords they’re targeting in SEO.
That said, keep in mind: Some businesses succeed despite weak marketing efforts simply because of their strong, established brand. Mimicking them without understanding the full picture could lead to disappointing results.
Instead, use competitor analysis to identify which marketing channels you must compete on and look for opportunities to do it better.
What are your company's goals?
What do you want your marketing to achieve this quarter, over the next year, and in the next five years?
Naturally, generating more leads is a top priority. But in the short term, you may not yet have the brand awareness or reputation needed to do that consistently. Think about which marketing channels can help you build that foundation of awareness and trust.
Long term, you might aim for higher-quality leads that move through the buyer’s journey more quickly or prioritize lowering your customer acquisition costs to maximize marketing ROI.
As you plan, evaluate the strengths of each marketing channel based on how well they align with your specific goals.
How/where is your sales team engaging with prospects?
Talk with the sales team about where they’re communicating with leads. With a little reverse engineering, you can start connecting with potential customers earlier in their buying journey on those same channels.
You’ll also strengthen marketing-sales alignment by engaging your audience in similar ways with consistent messaging.
For example, if the sales team is having a lot of conversations with prospects on a particular social media platform — and you also discover that customer support is actively answering questions and resolving issues there — that’s a strong signal.
Your audience is clearly active and engaged on that platform. It’s likely a channel where marketing should invest more focus and energy.
Are you already driving a fair amount of quality traffic to your site from a certain channel?
If a marketing channel is already delivering results, you’ll likely want to keep it active and maybe even double down on it. But also consider how other channels could complement and strengthen it.
For example, if Google Ads are generating a steady stream of leads that convert into paying customers, it wouldn’t make sense to stop advertising.
However, you could also invest in SEO to rank organically for key searches. This way, you capture more leads without paying for every click, ultimately lowering your customer acquisition costs and boosting profitability. In this case, SEO becomes a smart complement to an already successful channel.
What's your marketing budget look like?
Consider how much you're currently investing to generate leads. What’s your cost per conversion? Are those leads turning into customers? And are you able to retain them?
By evaluating where your marketing dollars are going and the ROI you're getting from that spend, you can make smarter decisions about which new marketing channels could help balance or improve your overall strategy.
This process may naturally lead you to explore the costs and the benefits of adopting an omnichannel marketing approach.
Is your brand ready for an omnichannel experience?
As we touched on earlier, omnichannel marketing is the practice of seamlessly integrating multiple marketing channels to create a unified customer experience. It allows a potential buyer to move naturally between channels as they progress through the buyer’s journey.
The destination remains the same, only the paths differ. And from the customer’s point of view, the experience feels smooth and connected. The focus is always on creating a low-friction, high-value journey.
At first, omnichannel marketing might sound complex or expensive. But if you’re already investing in one or two channels, adding a third or fourth often requires only a small additional effort.
There’s a lot of overlap in both time and budget. You can invest once and maximize the return across multiple channels. That’s the power of omnichannel marketing. Each channel reinforces the others, making the entire strategy stronger and more effective.
For example, if you’re already publishing blog posts, it doesn’t take much extra effort to share them on social media or feature them in email campaigns. Likewise, the research you conduct for paid search ads can often be leveraged for SEO.
By making small additional investments, you can dramatically increase your reach, impact, and return.
Are you just getting started?
If you’re just getting started, you may not have the budget or bandwidth to manage multiple channels at once, and that’s okay. You have to start somewhere. Building an omnichannel presence can be a long-term goal you work toward over time.
After you’ve answered the questions above and identified the channels that are the best fit for your business, start by adding just one. Measure your progress and results carefully. Learn what works, and apply those insights as you expand into additional channels.
If you’re not sure where to begin or need help weaving new channels into your marketing strategy, the team at LAIRE is here to help. This is what we do best.
