Multi-channel marketing is the ability to share your message with potential customers, regardless of the channel used. When you commit to your marketing efforts – both print, online, events and word of mouth – we speak of multi-channel marketing.
Why multi-channel marketing?
The reason for multi-channel marketing is simple. Think about how many television channels, websites, mobile applications and other content you can choose from on a daily basis. This also means that all those different channels can be used to influence purchasing decisions and to carry out the actual purchase. If you want to maximize your turnover as an entrepreneur, brand or product, you will have to present the right message on the right channels, at the right time.
What is multi-channel marketing?
Multi-channel marketing is the practice of using multiple channels to reach more customers. It allows the customer to choose the channel of their preference and connect with the brand. It also makes it easier for the potential to “decide to buy”, hence giving them a choice.
Examples of channels are:
- Email marketing (like newsletters)
- Website
- An app
- YouTube
- SMS
- Print ads
- Word of mouth
Without a good strategic multi-channel approach, you will miss out on a lot of customers!!
Many small and medium-sized companies know what multi-channel marketing is, but they do not have a good and working strategy. Most make the mistake of using different strategies for different channels. It is therefore very important that you apply the same strategy to different channels. A multi-channel marketing strategy only really works when the customer can switch channels without any problems, without the information being lost.
The goal of Multi-Channel marketing is to give your customer a choice of where and when they want to buy. It also allows you to receive different types of feedback and identify the problem faster.
5 Tips to succeed in multi-channel marketing
Tip 1: What is your target?
Start with your goal, what added value do you deliver? Some common goals include promoting a product or service, increasing sales, generating inquiries or leads, brand awareness, building relationships, etc. Keep your goals clearly in mind so you can plan each stage of your campaign. Laser focus on your goals will give you better results.
Tip 2: Know who your target audience is!
It is very important to determine who your target audience is and on which channels they are most active.
Don’t run too fast!
It is not necessary to immediately offer all possible channels, but if you know that your target group hardly uses certain channels, it does not make much sense to immediately pay a lot of attention to these channels. Ask your customers which channels they are most active on using a simple survey. If you want to know something about your target audience, you can just ask your target audience! Focus on the 3 or 4 popular ones and expand slowly.
Tip 3: Write a marketing plan.
You cannot start without a plan. Find out what your opportunities are and what the threats are.
Know who you want to sell to. Knowing who to sell to is just as important as knowing where to sell. You want to know who appeals to you and that is why it is wise to draw up buyer profiles based on the people who will use the different channels.
Tip 4: Focus on the buying process, not the selling process.
By focusing on the sales process, you are too concerned with results instead of with your customer. As a result, your customers may find that you come across as pushy.
Focusing on the buying process, you are mainly concerned with the customer and strategies and the easier you can make it for the customer to buy your product or service, the faster you may see conversions.
Tip 5: Be consistent
A good multi-channel campaign offers your target audience a consistent experience across different channels.
Be consistent in your multi-channel strategy. This does not mean that you have to post a message on all channels. Each channel has its own communication method. The essence of your message will be the same, but the way you translate it into a 140-character tweet will be very different from the way you say it in the mail. The value you offer them and your brand voice must remain consistent across all channels. Your customers don’t think in terms of channels, they think in terms of what your message means to them.
What makes a successful multi-channel marketing campaign?
Multi-channel marketing is more than a matter of being ‘everywhere’. You will have to be present everywhere in the right way and several things are important for this:
- Provide a clear profile or several profiles in which customers are described. It is important to create as complete a picture as possible of these fictitious ‘ideal’ customers, so that this information can later be used to adjust the messages and channels.
- The different channels used must work together and complement each other. It is important to adapt your message to the channel used: A Facebook status update is different from an email newsletter. However, you should keep in mind that all channels are part of one overarching multi-channel marketing strategy and must therefore match in tone, message and objective.
- Analytics, attribution and ROI play a very important role in multi-channel marketing. To prevent time, money and attention from going to a channel that subsequently has little or no effect on revenue, it is important to measure the results of these efforts very accurately. By properly assigning results to the correct channel, it can be determined to what extent the channel contributes to the objectives of the company.
Conclusion:
Customer expectation are constantly increasing. With so many channels available for consumers to explore, it is imperative for companies to be in sync with the highly dynamic technological advances and emerging trends. Customers are looking for a seamless integration across multiple channels and only a right multi-channel strategy can ensure this.
