Table of Contents
- What is Omnichannel Marketing?
- Significance of Omnichannel Marketing
- How to build a perfect omnichannel marketing strategy?
- Five Omnichannel Trends for your business in 2021
- Examples of Omnichannel Marketing: Target and Walmart
- Conclusion
What is Omnichannel Marketing?
Omnichannel Marketing is the integration of all offline and online channels to create a seamless, positive and unified experience for the customer.
Using omnichannel marketing creates a customer first strategy. The integration of all marketing channels allows customers to go to any channel at any place or time in the buying journey for the best customer experience.
Marketing channels include:
1. Retail stores
3. E-commerce websites
4. Social media handles
5. SMS and email marketing
6. Mobile applications
Picture yourself as a shopper looking for shoes. Do you buy the first pair you try, go from store to store, or make a purchase online?
Most consumers explore multiple channels while shopping. They stand in queues in a physical store and also make purchases online as well. This is the reason most brands consider omnichannel marketing to grow their business.
Some Key Statistics
- Companies with omnichannel customer engagement strategies retain on average 89% of their customers, compared to 33% for companies with weak omnichannel customer engagement
- Shoppers who buy from a business both in-store and online have a 30% higher lifetime value than those who shop using only one channel
Another study indicated that brands using omnichannel produced an 18.96% engagement rate, while single-channel marketers got just a 5.4% engagement rate
Significance of Omnichannel Marketing
The COVID-19 pandemic brought massive changes to the way we shop. With the increasing restriction on physical interactions and social distancing, consumers got comfortable making more online purchases.
A report by McKinsey showed that the online penetration of retail categories saw an incredible increase to over 80% after the COVID-19 pandemic. These changes in shopping trends are likely to continue even after the pandemic ends.
A few key benefits of using omnichannel marketing helps a business to:
- Understand customer preferences
- Gain customer satisfaction and loyalty
- More engagement and sales
- Better turnover rates
- Brand Recognition
Building a perfect omnichannel marketing strategy
1. Customer-first strategy
One of the best examples here is Starbucks. They have understood their customers. It is true that they stand in queues frequently for a cup of coffee. But, they hate waiting in lines to grab their favorite cup. Starbucks used this to create a seamless omnichannel experience for its customers.
For any decision you make, the key rule to remember is placing the consumer first.
Without consumers, a business won’t exist. So, understanding the consumers and analyzing decisions through their viewpoint is essential.
2. Data-Driven Strategy
Implementing the perfect omnichannel strategy requires consumer data. This will help you understand your audience, their wants, and develop strategies accordingly. You can maintain a centralized consumer database to track insights.
A data-driven strategy will help to make better choices and take calculated risks.
3. Personalized Ads
Personalization is one of the main targets of omnichannel marketing. When you place your paid advertisements to your targeted audience, you will get a high engagement rate and gain relevance.
Enhancing Your Digital Presence
1. Website
Make your website mobile-friendly to get more sales. According to statistics, 53% of traffic came from mobile phones.
2. Email-marketing
Ensure that your emails have short texts and small images so that the users can quickly go to your website. Emails that load slowly with large images and text loses the interest of the consumers to view them.
3. Social Media
Use high-quality, eye-catching images to attract consumers through social media handles. Make sure it is readable and draws attention.
Integrate All channels
Industry leaders expect that by the end of 2021, mobile phones will make about 73% of e-commerce sales.
Research also shows that consumers also look for mobile channels for customer service. About 77% of consumers of the age group 18-34 have a positive attitude about businesses that have active channels like texting for customer service.
Integrating physical and online presence in your omnichannel strategy will make it seamless and personal.
Examples of Brands using Omnichannel Marketing
WALMART
Walmart CEO, Doug McMillon shares his thoughts on a seamless customer experience:
“Ultimately, customers don’t care about what channel they’re shopping in or about how we deliver them a product or service. They simply know they’re shopping with Walmart.”
For Walmart, no matter what channel their customers buy from, it is important that they recognize the brand and get the same shopping experience throughout. Creating a cohesive, consistent brand voice/experience can help e-commerce enterprises pave trust and improve sales.
TARGET
Target’s omnichannel approach is unique. They have partnered with Pinterest and integrated the Pinterest Lens into their mobile app. This technique had improved their brand awareness significantly and has increased the rate of conversions.
Also, the Pinterest lens allows the users to take photos of any product they like and give suggestions of similar products available on Target. This technique provides a seamless experience to the consumer and helps them move quickly through the sales funnel.
Conclusion
Online businesses are growing rapidly, which will not stop even after the pandemic. Consumers now expect brands to have a digital presence, whether they have a physical retail store or not.
To set you apart from your competitors, omnichannel proves fruitful. When you offer a seamless, positive, and unified consumer experience at every chance you get, you will surely secure your share in the global market.
Deepak Wadhwani has over 20 years experience in software/wireless technologies. He has worked with Fortune 500 companies including Intuit, ESRI, Qualcomm, Sprint, Verizon, Vodafone, Nortel, Microsoft and Oracle in over 60 countries. Deepak has worked on Internet marketing projects in San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange Country, Denver, Nashville, Kansas City, New York, San Francisco and Huntsville. Deepak has been a founder of technology Startups for one of the first Cityguides, yellow pages online and web based enterprise solutions. He is an internet marketing and technology expert & co-founder for a San Diego Internet marketing company.
