Omnichannel marketing: how companies can improve sales and customer relationships

What is omnichannel marketing and what strategy to follow The main purpose of theomnichannel marketing is to create a well-rounded experience for consumers, using all available platforms and channels. A good omnichannel strategy is based on the type of product/service you want to sell, but more importantly on the profile of the customer, which must be identified by leveraging extensive data analysis. People will be led to buy in different ways and at a variety of times. In fact, omnichannel marketing is that strategy that involves the use of digital, analog and physicalchannels to interact with customers: each element interlaces without disruption, unlike what happens in multichannel marketing. In this case, in fact, data relevant to the consumer is available on all platforms and the customer journey is related to all channels in a unified manner. Cross channel marketing allows more than one channel to be used at a time in the same transaction and they can be adapted symbiotically so that the sale has no particular hiccups. The omnichannel strategy starts right here and is its natural evolution: using all available channels connects them together, customers have the opportunity to get more information about a product or service, and…

What is omnichannel marketing and what strategy to follow

The main purpose of theomnichannel marketing is to create a well-rounded experience for consumers, using all available platforms and channels. A good omnichannel strategy is based on the type of product/service you want to sell, but more importantly on the profile of the customer, which must be identified by leveraging extensive data analysis. People will be led to buy in different ways and at a variety of times.

In fact, omnichannel marketing is that strategy that involves the use of digital, analog and physicalchannels to interact with customers: each element interlaces without disruption, unlike what happens in multichannel marketing. In this case, in fact, data relevant to the consumer is available on all platforms and the customer journey is related to all channels in a unified manner.

Cross channel marketing allows more than one channel to be used at a time in the same transaction and they can be adapted symbiotically so that the sale has no particular hiccups. The omnichannel strategy starts right here and is its natural evolution: using all available channels connects them together, customers have the opportunity to get more information about a product or service, and a central database will contain the most current customer data. Companies can reach customers where they feel most comfortable and where they are most willing to buy.

A Harvard Business Review study found that 73 percent of consumers use multiple channels to make their purchases and that there is a proportional relationship between the number of channels used and the actual tendency of customers to spend more money. It should not be forgotten that customers are becoming increasingly accustomed to shopping experiences from mobile devices and expect to be pampered across all channels.

Before you start putting your omnichannel strategy in place, you need to conduct as in-depth an analysis of your customers as possible, for which you need a lot of data on buying behavior. The goal is to find out what your customers want and how they got there. A customer journey can start on several platforms and then lead on several other channels, which should interact with each other, and finally lead to a purchase with the possibility of loyalty.

To gain initial customer interest and subsequent trust, it is necessary to produce meaningful content that directly addresses customers and acts on their behavior. Companies must rely on so-called testers to test individual channels and their compatibility, following the principle of listen and respond to record all customer searches and movements so as to react on different channels as soon as they are used by their customers.

Convergent commerce and omnichannel marketing: a win-win approach

To develop an effective omnichannel strategy, it is important to understand the consumer journey and experience. Companies must understand customers’ needs, attitudes, and behaviors in order to make emotional connections.

One question to ask concerns the dynamics of shopping and interactions between offline and online in a landscape where convergent commerce is increasingly impactful. The digital and physical environments are increasingly converging; consumers may use digital technology in a physical store.

Currently, shopper journeys can be longer, using different physical and digital touchpoints, but there is no shortage of very short impulse-driven shopper journeys in which pre-purchase research stages are skipped. Being able to read and anticipate consumers’ needs becomes crucial to launching innovations that can be relevant to them and be chosen through the various stages of the customer journey.