It doesn’t matter whether your business is a large multinational company with thousands of employees, or as a single trader operating from home.Embrace omnichannel marketing strategy Probably one of the most reliable methods Increase awareness of your business And drive growth.
In this article, we will study how small businesses can make the most of the multiple marketing channels available to them and deliver a strong brand message in the process.
What is omnichannel marketing?
Omni-channel marketing is marketing that crosses multiple channels, that is, operates in a variety of different media. It combines online and offline marketing and is a way of describing the many ways that customers may encounter your brand.
Not only that-because what we have said so far is no different Multi-channel marketing-Omnichannel marketing also focuses on creating seamless messaging between all touchpoints through each channel to tell the right story about your business.
Of course, every business has its favorite advertising method, and only you know what is best for your company. Do door-to-door flyer events always attract customers? Or, has the introduction of marketing materials through your CCaaS platform brought you the best return on investment (ROI) in the past?
Omni-channel does not mean sacrificing effective marketing strategies. This does not mean that all channels are given equal importance. It is just a method designed to unify your marketing efforts so that they can best complement each other and reach as much of your target audience as possible.
Whether potential customers encounter your brand on their laptops, mobile phones, printed publications, or by visiting a physical location, their experience should be continuous. This means that message delivery needs to be consistent, and friction should be minimized when moving between channels.
5 tips for creating an omnichannel strategy
There are no shortcuts to perfect omni-channel marketing, but the following tips will help you get started right.
1. Fine-tune your brand
Branding is about building your company as truly, A reputable and recognizable brand. From advertising to in-store communication, the key to good brand promotion and omnichannel marketing is to maintain a continuous narrative across multiple touch points.
Good branding first requires you to clearly understand the types of target customers of your company.Use one Buyer role Represent typical consumers of your products or services when designing brand messages. Remember to conduct research to best understand the type of narrative that most appeals to your character.
The brand message should tell a consistent story tailored to your target audience.Then the same story should be strengthened at each stage Customer journey, Regardless of channel.
To create a consistent and influential brand message, focus on designing and stick to a single overall brand plan, covering website design, advertising, social media, events, Influence marketing activities, And the in-store experience.
2. Seek the right help
If you work in a small business, you know that resources are limited. Advertising budgets are often stretched, and the marketing department cannot divide itself into different teams for billboards, social media, and events, and so on.
Outsourcing-The process of hiring an external third party that specializes in the organization’s needs-can be a simple and effective marketing tool for small businesses. You can outsource certain marketing processes in a variety of ways to optimize your omni-channel influence.
E.g, Outsourced call center Is an economical and effective way to expand your influence and Generate new leadsYou can still write scripts and maintain overall control over the telemarketing process, but through outsourcing, you don’t have to hire additional staff to complete the potentially time-consuming part of the omni-channel marketing plan.
Of course, important decisions need to be made when choosing a contractor.Fortunately, there are a series of specialized companies that provide Small business call center solutions.
3. Integrate your online and offline status
Thanks to smartphones, most of us are not far from connected devices these days.And technology such as virtual faxing Weave people’s experience of the online and offline worlds in an unprecedented way.
Therefore, although cross-channel marketing methods are important, omnichannel means more than just coordinating the different digital experiences of the brand.The appropriate omnichannel approach should also incorporate your Offline brand presence And make sure it matches your Online marketing.
A great way to integrate online and offline marketing is to create or participate in digitally accessible live events.
One way is to use social media to directly broadcast live to viewers using platforms such as Facebook Live, Instagram’s IGTV or Twitch. A good live event will attract new customers, but it can also provide something to your existing customer base. Include a call to action in your broadcast and encourage people to participate, whether it’s during the event or through other channels to connect.
In addition to one-to-many broadcast events, more interactive conference-style online events can also be an excellent way to interact with customers. With the right settings, you can even provide conference call dial-in opportunities for live events, maximizing your influence on physical and digital channels.
4. Align marketing with other business processes
Between sites, Paid advertising, Reviews, social media, in-store experiences, real world and virtual events, there are many things to consider when making sure all your marketing efforts are consistent.
But marketing is not the entire and final purpose of interacting with customers, as a whole Customer Experience As it becomes more and more omnichannel, it becomes more difficult to define what marketing is and what is not.
Although the boundary between marketing and public relations has always been difficult to define, in the omnichannel era, the question of what marketing is and not marketing extends to other areas of the customer journey, set as after-sales and customer support.
For example, managing a company’s Facebook page may be considered the responsibility of the marketing department. However, many people now use social media as their first stop when they have questions that need to be better answered by the customer support team.
Rather than treating marketing as a specialized business process, try to incorporate marketing goals into a broader omnichannel customer experience strategy that includes all the different ways people might interact with your brand.
The best way to ensure that your marketing goals are aligned with your other business needs is to communicate regularly and openly around these needs.Use one Cloud communication platform Involve your entire team in your marketing plan, even if you can’t meet in the same place.
5. Use customer data
Collecting customer data is critical to creating the ultimate omnichannel brand experience.
On the digital side, you can connect e-commerce browsing data to your email marketing campaigns. You should also use digital communication to remind people of in-store opportunities.
On the other hand, when customers do visit your physical business location, take the opportunity to sign up for them on the mailing list, encourage them to leave comments, or contact them on social media so that they can participate in future digital marketing initiatives.
You can also use location data to direct website visitors to the nearest store. To truly integrate the marketing and shopping experience, enable purchase options that allow your customers to pay digitally and collect money in the store (and vice versa). If your company has associated apps, you can even send notifications to customers via their mobile devices when they are close to your company’s physical location.
If you are concerned that you may not have the technical knowledge to follow a data-centric approach to sales and marketing, remember that you can always use Free e-commerce platform Make the process easier.
Avoid multi-channel methods
The last point must explain the difference between omnichannel and multichannel methods.
In marketing, multi-channel refers to a method that simply uses multiple different channels to reach customers. On the other hand, omnichannel is the method described in this guide, in which multiple different channels are mobilized in a seamless and complementary manner.
If you remove one thing from this guide, then today’s multi-channel approach should not be enough, and not fully adopting omni-channel is a waste of opportunities to create a seamless experience for your customers.
By following the tips listed here, you will have the basic tools to ensure that your marketing channels are in sync. So why leave all the rewards of multimedia commerce to the big players? Start planning your new omni-channel marketing strategy now!
About the Author
Jenna Bunnell is the senior manager of content marketing at Dialpad, a cloud-hosted unified communications system that includes artificial intelligence. Virtual meeting And remote collaboration becomes possible. She is passionate about conveying the design sensitivity of the brand and imagines how to present content in a creative and comprehensive way.This is her LinkedIn.
