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What is Omnichannel Marketing?

12 min to read

Omnichannel marketing involves creating consistent customer experiences across every platform on which you’re present. This includes all of your social media platforms, but it goes deeper than that.

Your omnichannel marketing strategy will also involve customers who interact with you on your website, through your newsletter, and in physical stores. Omnichannel marketing has become a common expectation among consumers, potentially impacting brand engagement.

Omnichannel marketing is important because you don’t know where users will interact with your brand. Moreover, repeat customers might interact in a different place from what they initially did. For example, they might see your online store but then visit one of your physical branches.

An example of omnichannel marketing would be this:

1. A customer visits your website.

2. The customer then adds an item to their shopping cart but doesn’t yet complete the purchase.

3. You send the customer an email or show a pop-up with a discount code for the item they were thinking of purchasing.

As you can see, omnichannel marketing is much more complex than simply having a broad online and (potentially) offline presence. You need to think about how each of your channels intertwine with each other, and how customers would interact across all of them.

Key Takeaways:
  • Omnichannel marketing is about providing a seamless cross-platform customer experience
  • Personalize how you interact with customers based on their behaviors and preferences
  • Tracking your omnichannel marketing performance, before optimizing when needed, is crucial
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What is Omnichannel Marketing?

What is an omnichannel strategy?

Your omnichannel strategy is how you plan to implement your cross-channel customer experience. Strategizing requires thinking about how you’ll offer more of a consistent brand experience; start by looking at your mission statement and company values. 

When implementing an omnichannel marketing strategy, you must think about where each customer is in their journey. The messaging you share with them will have a big impact on whether your efforts are successful. 

Think about your broader marketing goals before developing and implementing your strategy. You should also assess customer feedback and survey people who interact with your brand. Start creating your strategy once you have this information. 

Remember that omnichannel marketing can include online and offline. For example: 

  1. A customer interacts with your website and searches for different products. 
  2. You then email that customer with a follow-up that recommends related products (if they give you consent).
  3. The customer visits your store; by this point, you already have some information about them. 
  4. The salesperson leverages customer information to tailor the experience and identify products that may be of interest. 
Pro Tip: 
Look at how existing customers interact with your brand and map out their journey. Identify data across multiple touchpoints. Once you have this information, figure out how your channels work with one another and focus on integrating them more closely. Bring the whole team into this process. 

What is omnichannel personalization?

Omnichannel personalization is a data-driven approach where you tailor customer experiences. It can also involve listening to customers, remembering who they are, and trying to personalize their experience when they next visit your store. 

When personalizing your omnichannel marketing strategy, you send offers, recommendations, and messages tailored to a specific customer. The aim is to show your customers that you understand them. 

Consider the impact on your sales and customer engagement/loyalty when implementing omnichannel personalization. Amazon is one example to look at; the eCommerce store offers recommendations based on things you’ve bought in the past. Other stores will have a “You Might Also Like” section. 

Pro Tip:
Use Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software for your data tracking. HubSpot and monday.com are two examples. 

What is omnichannel attribution?

Omnichannel attribution is when you look at your different online and offline channels, determining what role they played in a conversion. You’ll use data to look at every place a customer interacts with you, before determining which channel contributed to them completing the desired action. 

Attribution is a core part of the omnichannel marketing process. After identifying which channels contribute to conversions the most, allocate your marketing budget; for channels that don’t convert too well, look at how you can tweak them. 

Example: 

A customer who clicks on your ads will interact across different touchpoints. First, they’ll visit your website. They might then show interest in your brand but not buy anything straight away. After sending them a notification, the customer may visit your store. You’ll then use attribution to determine the most important parts of this conversion. 

Pro Tip: 
Different attribution models exist, and they each serve varying needs. Look at numerous options before deciding the attribution model you should use; you might need to experiment with multiple options. 

What are the benefits of omnichannel marketing?

Before adopting an omnichannel marketing strategy, consider how it might impact your customers and brand. Here are some things to think about: 

  • Customer satisfaction: Personalization can lead to satisfaction and loyalty, though you’ll need to consider data/privacy laws. 

  • Branding: Be consistent across all of your platforms for brand recognition.

  • Engagement: Interact with customers via the channels on which they’d like you to interact with them.

  • Results: Measure your omnichannel marketing strategy’s impact on sales and conversions.

What are the challenges of implementing omnichannel marketing?

Though the benefits of omnichannel marketing can’t be overstated, you also need to address possible challenges to mitigate their impact. 

  • Data integration: Consider how you’ll integrate data from various sources. 

  • Consistency: Keep a close eye on your brand messaging and ensure that it’s the same across all channels. 

  • ROI: Set goals and track your omnichannel marketing’s return on investment (ROI). 

  • Allocating resources: Consider where you’ll need to invest money; hiring staff and deploying tech is essential. 

What are some examples of successful omnichannel marketing campaigns?

Examples of omnichannel marketing campaigns are: 

  • Starbucks: The coffee chain incorporates its physical stores with the mobile app. 

  • Banking services: Banks like Bank of America and Santander have mobile banking apps for managing finances. Physical branches also exist. 

  • Sephora: The beauty brand uses interactions on and offline for personalization. 

Conclusion

Consider omnichannel marketing whether you have online and offline presences, or just one or the other. Customers expect a consistent brand experience, and it’s important that you understand how each touchpoint interacts with each other. 

Leveraging data for omnichannel marketing optimization is crucial. Understand your business needs, too, and set clear marketing goals before measuring them. Split-test messaging and segment your audiences over time. 

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