Brands implementing an omni-channel marketing strategy experience 90% higher customer retention rates and almost 18.8% higher engagement rates than those that don’t. Considering that multi-device users switch between four different devices on average every day - 213 million adults around the world are accessing the internet with more than 3 devices daily - it’s clear why spanning your marketing efforts across all the channels that are specifically relevant to the buyer’s journey is a wise business decision.
So, you’ve decided to go for it and implement an omni-channel marketing strategy. Great choice! But where do you start and what is the best process? Below are 6 steps to begin and perfect the implementation process of omni-channel marketing, but first, let’s quickly review what omni-channel marketing is.
What is omni-channel marketing?
Omni-channel marketing represents a shift in the way people move through the marketing funnel. It involves the utilization of multiple marketing channels, similar to that of multi-channel marketing as the terminology suggests; however, unlike multi-channel that applies to many channels, omni-channel marketing hones in on the customer’s experience and applies to all the channels that are relevant to their personal buying journey.
This marketing concept focuses on creating a seamless user experience by accommodating the buyer across all of the devices and channels they encounter, at every step of their buying experience. When customers have a shopping experience that is integrated from start to finish, they are much more likely to purchase. Research shows that customers complete conversions 250% more frequently after interacting with three or more channels than those who only interact with one.
6 Steps to Begin and Perfect an Omni-channel Marketing Strategy
The customer journey is becoming more and more intricate, and knowing where to start may seem a bit daunting. To address all of your customers’ touchpoints and implement an effective omni-channel marketing strategy, refer to these 6 steps to get started.
- Map the Customer Journey
Omni-channel marketing strategies prioritize the consumer. When developing an omni-channel marketing campaign, the first thing to do is map out the journey of the customer across all the platforms they use. Establishing every touchpoint they come in contact with, ensures that there are no gaps in their buying experience. You want your future customer to see your brand when they begin their search and at every step of research along the way until they decide to purchase your product.
- Get to Know Your Customers
A smooth customer experience not only consists of valuable content across all channels the customer uses, but also involves the optimization of the platforms and devices they are consuming the information on. In addition, consider their location, browsing history, what free tools are available that aid with conversions, and when the customer uses those tools the most, when mapping out the entirety of their buying journey.
It’s important that your marketing teams thoroughly understand who their target audience is by establishing buyer personas, needs, wants, behaviors, demographics, and motivations before the execution of the campaign. Gathering and analyzing this information highlights any patterns in the preferences of the targeted customers and makes for a much more effective marketing campaign.
- Choose Your Tools and Tech
After you’ve completely identified your target consumer, the next step in the implementation process of an omni-channel marketing strategy is to figure out what tools will best deliver your brand, message, and product to them. Taking this a step further, not only do you want your message to be presented across all channels, but you want the channels to be appropriate for the content as well. For instance, Facebook is tailored towards photos and videos, TikTok presents a large opportunity for influencer marketing, while blog posts and email newsletters are great for text-based and long-word content.
Choosing the type of marketing technology stack that fits your campaign can be cumbersome, so consider utilizing some of these popular solutions:
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software
- Marketing automation and data analytics tools
- Social media management solutions
- A fully integrated customer engagement platform
- Video/web conferencing solutions
- Email service providers
- Print materials
- A content management system
Omni-channel marketing strategies aim to make the most of each channel along the buyer’s journey to give them the best experience possible, and ideally, to result in a conversion. For continued success, pertinent data should be gathered, analyzed, and optimized upon in order to keep the connection between content and channel relevant.
- Segment Your Users
Based on all the information obtained during the first three steps of the process, you then want to segment your users. Use behavior-based data such as purchases, interests, previous engagement, gender, and geo-location to segment your audience based on what is most relevant to your campaign goals. This segmentation paves the way for the creation of hyper-personalized content, properly targeted ads, and more effective marketing and retargeting efforts.
- Personalize Across All Channels
We know the customer is the main focus of omni-channel marketing, which is why personalization is such a crucial component of this type of strategy. You’ve researched your target audience and all of their behaviors and have determined which channels and segments apply to your business goals the most. Now you want to make sure that every channel creates a 1:1 relationship with every person in your target audience.
Is there customer support on every channel? Is there email and social media messaging available no matter where they are on their journey? Is there a company phone number they can call with any questions or concerns they have? How about a way for them to give your business feedback? Does your team exhibit friendly customer service when a customer has a complaint or needs a refund? A smooth user experience has been proven to increase brand awareness, loyalty, and ultimately, drive revenue.
- Track and Optimize
As with any successful marketing strategy, tracking the correct metrics and analyzing the data sets in order to optimize the campaign is pivotal. Collecting accurate information pertaining to the positive and negative results of your omni-channel strategy, allows you and your teams to better judge where your marketing efforts should be focused moving forward. Constant revision and optimization will contribute to a better return on investment (ROI).
Is Omni-Channel Marketing Worth It?
Businesses using omni-channel marketing experience an average order value of 13% more than single-channel marketing and this is generally contributed to how personally tailored the buying experience is for each individual customer. With buying journeys possibly spanning multiple days and channels, and consumers being more connected than ever, omni-channel marketing aims to simplify the complex terrain that can accompany such an encapsulating strategy.
Whether shopping online or in-person, a smooth and consistent buying journey for your customers means a lucrative marketing campaign for your business.
If you’re interested in discovering more, check out our website and connect with us to get started on your omni-channel marketing strategy. Visit SphericalStrategies.com today.
