Customers don’t want to be told what they can do. What they can buy, or where and when they have to do so. They want to be able to choose. That’s why choice, to the modern consumer, is so important.
Multichannel marketing is about choice – giving your customers the choice to interact with you in a way that’s convenient for them: at a time of their choice, at a place of their choice, and on a device of their choice.
By using the right platform(s), you can integrate your digital and traditional marketing activities and reach the right customer with exactly the right message at exactly the right time.
So, what’s the challenge for marketers today?
Research shows that, increasingly, more and more customers are using more and more channels to engage with their desired brands. But ironically, this amount of freedom and choice can cause marketers a few problems:
- How do you make sure your multichannel customers are having the same experience across all channels?
- Do you know where and when and how your customers are interacting with your brand?
- Are you ready, there and then, to engage with them where they’re most likely to engage with you?
You can benefit from a multichannel marketing strategy. Here’s how.
A multichannel marketing strategy is indispensable when trying to connect with your customers. You’ll know their value, you’ll deliver consistent experiences (the most powerful competitive differentiator!) and find it easier to see results. Here are some of the benefits you can expect to gain from implanting a successful multichannel marketing program:
- Know which channels contribute to qualified conversions or sales and how and why every customer is different.
- Have the ability to engage, acquire and retain different demographic groups according to their behavior within specific channels.
- Engage with your customers wherever they touch your brand.
- Identify the most common touch points a buying customer has with your brand, and plot for prospective customers to increase conversion rates.
- Spend less time creating campaigns and get better response rates.
- Strengthen your brand by creating consistent customer experiences across all channels.
- Reach your customers when they’re ready to engage.
- Boost revenues.
- Retain happy customers.
- Identify and connect with new prospects.
Some choice tips for creating a successful multichannel marketing program.
- Make sure all your messages, across all the different channels, are on-brand and personalized.
- Target each customer with an offer, message, and even imagery that is relevant and targeted to them.
- Understand that people are individual: we all have different tastes. That way, you’ll market to them better and keep them engaged with your brand.
- Marketing is not about one-off campaigns. Plan follow-up messages to every campaign you send out.
And what to avoid:
- Choose to ignore this advice at your risk! We’d highly recommend you avoid making these mistakes at all costs:
- Failure to send relevant messages.
- No personalization (or worse, the wrong personalization!).
- Forgetting to create and nurture a natural, on-going conversation with your customers.
- Neglecting to gather more info on your customers at every opportunity.
- Forgetting to plan follow-up messages.
Keep an eye out for our next blogs. They’ll follow shortly with an in-depth look at the planning, execution, and development needed to create a successful multichannel marketing campaign.
This article was syndicated from Business 2 Community: Why Multichannel Marketing Matters
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