5 Actionable Tips for the Success of Omnichannel Marketing

Have you been keeping tabs on the marketing world? If so, you must have come across at least one mention of ‘omnichannel marketing’. After all, companies with omnichannel strategies retain an average of 89% customers. But, what does it mean?

Omnichannel marketing refers to promotional efforts that are carried out on multiple channels. Previously, consumers were typically restricted to seeing brands being advertised on newspapers, TV & radio ads and brick-and-more-stores. Today, consumers can engage with their choice of brands on mobile applications, social media, physical stores, catalogs and so on. This is omnichannel marketing.

The definition of omnichannel marketing must have got you thinking if multichannel and omnichannel marketing is the same. The short answer is no.

Multichannel V/s Omnichannel marketing

As their names suggest, both involve multiple channels. The difference lies in the relationships between these different channels. Read on to get a clear idea of omnichannel vs multichannel.

• Multichannel marketing – Marketers are trying their best to reach as many consumers as possible on various touchpoints and platforms. Everything from search ads to social media to in-person demos, they make an ‘all in’ attempt to grow the reach of their brand or product.
• Omnichannel marketing – This is a strategy that combines different channels in an interconnected way to encourage them towards a purchase. Customer’s journey is the topmost priority, and how one touchpoint takes the consumer to the next one until the purchase is complete and even beyond.

So, why should you invest in omnichannel marketing?

• Today, consumers use an average of 6 touchpoints with 50% of customers using at least 4 of them regularly.
• 64% of consumers expect real-time assistance, irrespective of the channel/platform they are using.
• 89% of customers feel frustrated if they have to repeat their issues to multiple representatives on different channels.
• 90% of consumers expect consistent interactions across platforms.

For more statistics on the efficacy of omnichannel marketing, click here.

Now that you know the meaning and why omnichannel marketing is crucial, here are 5 helpful tips for elevating the success of your omnichannel marketing strategy.

1. Make use of the behaviors and data of customers

How are consumers choosing to connect with your brand? Are they having a consistent experience in vital areas like, troubleshooting, product discovery and customer service? What is the consumer’s path across channels in specific use cases?

For this, you need to get hold of adequate customer data across both offline and online touchpoints. You can receive customer insights from:

• Home address
• Email address
• Online cookies
• IP address
• Landline phone number and mobile phone number
• Websites
• Landing pages
• Search engines
• TV and radio
• Call centers
• Print media
• Outdoor surveys

You can get the desired results after you have collected and analyzed customer data. The core of omnichannel marketing is data and you need to pull it from all available sources. Incorporate your findings into your marketing strategy and provide a seamless, integrated experience to your customers.

2. Identify the preferred channels of your target audience

You can easily identify the channels preferred by your customers after you have analyzed their behaviors and data. Additionally, you will also know how your customers are using relevant channels and how much time they spend on each channel.

For instance, is a large number of your targeted audience active on Instagram? Or are they talking about you on Facebook? Having such information will be invaluable when crafting your omnichannel marketing plan.

Simply put, you will engage with your target audience on those platforms where they are active. Even though it might be tempting to be present on all channels and in an equal capacity, it doesn’t make sense to spend money on platforms where your customers are not active.

3. Optimize content for each channel

Just like any other marketing strategy, content is the lifeblood of omnichannel marketing. But, you cannot use the same type of content on every channel because different channels require different content.

For instance, videos receive a lot of engagement on Facebook compared to other kinds of posts. On the other hand, Pinterest favors infographics and Instagram prefers photos. Twitter prefers GIFs, blogs and news.

Also, make sure that you use responsive design so that your website and content easily adapts to different screen sizes like, tablet, computer and smartphone.

4. Capitalize on new channels and technologies

Technology evolves quickly. Omnichannel marketers should keep up with the latest technologies to take advantage of brand new opportunities, reach their audience and stay ahead of the competition.

Among the latest technologies, here are a few that you can consider using:

• Marketing automation – this will save you a lot of time while helping you reach more customers with the same resources.
• In-store technology – by making use of this, you can connect your digital marketing campaigns with your brick-and-mortar stores.
• AR and VR – augmented reality and virtual reality provide new and innovative ways to connect and interact with customers. Sephora, for instance, makes use of facial recognition technology and augmented reality to let customers try products on its website and mobile app.

Omnichannel marketers also have to keep an eye on new social media features and updates. For example, Facebook had launched its Marketplace feature in 2016 that allowed businesses to sell directly to their customers. Today, 800 million people use this feature to buy, sell or discover items.

5.Focus on having a unified brand presence

Thanks to the availability of so many different online, offline and social media channels, there is nothing called a typical customer journey. You will notice that your potential consumers are checking you out on multiple channels. With the help of omnichannel marketing, you can address the need of your prospects and offer them a unified brand experience across all the channels.

It is important to make sure that your brand presence is unified because familiarity builds trust. You wouldn’t want your customers to get confused with the brand image or message that you’re trying to convey. By providing them with the same brand experience, you will be ensuring that they make a seamless transition from one channel to the other.

So, make sure that the formats of your content correspond to a single corporate design – be it graphics, images or text.

To conclude, do not be afraid to make your brand omnipresent. Just make sure to invest significant time and resource in doing research about customer intent and behavior. Find out which channels they’re most comfortable with and maintain a uniform brand image to avoid confusion.