Isn’t Omnichannel Marketing the same thing as Multi-Channel? It’s not, there are significant differences and you should know what they are.

When your company employs an omnichannel approach, you are taking the journey with your customer through your channels. This journey needs to be seamless, integrated, and consistent. If you anticipate that your customers might start on one channel and move to others. You’ll be on your way to using an omnichannel approach.

Mine that Data Trail

The advanced reporting offered today allows you to see where customers are on your network and which channels they engage with. The key to building a seamless tour through your marketing is to review the analytics and see where your customers are spending their time on your channels. This will help you build the right tour and bring users from a click on one of your posts through the sales process.

Each Channel Needs to Build on the Others

This can be a time-consuming and frustrating part of your omnichannel marketing. You want each pace where your customers may show up to be helpful to them without being repetitive. Since you don’t know where a shopper might enter the data stream, you need to at least highlight information from other channels while offering more information on each one. It can be exhausting, but the end result is worth it.

Merge Your Digital and Physical World

If your business does not require customers to visit a physical location to complete a sale, you’re in luck and can skip this tip. When you have products that must be physically delivered or picked up, such as cars, home appliances, and services, you need to merge the digital and physical worlds to offer consistency to your shoppers.

Your Fulfillment System has Changed

Retail shopping has always had a seasonal cycle, and while some of those seasons are impossible to break, you need to be aware of the digital buying cycle which can be more complex. You may need to have access to some seasonal merchandise outside of the typical seasons. Your fulfillment system will need to be much more dynamic when you employ omnichannel marketing. The process from sale to product arrival should be simple for your customers.

Use Ad Agencies that Offer Modern Solutions

Your expertise may not be in marketing, but if you want your business to thrive and succeed, you need to have a marketing team by your side. If you find a marketing agency proposing traditional marketing solutions, you need to find someone else to help you. Marketing is done online with social media, SEO, voice search, video marketing, and other digital processes, not with television and in-store displays.

Continually Review Your Omnichannel Marketing

The processes that you use today might be outdated by next year. That’s how fast online marketing is moving and you need to be ready to keep up. Regularly review your processes, stay informed of the latest trends, and understand how you need to evolve and grow. This will help you stay current and attract customers with your consistent experience across all channels.

Unlearn Your Traditional Processes

Even though online marketing is new when compared to traditional marketing, you have to unlearn some of the processes you’re already doing. The old mindsets won’t work and a process that doesn’t work seamlessly across all channels won’t bring your customers a smooth experience with your company. Implement marketing that tells a story and brings shoppers through an experience they can learn from without being aggressive and over the top with your message.

Measure Your Success

Often, we get lazy when it comes to online reporting for digital marketing. If you’re employing an omnichannel marketing approach, you might not be able to use the automatically generated reports the same way anymore. What you want to do is develop a reporting and measuring process that will show you the path your customers take through your channels. This can tell you where to improve and where you have succeeded.

Try New Things and See What Works

It’s time to step out of your traditional world of creating a marketing effort on only one channel. Try several channels and see how they work together. Try to implement a message that builds to your website and through the shopping and sales process. Do something different and see how it goes.

Omnichannel marketing is one of the most difficult forms of marketing you’ll employ, but it can be the most rewarding for your company and for your loyal customers.