Marketing a product or service isn’t as straightforward as it was several years ago.
For starters, the singular or double-point marketing source (mainly word-to-mouth and newspaper ads) has branched out to hundreds of equally effective ones. Being lenient with our initial research and skipping out the crucial channels can even cost us our business.
The development of multichannel approach strategies, on the other hand, has helped the marketers make their products reach millions within a small amount of time, all thanks to the latest technology innovations. IoT, VR, AI- you name it.
Nowadays, a one to one, more personalized communication with the consumers is in focus via an array of channels- from the social media updates to a more personal ‘first-name-based’ emails. Everybody likes to be heard and felt important. Treat them well and they will not think twice before aligning their money and time on your product. But make yourself visible, don’t spam!
All in all, consumers want a more hands-on dealing, exactly what an omnichannel approach does!
Omnichannel marketing refers to a multichannel sales approach to provide an ultimate and seamless shopping experience to the customers. From smartphones, desktops to VR displays at the brick and mortar store, you get an integrated service involving both the physical and digital channels.
Omnichannel is derived from the latin word ‘omnis’ which means ‘universal/all’. The classic case of ‘name-says-it-all’.
This marketing method fully utilizes the consumer’s access to information to create a unified buyer experience. You can now easily grab onto a variety of products/brands at one. The omnichannel approach is also dubbed as ‘customer-friendly’ due to the fact that it puts consumers on the pedestals, involving their modes and choices to come up with a range of services.
What a way to build profitable and meaning consumer relationships!
There is a reason why most of the well-known brands are engaging in such a marketing practice. You may buy that wonderful jogging pants you saw in a mall from your phone via the brand’s mobile app, or look through the brand catalog at the comforts of your own before checking them out at the store. Omnichannel is surely a ‘multi channel approach done right’!
Omnichannel marketing succeeds because they keep the customers in the middle of their thought process, not the brand. They try to understand their needs and demands and frame their strategy accordingly. Implementing it effectively might require a bit of extra effort and dedication but hopefully, these tips will help executive yours perfectly!
Seeing how it is a ‘customer-first’ approach, knowing your customers intimately becomes of a prime importance for the omnichannel marketers. From their physical attributes, locations to their goals and challenges, you need to keep a track of everything and frame your strategy accordingly.
Implement effective customer feedback channels, social forums, and listening tools to learn more about their choices and dislikes. Create customer identities by considering their buying patterns, purchasing habits, priorities and behavioral patterns across all the channels. Know their favorite channels to explore and when they are active the most. Be involved with your consumers!
Always remember that each of your customers belongs to a different location and their buyer’s journey is completely different from the other. Each of them individual attention.
Also, it has been noticed that the brands/companies that create and sell their content in sync with their consumer’s situation are able to sell better!
We have seen how many brands/channels drop a ‘first-name’ email to you or give you a call if you have things in your cart for a longer period of time. They provide you with personal offers enticing enough to make you purchase them within the valid period. This actually works nine out of ten times!
A point that is relevant to each and every marketing approach, honestly.
If you want to reach your target customers, you need to consistently remind them of your existence. Use a variety of follow-up techniques divided priority-wise across all the relevant channels. Proximity notifications, reminders, use any mode to engage with them for a significant conversion.
A personalized follow-up email involving suggestion and offers also does the trick!
Treating your customers like God is something you need to have your business sailing without much hindrance. No one likes to get involved with a brand with a poor customer service.
For a successful omnichannel experience, you should focus on the quality of your customer support unit. Listen to what your consumers have to offer and implement the required suggestions accordingly.
Bottomline, for a happy and content customer relationship you need to reinforce an equally strong consumer support network.
This goes without saying. In order to provide a seamless and integrated shopping experience, you need to be equipped with a technology stack in sync with the latest advancements. You need to identify tools that would enhance your marketing efforts.
From CRM software, email service provider, automation platforms, Data visualization dashboards, analytics tools, content management system to printing solutions, you need to have all the advanced tools to record, report and visualize a buyer’s journey and destination.
Make sure to monitor and update your top channels fervently. Modify your strategies in accordance with the ROI in each of your channels. Avoid spending your precious time and budget on a channel that doesn’t convert. Invest the most in the channels that going steadily or the channels you deem promising. You can leverage the power of data analytics tools to identify them.
Another important aspect is the channel arrangement. In an omnichannel approach, both online and offline arrangements should be constantly monitored for buyer’s insights. Add or remove features to personalize cross-channel experiences.
Implementing a strategy means nothing if you cannot measure it well. After all, we are focusing on implementing an ‘effective’ omnichannel strategy.
We need to build a comprehensive and elaborate measurement strategy that is built around metrics and behavioral tracking. We have several zetabytes of data to skim through, after all.
Last but not the least, you need to track and interweave the crucial findings throughout your channels to build and implement ‘the’ omnichannel strategy.
See if the strategies for a specific channel supports the strategies created for others. This will ensure a seamless customer experience and subsequent conversion which we all aim towards.
Keep in mind that an effective omnichannel strategy doesn’t demand you to be active on each of the successful channels. You just need to develop the right strategy suiting your business and implementing them to the core. Utilize cross-channel integrations to closely engage with your customers and align your marketing initiatives with their feedbacks. Follow the above-mentioned tips for customer retention, brand loyalty, and revenue growth!
