Omnichannel Marketing – 2021
Introduction:
As they say, two heads are better than one, so is omnichannel marketing. You may want to consider marketing across multiple platforms. We have compiled this article on the power of omnichannel marketing.
Marketing Across Multiple Channels
[1]Do you know 86% of shoppers regularly channel-hop across two channels? Yes, they don’t just hop from one shop to another; they also hop across multiple channels while shopping. Sometimes, they make online purchases even as they stand in the queue at the physical store or use smartphones as shopping assistants at the stores. That’s why 87% of the retailers recognize the omnichannel marketing strategy as crucial for their business. They realize that if they want to be at the top of their game, they need to offer a consistent experience to customers across different touchpoints. As a retailer, it’s time that you understand the significance of omnichannel marketing on your business and leverage it to create a unique experience for your customers and maximize your ROI.
What Is Omnichannel Marketing and Why You Need It?
Along with a significant US retail company, Harvard Business Review conducted a 14-month study to understand customers’ shopping behaviour. They interviewed 46,000 shoppers and found the following:
- 7% of the customers were only-online shoppers
- 20% of them were store-only shoppers
- A whopping 73% of them used multiple channels throughout their shopping journey
The study further revealed that the more customers’ channels used, the more valuable they proved to the retailers. For example, the study found that the customers who used more than 4+ channels spent 9% more in the store than those who used a single channel.
The writing was clear on the wall – omnichannel customer experience was no longer an option. Instead, the retailers had to rethink their customer journeys and find new ways to acquire, engage, and retain customers through positive experiences across multiple touchpoints.
With new marketing channels emerging, it’s time retailers shift their focus from traditional marketing to omnichannel marketing strategies.
So What is Omnichannel Marketing?
Omnichannel marketing means creating your brand’s presence across multiple online (website, app, social media, email, SMS, WhatsApp) and offline (retail store, events, call-center) channels while ensuring a positive and seamless experience throughout the customer journey.
The words’ positive’ and ‘seamless’ are crucial because 67% of the customers cite horrible customer experience as the reason for churn. So, suppose you are looking at winning and retaining customers. In that case, you must take your omnichannel marketing strategy seriously and strengthen it to offer a positive experience to your customers throughout their journey.
Why is Omnichannel Marketing Important?
Omnichannel marketing is essential because it helps you create a positive experience for the customer at every stage of their lifecycle, reduce churn, and drive and build a favourable reputation for your brand. Let’s take an example. Imagine you are tired after a long day at work and want to grab a quick cup of coffee before heading home. You know your favourite coffee shop will be crowded in the evening, and you have no energy to stand in the queue. Wouldn’t it be nice if the coffee shop had an option to pre-order coffee via an app, so you could enter the shop, collect your order and leave? That’s exactly what Starbucks did. It has made ordering and payment easier for the customer. Their mobile payment makes up 29% of their transactions. So Starbucks enhanced the customer experience and boosted its revenue through omnichannel technology.
[2]How To Develop An Omnichannel Strategy in 2021
Today’s customers use different online and offline channels and devices to interact with brands and make buying decisions.
On average, they interact with six to eight touchpoints before reaching the top of the funnel.
Hence, personalized and consistent messaging are essential to meet and nurture buyers through the sales funnel and influence their preference for your brand. After all, 90% of customers expect consistent brand interactions across different channels.
This is where omnichannel marketing comes into the picture – and, when done right, it is very beneficial for businesses.
- Companies with omnichannel solid campaigns retain over 89% of their customers.
- Buying frequency is 250% higher on omnichannel vs. single-channel marketing.
- Customer retention rates are 90% higher for omnichannel vs. single channel.
- Omnichannel shoppers have a 30% higher lifetime value than those who shop using only one channel.
This article looks into the benefits of omnichannel marketing. It discusses essential steps to creating an omnichannel strategy that provides practical, consistent messaging that nurtures your prospects at all stages of their buyer’s journey.
But before we get into the finer points of creating a strategy, let us first address what omnichannel means.
[3]An Omnichannel Strategy Blends Physical and Digital CX
Multichannel marketing and retail are just how it sounds, using many different channels to drive customer engagement and sales. Think physical retail location and a website, for example. Two separate channels where your brand markets and sells products.
Traditionally, this meant a different marketing strategy plus a different customer journey for each.
The big difference between omnichannel vs multichannel is that, with omnichannel selling, your brand can connect buying experiences across channels. On the other hand, omnichannel shopping blends multiple channels (i.e., a person’s digital and in-person experiences) into a single, seamless customer journey.
Buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) and curbside pickup are examples of omnichannel retail. So is checking online whether an item is in stock before a customer heads to the store, using a retailer’s app to make a shopping list, finding what they’re looking for inside a store, or buying online and returning to a store!
An omnichannel approach helps your brand win customer loyalty because it provides the convenient customer experience they crave.
Given this, it may be self-evident why omnichannel selling is the future of retail. But let’s look at some even more compelling recent trends.
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the dominant trend for multichannel retailers has been the rapid shift from in-person to online shopping. But now, as vaccines shine a light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, another transformation is emerging. Customers are headed back to physical stores.
This doesn’t mean, though, that we’re going to reset the clock to February 2020 and revert to the shopping habits we had then. On the contrary, the rise of digital experiences will continue—and they’ll transform how we shop in person, too.
What will that transformation look like for retailers with both an online presence and a physical one? And how can they develop a strategy for an omnichannel future that’s arriving faster than predicted?
Conclusion:
There are many things to consider when it comes to marketing, and we hope that this article on omnichannel marketing has been helpful.
Article compiled by hughesagency.ca
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