Three Fundamentals of Omni-Channel Marketing You Need to Know
“Change almost never fails because it's too early. It almost always fails because it's too late.”
Folks involved in Internet marketing will no doubt know that customers have been using multiple devices and entry points on their buying journey for some time now. But, to the increasing frustration of consumers, businesses lag way behind when it comes to utilizing the advantages of these different channels.
So what’s a business to do?
Like any other change in consumer behaviour, you need to respond to the demand. Instead of thinking of different channels as being separate experiences for the customer (a website experience, a smartphone app experience, a tablet experience, and an instant chat experience), you need to think of one holistic experience – the omni-channel. And you then need to build your marketing process around it.
What Is Omni-Channel?
Omni-channel happens when you take a multi-channel sales approach, but treat it as an integrated shopping experience. In other words, no matter what device the customer is using, or even if they’re using no device and actually coming into your store, the experience is seamless.
Although the terms multi-channel marketing and omni-channel marketing are often used interchangeably, the difference is profound. Omni-channel actually turns multi-channel on its head by making the customer experience the focus of the marketing strategy, rather than the various sales channels the company provides. Think of it as an outside-in approach, rather than an inside-out one that aims to orchestrate and synchronize communication and marketing channels, rather than diversify them.
If you are interested in incorporating omni-channel marketing into your business, there are a few fundamentals you’ll need to get your head around.
1.Omni-Channel Marketing Provides a Consistent Customer Experience Across Different Mediums and Platforms
Just when you thought you’d successfully satisfied your customers by implementing a convenient multichannel system, customers decide they now want a consistent and personal experience that seamlessly transitions them through the various channels, as well as through different stages of the buying journey. So while it’s great that you’ve managed to create different points of entry to the buying process, you need to start thinking of ways to integrate them together.
No one wants to hear that the camera they saw on your online catalogue isn’t in stock when they actually come to the store. Nor are they satisfied when a shopping cart from a mobile site doesn’t carry over into a website.
Multi channels create multi journeys. With omni-channel marketing, there is only one consistent and personal journey. And it’s up to the customer how and when they reach the end of it.
2. Your Best Marketing Strategy is to Be Accessible
Before you despair at the amount of time and marketing dollars you put towards these multi channels, remember all is not lost. In fact, the multi channels you’ve already established will serve you well on your mission.
Studies in consumer behaviour suggest that, far from sticking to a single lane, today’s consumers actively engage various channels. For example, they may come across your fan page after seeing a Facebook advertisement, browse the products on your catalogue, then read reviews on a review site’s mobile app, and then return to your site to read more about your company, and finally make a purchase. There are even times when a customer may be using more than one channel simultaneously. For example, according to the Customer Experience Board (CEB), 38% of customers are on a website while they’re talking to a phone rep.
Customers need to be able to engage with you wherever they are and receive the same exceptional service and level of interaction across all platforms and devices.
3.Omni-Channel Marketing Works Best When You Track Customer Interaction with your Brand
You’d be right in thinking this is a pretty large undertaking, so it’s a good time to talk about tracking customer interaction with your brand.
The first step in any good omni-channel marketing journey is for you to work out where the main points of engagement are with your audience. When you take into account all the channels available to you like social media, search engines, your website, mobile apps, or your shop, there are multiple opportunities for interaction points with our customer. You need to work out where most of your customers are finding or interacting with you, and focus your efforts on that channel.
If you’re a retailer, your store is an obvious touch point. The next step would be to create a profile that incorporates email, social media, and smartphone to create a seamless experience and facilitate further purchases.
B2B Omni-Channel is Also on The Rise
Don’t think that because you’re in a B2B market, omni-channel isn’t going to apply to you. A recent study by Forrester Consulting revealed that business buyers are increasingly imitating the habits of consumers in their movement toward the digital sphere to read reviews, and research a company before making a decision. And their expectations of personalised and seamless service are on par with their B2C counterparts. In fact, B2B Omni channel marketing is rumoured to be the next big thing in dealing with your business customers.
Omni-channel marketing is relatively new, but it’s already paving the way for innovative marketers to get to the heart of consumer activities, and respond to them in a seamless, consistent, and personal way. It’ll require you to make a significant shift in the way you do business, and put the customer experience at the centre of your marketing, but businesses that have already adopted this concept have reported great results including increased sales and better customer retention. Isn’t it time you made the next giant leap?