As the name implies, multichannel marketing is interacting with customers on various different platforms. It provides the opportunity of increasing customer engagement as well as marketing reach, as you go to where the customer is and makes it as easy as possible to engage with your service or product offering.
Channels
Multichannel marketing can entail customer engagement on the following platforms, to name a few:
- Print ads
- In-store
- Websites
- Product packaging
- Word of mouth
- Promotional events
- Mail order catalogues
- Emails
- Direct mail
- Social media e.g. Facebook
Multichannel marketing is all about ease of purchase and reaching the customer where he is most likely to buy your product or make use of your service. And considering that multi-channel buyers spend three to four times as much as single-channel customers do, it is an important customer to reach.
Choice
Today’s consumers have a tremendous amount of choice when it comes to spending their money. There are multiple channels from where they can get information, which has its pros and cons.
On the one hand, this readily available avalanche of information can make it more difficult to sell your product, as you have a lot more competition on a global level. Customers can easily be distracted from your product or service offering if another product or service catches their attention. You need to make sure that the information on your product hits the spot and is at the top of the list.
On the other hand, the increase in channels through which the customer can be reached has led to an increase in customers that can be reached. Basically, you may have more competition, but you also have more potential customers. And this is why it is critical that you make multichannel marketing a priority.
Consistency
Customer experience is what is going to make the difference between successful multichannel marketing and losing customers because you are all over the place – and not in a good way.
You need to provide a quality experience, which goes without saying, but with multichannel marketing you also need to be consistent in your marketing, across the board. Your message must be the same regardless of the platform you are using, Customer engagement must be unified on all fronts, with a consistent brand message going out to all customers on all platforms. Remember that the customer experiences your brand as a whole, regardless of the type of interaction. A negative experience on one platform, e.g. bad in-store service, will taint all other interaction. Consistency is key – you need to promise and deliver consistently across the board if you want multichannel marketing to work for you.
Marketing is changing faster than ever before. Marketers must engage customers in new ways across new channels to deliver amazing experiences, while tracking the results of their marketing investments. With Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Strategix will help you to easily plan, execute and measure campaigns from start to finish.
