Consumers shop across any number of devices and channels, much of these increasingly digital in today’s changed environment. Omnichannel marketing is an approach that provides customers with a completely seamless and integrated shopping experience from the first touchpoint to the last.
In recent findings from PFL and Demand Metric, marketers who use 4 to 6 channels in their omnichannel campaigns report the best response rates in reaching consumers with meaningful engagement.
Data accuracy, understanding audience needs, and branding topped the list of omnichannel marketing campaign success factors.
A large percentage of study participants (84%), also reported that direct mail improves campaign performance.
Response rates and ROI are also higher when direct mail is included in the mix.
So exactly what channels are in the mix? Marketers report a broad range including:
When asked, “how would you describe the ROI you get from an average multichannel campaign?”, Over half of participants reported getting a good or very good ROI.
Strategies to Convert Today’s Omnichannel Shopper
Get Focused on Your Online Game
As we know, ecommerce spend is skyrocketing with more consumers turning to online channels during the COVID pandemic. However, simply having an online presence with content and promotions scattered across popular digital channels is no longer enough.
Consumers research, look for recommendations, and compare prices on different channels depending on where they are at in the purchase cycle. They may start with a google search to find brands that offer the products they are interesting in purchasing, check out your social media sites to look at customer reviews, visit your website to check out your inventory, and perhaps save some items to a cart while they continue to other sites looking at online reviews again. Each path to purchase is different but each plays an important role in the overall journey.
Your online presence must be super-focused and highly visible across multiple digital channels. The average shopper uses approximately 10.4 sources of information to make a purchase decision (bazaarvoice). While this information was collected pre-pandemic, no doubt the sources channels use is just as high if not higher because consumers in many cases can no longer go into physical stores or choose not to when researching.
With consumers fragmented across channels, be sure to focus on areas such as SEO, social media channel diversification, active encouragement of online reviews on multiple sites, and sharing of plenty of content such as videos, pictures, contests, and promotions. As consumers are researching and discovering products, services and brands, a strong and diverse online channel has never been more crucial.
Move Beyond Traditional Tool Sets with New Technologies
Technology is constantly evolving, providing new platforms and solutions to help brands more easily implement the experiences and seamless cross-channel journeys consumers expect. Today’s marketers are increasingly in charge of technology spend and solutions, so it may be time to take inventory and determine which solutions can add value and enhance the efficiency of your operations.
Some top technologies to consider include marketing automation such on customer journey tools and customer data platforms. According to recent research from Advertiser Perceptions, marketers are turning to CDPs for better customer engagement and enhanced digital advertising, among other benefits.
Respondents had several objectives in mind with varying priorities in terms of their experience with CDPs. Almost 8 in 10 (77%) saw customer engagement as a key objective, making this the primary reason for marketers to use a CDP. At #2 was the desire to improve sales, both online and offline (64%), with customer acquisition at #3 (62%) and branding at #4 (50%).
Integrate Data Across Channels for a Singular Customer View
Consumers view a brand as a single entity, not as various channels within the brand. We have heard time and again about the necessity of providing consumers with seamless customer experiences, whether a consumer is interacting with you on email, social, customer service, or at the store. Each engagement produces a wealth of data regarding a consumer’s likes, dislikes, likely next purchases, channel preferences, and so forth. However, when each channel is operated as a separate entity, customer information cannot be shared between systems to create a single customer view.
Achieving this single customer view across channels has become the holy grail to driving a successful omnichannel strategy. According to research by AgilOne, without an omnichannel view you will be unable to identify 70% of your most valuable (top decile) customers. According to the research by Advertiser Perceptions, respondents ranked a single customer view across channels and devices as the most important capability in a CDP. Consumers know what types of shopping experiences they want as they shop on their own terms, through the channels they prefer and at the time of their choosing. Brands must cater to today’s consumers with relevant and personalized messaging and seamless customer journeys. Those who embrace an omnichannel mindset will find loyal brand advocates who will be more engaged, spend more and who will deliver word of their positive experience with your brand.
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