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Data Report

Multi-Channel Content Report: How 300+ Marketers Are Amplifying Their Brand

Discover which channels are providing the highest ROI for marketers following a multi-channel approach. Learn the strategic frameworks top performers use to select channels, amplify content reach, and optimize performance.

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The single-channel era is over.

Our 2026 State of Marketing Report found that 94% of brands use three or more marketing channels.

The shift has proven worthwhile — 84% of marketers report increased ROI after implementing a multi-channel approach. But here's the challenge: simply adding more channels doesn't automatically translate to better results.

Without a strategic framework, multi-channel marketing can drain resources without delivering proportional returns.

This guide provides insight into how marketers are approaching their channel strategy and delivers a practical framework for building a coordinated content engine.

Chapter One

Signs It’s Time to Expand

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Not all channel expansion decisions are created equal.

Some are strategic responses to market opportunities. Others are reactive scrambles to fix declining performance. 

According to our research of 300 US marketing and advertising decision-makers, three triggers account for 69% of expansion decisions.

The Top Three Expansion Triggers

  • Pressure to reach new audience segments (29%)

    This is a positive growth signal that a brand may have maximized its current channel's reach, or it’s simply not large enough to hit its targets. 

  • New platform opportunities (26%)

    This catalyst represents the proactive marketers who spot emerging platforms early and move quickly to establish presence before competition saturates the space.

  • Competitive pressure (14%)

    When competitors successfully activate channels you're not using, they're reaching audiences and capturing mindshare you're missing. When that happens, marketers are forced to respond to this pressure quickly or risk falling behind.

The Warning Signs Marketers Ignore

Here's an interesting insight to call out: Only 8% of marketers cite declining performance as a primary catalyst for expansion. This low percentage suggests two things:

When declining performance becomes your primary driver, you're already behind.
Building a successful multi-channel strategy requires building proactively.

The best time to expand your channel mix is when your current channels are working. That's when you have budget flexibility, team confidence, and the luxury of strategic decision-making.

 

Chapter Two

How Top Performers Choose New Channels

Once you've identified the need to expand, the next question becomes: which channels deserve your investment?

With dozens of potential platforms, formats, and distribution methods available, the selection process can feel overwhelming.

Our research reveals how marketers actually make these decisions.

How Channels Get Chosen

When we asked how they identified the most recent channel they added to their marketing mix, the answers reveal an interesting tension between external validation and customer insight.

Before looking at customers, most marketers are looking first to their peers before making a move.


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The number one method marketers cited is industry benchmark reports and recommendations, closely followed by a competitive analysis of underutilized channels.

Marketers trust what their peers are doing. When industry reports (like these) reveal that X% of marketers are investing in Channel Y, it creates a powerful validation effect.

This approach offers safety in numbers and reduces the risk of backing the wrong platform. The downside is that waiting for validation means you’re never first to market.

Coming in third is customer research and journey mapping – this one actually looks at customer data, more specifically where your audience spends time and consumes content.

Building Your Experimentation Budget

Can’t spell marketing without budget, right?

Here’s how marketers allocate channel experimentation budget, according to our 2026 State of Marketing Report:

15% of marketers invest heavily in innovation and testing, investing over 20% of their marketing budget on channel experimentation.

Most marketers (44%) operate in this range - This range is substantial enough to properly test new channels with meaningful investment, but not so large that it jeopardizes performance on proven channels.
Roughly a quarter of marketers (28%) take a more conservative but still committed approach.
6% test minimally while the remaining 5% operate without a dedicated budget.

Key takeaway: The most effective channel strategy balances competitive intelligence with customer insight, backed by a budget that supports constant experimentation and adaptation.

Chapter Three

Amplifying Content Across Channels

Publishing content is just the starting line. What happens after is just as important.

Our research reveals that 97% of marketers invest in amplification strategies to extend reach beyond initial distribution.

