Companies today must be present on the web, in order to be visible to those who are, or will one day be, consumers of the products or services they offer. And to convert the maximum number of visitors into consumers, you have to know how to juggle between the different marketing channels available to them (cross channel). And this is where multichannel marketing comes into play. Because this marketing strategy offers an omnichannel path that is essential for good communication, you should definitely not make the mistake of focusing on only one communication channel to make yourself known or increase your community.
Let's take a look at what multichannel marketing is exactly, and how to use it intelligently, in order to make it a winning marketing strategy for your e-commerce or point of sale.
What is multichannel marketing?
Multichannel marketing is a service that allows you to
social media marketing service increase the number of your contacts through a set of marketing, commercial and relational actions, by combining several communication channels, including the following examples:
distribution: physical sales stores or commercial sites,
relationships: social networks via the Internet, personalized information letters,
transactions: commercial, purchase order, etc.
All this therefore, through points of sale, online networks, websites, mobiles (SMS, video, etc.), or even email addresses, because customers and prospects are generally well equipped, all generations combined, with computers, tablets or smartphones. They are used to navigating from one channel to another, throughout the day and represent, by definition, an excellent audience. Digitalization is part of their lives.
It is therefore in the interest of companies to confirm their presence on all of these highly sought-after communication channels, both at the commercial level and to increase their notoriety, and at the same time their customer relations, by building consumer loyalty using targeted strategies.
The primary advantage of multichannel marketing is to stand out from the crowd by diversifying your way of communicating and not stagnating in the same processes. Tools that will help you increase sales volume by improving the customer journey and disseminating information that is part of the customer loyalty strategy.
What communication channels are available to a business?
There are many communication channels available to a company, whatever its sector, we will present them to you in order to help you better identify them, to use them in a relevant way. Here are the tools of multichannel marketing and their advantages:
SMS marketing
Marketing professionals generally use this channel because they know its relevance and success with consumers. In fact, you should know that 95% of SMS messages are opened and read in a very short period of time: only 10 short minutes! These SMS messages are rather impressively effective!
Using it for very specific purposes (Christmas, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, surveys, order tracking, etc.) will have a strong impact. You just have to be careful not to be too intrusive with your customers, and not to use this marketing channel too often and inappropriately. Actions to have an impact on the consumer must be organized throughout the year.
Email marketing
Did you know that 70% of customers prefer to communicate with regular brands or companies via email? As for the return on investment (ROI), it is particularly interesting with an average of €38 profit for only €1 spent. Email is an excellent way to build customer loyalty, increase it in a targeted way (prospects), and lead it to your website or physical store in order to convert the visit into a purchase.
Social Media – Find the Right Media
In France, Internet users generally spend 2 hours on social channels every day. It is a good way to communicate with your community, but also to create a real interactive relationship. It is important, first of all, to identify the channel(s) best suited to your business, to reach the right target and generate their interest. The most important thing on social channels is continuity, showing that you are present through content, quality points on specific subjects, which will make your community want to come back and follow you. Good management ensures the success of marketing actions.
The voice message
It is a communication channel that is absolutely not intrusive and has nothing to do with a classic phone call. Indeed, the voice message that you record, so that it is delivered to your targeted database, is an advertisement directly broadcast on the answering machine of your customer's smartphone, without even the ringing. Whether it is for: the opening of a new store, an invitation, the management of an order, the availability of a product, an advertisement on sales, or to launch a new collection, it is an effective and discreet way to inform or solicit your customers. The voice message is not the channel most used by professionals, it is a strategy that could help you differentiate yourself quickly and easily, without imposing yourself too much on your customers.
The goal of multichannel or omnichannel marketing
It is a strategy that aims to improve the impact of advertising campaigns, by using different channels that work with your target customers. A real opportunity that also serves you to position yourself on different terrains, whether on the choice of media, the relational aspect (proximity relationship with your customers), transactional contact (sales of products or services), and this, at all times of the day, regardless of where your target audience is located.
Multichannel marketing helps you to be more present, it increases your notoriety among consumers, or future consumers.
Because we must realize that current technologies are both very practical for customers and professionals, but that customers have so many ways to easily navigate one website or another thanks to the diversity of information media, that it is very easy for them to switch from one supplier to another in just a few seconds. Disadvantages that require you to make special efforts and this is where your multichannel marketing strategy will make the difference in the face of these volatile behaviors.