Originally published: October 18, 2021. Last updated: Oct 10, 2026.
In the last few years, brands have relied on digital marketing to help them reach their desired target customers. While that sounds easy enough, the reality is that a majority of brands fail at this crucial objective. Reaching customers is difficult, and convincing them why they should buy from you is difficult too, but without the first step there can be no second step. Digital marketing can genuinely help, although it is easier said than done.
When your strategies do reach your prospective customers, you can expect:
- Greater brand awareness and recognition
- Generation of leads through discovery
- Better sales and revenues for the brand
- Stronger branding and authority in the niche
- Loyalty and goodwill among customers
None of that happens unless you reach people in the first place. In this article, we share five digital marketing tactics that help brands reach their customers, plus the most common mistakes that keep outreach from working.
Top tips to help brands reach their customers through digital marketing
Content marketing works because it meets people where they already are: searching for answers. Rather than depending only on paid ads that interrupt, brands need to invest in the resource section of their website through blogs, case studies, how-to guides, and original research. Digital audiences are looking to get their problems solved rather than being sold to directly. If you can solve their problems, they will remember you, and that is how brand authority is built.
Write answer-first content: clear, structured explanations that directly answer the question behind the search. That format earns featured snippets and citations in AI Overviews as well as traditional rankings, so one strong article can reach customers across multiple surfaces. And once the content exists, make sure it can be found: solid SEO link building and internal linking decide whether great content gets discovered or sits invisible.
2. Be present on platforms where they are looking at solutions for their problems
Where do most of us go when something needs fixing? The answer is usually a search bar or a feed. Think about platforms like Google Search, YouTube, Reddit, Quora, TikTok, and LinkedIn. No matter what the issue is, people depend on such platforms for solutions, which makes them natural places for your brand to show up.
The key is to contribute before you promote: answer questions thoroughly on Reddit and Quora, publish genuinely useful videos on YouTube and TikTok, and share real expertise on LinkedIn. Short-form video deserves special attention in 2026, since it is now one of the fastest ways for an unknown brand to reach people who have never heard of it. Put in meaningful answers and comments, help audiences first, and let the curious find their way to your business.
People often buy on social media when they feel both a need and an inspiration. That is why user-generated content (UGC) belongs at the core of a brand’s social strategy: when audiences see someone like them using and enjoying a product, they picture themselves doing the same.
The scale of the opportunity is hard to overstate. DataReportal’s Digital 2026 mid-year update counts 5.79 billion social media user identities worldwide, equal to 69.9 percent of the global population, and still growing more than 5 percent a year. Encourage customers to share photos, reviews, and unboxing videos; repost the best of it (with permission); and turn your happiest buyers into your most credible advertisers.
4. Boost communication regularly through email marketing strategies
Email remains the highest-returning digital channel when it is done with permission and relevance. Litmus’s State of Email 2025 research found that email marketing returns an average of $36 for every $1 spent, the highest ROI of any channel it measures. Treat that as a marketer-reported average rather than a promise: results vary widely by industry, list quality, and program maturity.
What separates high-performing programs from ignored ones is segmentation and relevance. Build your list with explicit permission (never purchased lists, which violate consent rules and destroy deliverability), segment by behavior and interests, and automate the fundamentals: welcome sequences, abandoned-cart reminders, and post-purchase follow-ups. A smaller, engaged list that chose to hear from you will always outperform a large, cold one.
5. Text messaging still works when you respect the inbox
Sometimes the simplest proven strategies are the most effective. Amid all the advanced marketing technology, a well-run text messaging campaign can still deliver outsized results: discount codes, restock alerts, appointment reminders, and flash offers land directly on the device people check constantly.
Handle the numbers honestly. Industry benchmarks frequently cite SMS read rates of 90 to 98 percent, but as Infobip’s benchmarks guide notes, SMS has no tracking pixel, so that figure is an inferred estimate rather than a measured open rate. The engagement underneath it is real, though: SimpleTexting’s 2025 benchmarks put SMS response rates around 45 percent, far above email. The non-negotiable rule is consent: use explicit opt-in lists, identify your brand in every message, honor opt-outs immediately, and keep frequency low enough that each text feels welcome.
Mistakes to avoid when using digital marketing to reach your target audiences
Many brands and agencies repeat the same outreach mistakes. Here are the most common ones to eliminate:
- Taking the audience for granted. Digital is a fiercely competitive space. If you stop looking after your audience, another brand will win them over. Keep investing in outreach even when things are going well.
- Stopping outreach after brief intervals. Lead generation needs consistency across the year. If email, social, or cold calling outreach stops, momentum dies and restarting takes far more effort than maintaining it.
- Sending generic outreach. Personalization wins. The more a message reflects the recipient’s actual situation, the more likely they are to respond positively. Segment your audience and tailor the angle, not just the first name.
- Skipping the buyer persona. One of the golden rules of outreach is to start only after defining who you are trying to reach: age, profession, region, pain points, and buying triggers. Personas give every campaign its direction.
- Outsourcing understanding to the agency. Nobody knows your customers like you do. Share that knowledge with any agency you hire, stay involved in messaging decisions, and treat the agency as an amplifier of your insight, not a replacement for it.
Eliminate these mistakes and combine that discipline with the five tactics above, and your outreach will reach more of the right people and convert more of them.
The Final Word
Brands should build on the fundamentals before chasing advanced tactics: helpful content, a presence where customers look for answers, social proof, permission-based email, and respectful SMS. Get those five working and measure what each one contributes, then double down on whatever reaches your specific audience best. If you have questions you would like us to address, let us know in the comments below.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most effective digital marketing channel for reaching customers?
There is no single winner; it depends on your audience. Content marketing and search capture people with active intent, social media and short-form video reach people who are not searching yet, email delivers the highest measured ROI for retention and repeat sales, and SMS wins on immediacy. Most small businesses do best starting with one discovery channel and one retention channel, then expanding.
How much does email marketing return on investment?
Litmus’s State of Email 2025 research found email returns an average of $36 for every $1 spent, the highest ROI of any channel it measures. That is a marketer-reported average across industries and program sizes, so treat it as a benchmark rather than a guarantee: your results depend on list quality, segmentation, and relevance.
Are SMS open rates really 98 percent?
Not exactly. Industry sources often cite 90 to 98 percent, but SMS has no tracking pixel, so the figure is an inferred estimate of delivered messages being seen, not a measured open rate. What is well supported is that SMS engagement dwarfs email: response rates around 45 percent versus single digits for email, per SimpleTexting’s 2025 benchmarks.
Do I need permission before sending marketing texts or emails?
Yes. Explicit opt-in consent is required in most markets, including under the GDPR in Europe and the TCPA in the United States, and purchased lists violate those rules while destroying your deliverability. Build your own lists with clear opt-ins, identify your brand in every message, and make unsubscribing easy.
No. With 5.79 billion social media user identities worldwide, the audience is everywhere, but your resources are not. Pick the one or two platforms where your specific customers spend time, publish consistently there, and expand only once the first ones produce results.
How do I reach customers who ignore ads?
Lead with value instead of interruption: answer-first content that ranks and gets cited, helpful participation on Reddit, Quora, and YouTube, UGC-driven social proof, and permission-based email and SMS. People who skip ads still search for answers and trust other customers, so be useful where they already look.
