Does Your Brand Need an Omnichannel Strategy?

A decade or two ago, people made purchases differently, even if it also could be an offline store or a website. Every purchase made was considered a separate interaction with the company. Thus, if one and the same buyer made purchases online and offline, these were considered to be made by different buyers. Today, the situation has drastically changed. Besides physical stores and traditional websites, customers can reach goods and services via social networks, messengers, hosted phone systems, mobile applications, and chatbots. Businesses realized the need to provide a unified experience across all channels and combine data into a single information system. As a result, they invest resources in videos, their brand identity, and marketing logo design. This is how omnichannel marketing appeared.

Understanding omnichannel strategy

The terms "omnichannel" and "multichannel" are often considered to have the same meanings. However, the omnichannel approach is not about using as many channels as possible. It combines all data sources and interaction methods in a single information field, where work with clients is conducted in a coordinated and personalized manner. The following channels are most often used in omnichannel customer service:

SMS messages
Instant messengers
Social networks
Email
Websites and video hosting
Mobile applications
Offline stores
Email automation tools

Omnichannel marketing takes into account the customer journey across multiple channels. Gathering and analyzing this extensive interaction data is too intricate for manual handling, but it can be effectively managed by the Customer Data Platform (CDP). The integration of CDPs allows embracing all the channels into one robust system.

How does an omnichannel strategy work?

The easiest way to demonstrate an omnichannel algorithm is on the example of the PORO model, where the consumer studies information about the product online and buys it offline. The interaction scheme is as follows:

The customer searches for goods or services on the seller's website and communicates with the manager in the online chat.
Then, he visits the competitors' online stores to compare prices. At this stage, contextual advertising steps in.
The client returns to the website and makes a subscription. A company sends a promotional code to convince a person to make a purchase.
The customer visits a physical store and buys a product using a personal promotional code.

The buyer can add the product to the cart in the mobile application, get advice through the online chat of the online store, place an order on the website, and pick up the product in the offline store. However, the success of this pattern greatly depends on the quality of such interaction. While each channel remains autonomous, the information should flow smoothly between them, regardless of the touch point from which the buyer started contacting the store and where it ended.

What are the benefits of an omnichannel strategy?

By connecting different sales channels, businesses can significantly improve their marketing effort and final results.

Enhanced customer loyalty. Customers tend to make purchases from businesses they trust and respect. Implementing CSAT software within an omnichannel strategy delivers a seamless and personalized experience across all channels, fostering customer retention. Statistics show that marketers employing this CSAT software approach can achieve a remarkable 90 percent higher retention rate compared to those who focus on a single channel.
Better brand visibility. Cross-channel consistency makes your brand visible across various platforms and devices. It significantly contributes to enhanced brand recall among your customer base. A robust online reputation encourages consumers to make a purchase.
Improved sales. Omnichannel marketing positively impacts customer loyalty, brand recall, and repeat purchases. Together with personalized content, it helps companies retain existing customers and attract new ones. A larger customer base leads to more sales and, consequently, higher revenue.

How to introduce an omnichannel strategy?

An efficient omnichannel strategy can differ from industry to industry, but it is always customer-centric. Here are a few steps to follow.

Define your target audience. In order to give customers the best user experience, you need to know who they are and what they want. Create a portrait of your client which will take into account his interests, age, family status, etc.

Let's take as an example running a dropshipping clothing business that specializes in luxury fashion. In this case, your target audience would be individuals seeking stylish high-quality clothing options, possibly with a focus on millennials and Gen Z buyers.

Knowing exactly who you are targeting will make it easier for you to understand customer behavior and reactions.

Choose promotion channels. The omnichannel approach offers a large number of options for communicating with the store. But you need to know which exact channels resonate with your audience. Knowing your customers, you will know what social media they prefer. For example, young people prefer TikTok and Instagram, while the older generation opts for Facebook. The task is to combine several most relevant options.

Synchronize all channels. The success of omnichannel marketing depends on the synchronized work of all communication channels. The store must record all interactions and history of communication with customers, regardless of the channel through which it happens. It can be done via CRM. Managers of offline and online stores will have common access to customer profiles in CRM with all their details and contacts.

Create a marketing strategy. The business must have its promotion strategy spread across all channels. This includes your brand positioning, tone of voice, and logo, potentially engaging the strategic use of an animated logo maker. Your promotion strategy will also extend to all of your brand images, your corporate style, and every other facet of your business.

Additionally, consider integrating content personalization techniques. By tailoring content to individual customer preferences and behaviors, you can enhance engagement and improve the effectiveness of your campaigns.

Content personalization ensures that your marketing materials resonate more deeply with your target audience. This unified approach will help make promotion channels appear consistent and homogeneous in the eyes of customers.

Collect customer information. Omnichannel marketing brings results if you possess enough information about your customers. You can achieve it by tracking certain events, for example, which products the customer adds to the cart. You can use Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel and other marketing tools.

Track customer behavior. Analytical tools will provide you with performance metrics and allow you to improve the work of promotion channels and implement new solutions. This data demonstrates how effective the work of certain promotion channels is and how customers react to them.

Wrapping up

The omnichannel approach will become essential in the future as the technology already allows you to monitor and track every step of the user and forecast their behavior. Omnichannel communication is a necessity for any brand that wants to increase the level of interaction with customers, strengthen their loyalty, become more recognizable in the market and, accordingly, increase sales. It is an inevitable transition for businesses that plan to stay afloat in the insanely competitive market. So it is time to consider this step and leave your competitors behind.

Bio:

Eliza Medley is an experienced writer and psychologist. She is actively interested in management, new technologies, and writing motivational articles. She also loves catching up on modern trends. She inspires people to learn new things and reach new heights with her work.

The statements made by the author are not necessarily the views of Mobile Text Alerts.