Omnichannel marketing is basically an elevated experience of the conventional multichannel marketing approach. It integrates the various elements of the latter to make the company’s efforts much more effective and streamlined.

A basic representation of the omnichannel methodology can be illustrated by way of an example. Consider a scenario where you wish to purchase a smartphone. These are high-involvement products and a potential buyer will make a purchase only after extensive research.

So, your journey as a customer should look something like this:

• You might start your research with a quick Google search on your PC. You log on to the preferred brand’s website and start browsing through their products.
• Word-of-mouth is paramount, so you also consult a friend. For this, you log on to the same website via a smartphone to get an opinion.
• Now that you have decided on the model, you might like to see it and maybe try it out in person before you buy. For this, you click on the ‘Find in store’ option on the company’s website to locate a nearby store and to get a feel of the product.
• During this phase, you will also want to look up some online reviews on your social network to compare the views of people who have similar tastes as yours.
• If all goes well and you make up your mind to proceed, you will return to the company website to place an order. You may also check out accessories such as protective cases or earphones. It is very likely that a customer as involved in the product and purchase process as you are will get a discount offer via email.

Implementation

To effectively implement the omnichannel way of marketing, there are certain parameters of paramountcy that need to be addressed. This includes the stakeholders – namely, Product, Marketing, Sales, Customer Support, and Customer Success.

There are two major disparities between the omnichannel and multichannel modes of marketing that pertain to their execution and outcome. Although the initial impression of the two discrete routes might make them seem remotely distinct, this is far from true.

• The principal aim of multichannel marketing is to drive the message through the maximum number of channels so that the word gets out and is spread far and wide. The impact is not as important as the reach.
• However, omnichannel marketing has a more holistic approach towards the customer; the objective is to polish the overall experience that a customer derives from viewing and engaging with the brand.
• Another focus of omnichannel marketing is to reduce the efforts of the consumer while they engage with the brand. It studies customer activity across platforms and devices to find out the key points where customers are required to make an effort and tries to eliminate these.

Benefits

Let us take a look at the three major benefits of omnichannel marketing and briefly take into account the experiences of various brands that employ this strategy. Consistency across platforms is the most enjoyable advantage of the omnichannel strategy and it improves the lifetime value of customers.

1. The omnichannel strategy is useful to increase customer loyalty and enrich their experience. Customer engagement through social media, websites, online ads and e-commerce websites are all synced with each other. This improves the consistency of marketing and allows customization of messages for individual customers and customer segments. Identity is the foundation of personalization.
2. Brand recognition and awareness are also increased. The omnichannel marketing strategy ensures that customers can see the brand from all their devices. This way, they are used to seeing a logo or product in various formats. This increases brand awareness and recognition.
3. Another major omnichannel advantage is the ability to garner insights from all the channels integrated into it. Different channels create different useful metrics and it is essential to any digital marketer to be able to tap into this stream of data and get the most out of it. Interacting with and comprehending customer data and being able to refer and compare it with data generated from other platforms and about other customer segments can paint a better picture of the effectiveness of your brand and strategies.

Last words

Essentially, all omnichannel marketing methods employ multiple channels but not vice versa. Most brands and businesses focus on exploiting the maximum out of multichannel marketing. Its omnichannel counterpart, however, uses cross-platform knowledge and customer behavior and integrates this meaningfully in order to create messages, goals, objectives, and designs that appeal more to the customers.

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