As the number of digital platforms that people use these days, the pressure for business owners to embrace multi-channel marketing also intensifies – but not without a good purpose. According to statistics, 72% of consumers say they would rather connect with brands and business through multi-channel – and companies who can meet such preference could realize a 24% greater Return on Investment.
Aside from the driving force of the market, another research states that 45% of companies that have made multi-channel marketing a key focus of their current marketing strategy have done so because they want to stay in line with current marketing trends and to get ahead of their competitors with innovative, forward-thinking campaigns.
However, while all these statistics conclude that multi-channel marketing is strongly a necessity than an option, some business owners still think that the cost of using several marketing platforms outweighs the benefits that this strategy can produce.
To help business owners who are faced with this predicament, we detail in this post how an ideal multi-channel marketing works and the benefits it can produce that can help them thrive in today’s competitive business environment.
Achieving Cost-Effectiveness by Selecting the Right Channels
Ideally, a multi-channel marketing strategy should be able to provide a seamless customer experience across all different touchpoints – from a physical store and website to mobile, email, and social media.
As you can imagine, maintaining a presence on these platforms will require significant time and money, which a novice business owner might easily find overwhelming and expensive at first. That is why you need to keep in mind that just like any other strategy, multi-channel marketing requires careful planning to fully maximize its potential.
The point of multi-channel marketing is not to get your message out to as many channels as you can, but rather to get them out to the most effective, most efficient channels. When done right, a carefully planned multi-channel marketing strategy will enable you to formulate the right mix that delivers the lowest Cost Per Acquisition (CPA), which can lead to better and faster return of your investments in the campaign.
Adapting to Consumer Spending Behaviour to Improve Sales
Giving people choices regarding how they will interact with your brand means they can use the channel they are most comfortable with, increasing your chances of seeing completed conversions.
Previous studies also show that customers sourced through multi-channel campaigns spend 3-4 times more than single-channel customers and 90% of marketers increased sales with a multi-channel strategy. 50% of marketers also say they “usually” or “always” hit their financial targets through marketing on different channels.
Because marketing on different channels enables brands to connect with targeted customers at various stages of the buying process, it is, therefore, more effective in increasing revenue than a single channel could ever achieve.
Once again, being present on platforms where your potential customers are likely to buy from you is crucial to achieving such a feat. By sending the right message on the most efficient channels at the right time, you will surely be able to win new customers and keep them engaged with your business in the long-run.
Gaining More Insights for Improved Customer Experience
Apart from more sales, multi-channel marketing also provides you more customer feedback that will allow you to make more informed product development decisions and quickly resolve any customer issues that come up.
Also, by investing in analytics that will allow you to track customer movement from one channel to another and the conversion rates on different channels you use, you will be able to develop smarter offerings and create more consistent messages and then optimize them on channels where your customers would like to see them the most.
Using analytics is also instrumental in multi-channel marketing as it allows you to track the way your customers are moving through your website, social media page, email, mobile, etc. Using this information, you can optimize your customers’ digital experience and improve your sales conversion process efficiently.
Diversifying Marketing Efforts to Overcome Banner Ad Blindness
According to one eye-tracking study in 2013, 86% of people online are banner blind, meaning they simply skip over anything that resembles a banner ad when they are browsing a web page. For businesses that rely on display ads alone to drive awareness, this is bad news, since more and more people detest online banners these days as there are now 198 million active ad block users around the world.
If you are still dependent on display advertising to grow your business online, then these trends should be able to get you going towards the multi-channel approach. Your results from display-driven ad campaigns will only continue to decline as more consumers proactively avoid advertisements.
This only means that you need to go beyond display advertising for growth. Instead of relying solely on this platform, you need to integrate it with your other marketing efforts for it to break through. For instance, if you pair display ads with your email campaigns, you will be able to retarget users who have unsubscribed from your email newsletters with a display ad – which then increases their likelihood to convert by 70%, according to HubSpot.
Overall, a multi-channel marketing strategy would not work unless the right channels are integrated, consumer online buying behavior and analytics are analyzed, and marketing efforts are diversified. Is your business planning to embrace multi-channel approach in marketing this year or is it still an “option” for the near future? Let us know in the comments.
Jomer B. Gregorio is a well-rounded expert when it comes digital marketing. Jomer is also known as a semantic SEO evangelist and practitioner. Check out our Digital Marketing Services today and let us help you in achieving positive and profitable results for your business.