Omnichannel Strategy: A guide and exploration

In our ever-evolving, digital and physical customer experience, omnichannel marketing is providing fertile ground for customer engagement, retention and profit. Over a range of touchpoints and devices, omnichannel marketing can be a consistent, convenient and agile method to reduce churn, increase brand awareness and provide a potent ROI.

What is omnichannel marketing? How does it differ?

In multichannel marketing, many channels work in a more disconnected, siloed fashion. By contrast, its omnichannel contemporary differs in an important aspect: interconnectivity. In theory, a range of access points to a product or service will improve your chances of further customer acquisition and conversion. 

Consequently, the omnichannel customer experience should provide a seamless and consistent customer journey, enabling additional exploration of your brand. These customer channels should work in tandem and collectively improve your brand identity, customer relations and profits. Omnichannel marketing has a large convenience factor for customers.

Timberland has optimised convenience for its customers by utilising Near Field Technology. In addition, customers can tap their smartphone against a special chip in-store, which wirelessly transfers information about products and offers between the two devices. 

Moreover, Timberland provides tablets in-store, customers hold them towards products and receive information about their specifics. Based on their shopping history, the software will make suggestions for items of possible interest and continue to generate leads.

Businesses are comprehending omnichannel marketing’s potential value and investing time and money into implementing seamless and engaging customer experiences. Accordingly, we have devised an insightful listicle for your omnichannel marketing endeavours with Omnichannel Strategy: A guide and exploration.

1. Devise an omnichannel marketing strategy 

Firstly, implement a focused omnichannel marketing strategy, make sure the content is both channel appropriate and on-brand. Utilise CRM, online search behaviour and social media insights to understand your demographic and promote your business accordingly.  

2. Acquire the right tools to implement your strategy

Creating a perfect omnichannel marketing experience can be arduous, be diligent when selecting the right tools to achieve your aims. In a sea of competing voices, utilise the marketing tools most suitable to your business needs and your growth.   

3. Use data to identify streamlining opportunities 

Using data, you can observe how your demographic behave online and recognise barriers to conversion or pain points in their omnichannel activity. Consequently, you can address these and plan an omnichannel customer experience devoid of these service degrading obstacles. Upon further inspection of data, you can categorise customers according to your insights gained; creating a personalised journey for each type of customer you acquire.

4. Adopt customer-centric practices

The advantages of automation and omnichannel marketing are:

• No channel works independently
• In the event of a problem, there is a robust, interconnected system to repair the damage quickly and efficiently.

Therefore, Integrate your CRM with your support channels alongside good, concise record keeping. As a result, the more records you keep, the better your insights into streamlining your methods and processes become. 

In the case of UK fashion retailer Oasis, they have merged their marketing outlets into one omnichannel customer experience. The customer could get instant information from the sales assistant via their Ipad, make a transaction through that same iPad and if you can’t find what you desire? The in-store professional can order it for you via??….yes you guessed it their iPad. Additionally, Oasis employ a mobile app to supplement its other channels, instore or online.

5. Content is Key

Finally, Customers like consistency and, paradoxically, they also value variation. When designing an omnichannel customer experience, we must strike a winning balance between the two. Branding, written copy and visual collateral should intersect, we must be recognisable with just enough variation to ward off stagnation for our customer’s valuable attention.

In our new, insular normal, commerce increasingly looks to make monetary gains from omnichannel marketing strategies. Further gains will inevitably be achieved as more of us pivot to eCommerce and start-ups and businesses should take heed. Our fabled bricks and mortar businesses look set for current and post-pandemic losses and omnichannel may be the last bastion of hope for these industries. In a time of economic turmoil and indecision, such strategies can bear fruit and provide sustenance for the economy. Not to mention, a way out of the cold for businesses struggling with an uncertain future.

The Culture Carnivore will extend its helping hand to the creative community with a series of blog posts offering guidance and strategy to navigate these troubled times.