Amplification has become a non-negotiable, as algorithms continuously update, feeds get saturated, and competition is fiercer than ever.

The Three-Pillar Amplification Strategy

When we asked marketers what strategy has been most effective in amplifying content reach beyond initial publication, they cited the following top three methods:

  • 32% said amplification of top-performing organic content

    With this approach, marketers let organic performance identify winners, then invest budget to extend their reach. It’s a winning strategy that puts paid dollars behind proven performers.

  • 24% said community engagement and sharing incentives

    This strategy includes tactics like giveaways, user-generated content campaigns, and customer referral incentives.

  • Influencer and partner distribution networks come in third at 20%

    This pillar leverages relationships built with external partners. The key to success here is reciprocity and alignment.

Chapter Four

Channels Bringing The Highest ROI

Despite dozens of marketing channels available to brands, our research shows that four channels dominate usage, ROI, and continued investment.

Meet the Core Four

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Website/Blog/SEO is the most used channel and delivers the highest ROI.

44.58% of marketers leverage it and 26.58% say it’s their top performing channel. So, when in doubt, start here.
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Paid social media content ranks second with 39% usage and 25% ROI.

Behind by only a few percentage points, this channel performs at near-parity with website/blog investment.
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Organic social media content shows the reverse pattern.

With 40% usage and 23% ROI ranking, this channel has higher adoption than paid social, likely because the barrier to entry is lower (no ad spend required), but delivers slightly lower ROI.
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Email marketing rounds out the group with 39% usage and 22% ROI ranking.

This channel has only gotten stronger in the last decade and it’s clear why: The direct relationship with owned audiences and consistently high conversion rates keep email central to multi-channel strategies.

Meanwhile, channels like AI chatbots and influencer marketing show high usage but lower ROI performance.

Why These Channels Win Consistently

  • Ownership: With blog and email marketing, you own the channel – controlling the content, audience relationship, and distribution. Social platforms are rented land where the landlord can change the rules at any time. Owned channels provide stability that rented channels can't match.

  • Experimentation: Social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram are always introducing new features that allow you to test new content formats and learn more about your audience. The more you experiment, the more insights you learn, and thus the better you can attract your buyer persona.

  • Cross-channel reinforcement: Social media (paid and organic) drives traffic to your website. Website visitors convert to email subscribers. Email campaigns drive engagement back to social platforms. The Core Four creates a flywheel effect where each channel amplifies the others.

Chapter Five

How Marketers Reassess Their Channel Mix

Wouldn’t it be great if once you launched a multi-channel strategy, it was a done-and-done process? Unfortunately, it requires constant optimization.

The channels that work today might underperform tomorrow. Audience behavior shifts. Algorithms change.

Competitive intensity fluctuates. Without systematic reassessment, even well-designed multi-channel strategies gradually lose effectiveness.

Our research reveals that the best-performing marketers build regular optimization rhythms into their operations, with 75% reassessing their channel mix at least quarterly.

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When we asked marketers how often they reassess their channel mix, most (43%) said on a quarterly basis.

Doing so allows enough time to gather sufficient data to identify trends and pivot if necessary. Quarterly reviews align naturally with business planning cycles, budget reviews, and strategic planning processes, making it easier to act on insights.

The second most popular cadence was monthly, reported by 32% of marketers surveyed. Quick course correction is the biggest benefit here, however, it requires solid analytics infrastructure to avoid it being a time suck.

Bi-annual reassessment accounts for 12% of marketers. This slower cadence likely works best for stable industries or organizations with limited resources. Of course, the risk is that six months of underperformance on a channel could go unnoticed.

Conclusion

From Channel Chaos to Coordinated Engine

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Key Takeaways

  • The brands winning at a multi-channel strategy treat it as a coordinated system.
  • Success requires balancing proven channels with experimental platforms.
  • The tried and true methods still dominate: Blog & SEO, organic social, paid social, and email.