Omnichannel Marketing

Derived by adding the Latin word ‘omni’–which means ‘all’ and ‘everything’–as a prefix to the otherwise prosy noun ‘channel’, omnichannel embodies a way of doing things that steps away from mere marketing tactics and focuses on building strategy-led experiences instead.

In a nutshell, the concept of ‘omnichannel marketing’ describes the ability of a marketer or of a brand to interact with potential customers and clients seamlessly, with no perceived interruption of the communication flow and on various platforms at the same time. In our own neta words, today, omnichannel is the ‘most up-to-date marketing approach’ available to an agency partner. The reason why we confidently say this is because omnichannel marketing is the only available strategy capable of truly ensuring end-users and the entirety of what links to them (their needs, expectations, engagement) are placed at the center of all touch-points. What this leads to is a 360 approach to direct-to-consumer marketing, that builds upon a personalized user experience, that results in the most profitable consumer journey and one that generates the most potential conversions and great ROI opportunity.

At its most simplistic, an omnichannel marketing strategy is about prioritizing the consumer’s ‘choice’. The objective of companies in delivering a successful omnichannel experience is to make it easy for a consumer to buy in whatever way is most appropriate (to them). Omnichannel customer experiences would therefore blend all pre-identified available digi-physical opportunities and experiences, whatever these might be; a channel might be a retail store, an eCommerce website, or direct personal communications by social media, email, text message, or even snail mail.

The challenges facing most organizations today in delivering an integrated omnichannel marketing strategy and operation, centers around technology and system integrations that are problematic in that software is inherent to each channel and often built around separate transactional and business requirements. This fragmentation leads to the perceived inability of building a comprehensive journey and is one of the reasons why omnichannel vs. multichannel is still seen as a viable option, as multichannel would at least ensure consumers have a number of online/offline purchasing options in front of them.

Unfortunately, however, this line of thought fails to acknowledge that the availability of ‘many independent options’ does not necessarily generate more results, and is certainly not cost-efficient. Since evaluating by a ROAS or ad-to-sales ratio is crucial within any successful marketer’s operational framework, the end goal is to close the loop around the customer with a unified engagement channel validation, regardless of where the customer engages with a particular brand. And in this case, we would always favor omnichannel vs multichannel.

Ultimately, architecting and successfully rolling out an omnichannel operation is one of the greatest on-going challenges facing any dynamic organization today that is beyond a pure-play digital operation. Luckily, this capability also happens to align exactly where our expertise is strongest as an omnichannel agency. 

Then, there is the quandary of attribution. If an eCommerce website promotes new merchandise, and yet some of its customers might prefer trying on that merchandise in a retail store or showroom environment, how does the eCommerce website, who may even have promoted this arrival via an email campaign or social media campaign, receive ‘credit’ for generating consumer sales demand, as a successful mean to evaluate ROI? The biggest problem here is that with multi-channel types of frameworks, each team is typically provided autonomous ‘channel’ performance management targets instead of omnichannel marketing strategy objectives. Moreover, often these ‘channels’ within organizations are operated as siloes and teams are therefore not cross-incentivized. Conversely, an omnichannel marketing approach would ensure all steps and triggers that have been activated as part of a consumer journey are (1) fully leveraged and (2) have their results analyzed and compiled together, comprising the broader and overarching operation of leading a consumer towards completing a purchase.

What determines the success of an omnichannel marketing strategy boils down 100% to the consumer’s experience, which should be the initial focus of any customer-centric organization. This step is often overlooked, as in both large and small organizations have unique challenges in the capability to communicate across platforms, systems, teams and channels; just like a game of telephone, there is more often than not a breakdown of communication. As omnichannel marketing solutions become more popular, several trends have emerged that can improve consumer satisfaction and maximize ROI. These include:

• Creating more immersive omnichannel experiences by integrating in-store and online platforms – This includes contactless transactions through mobile apps, location based mobile marketing, and building virtual shopping experiences.

• The rise of the Buy Online & Pick Up In Store (BOPIS) – Brick and Mortar has expanded their capabilities further especially in the retail and grocery sectors. Recent studies have found that 70% of consumers say BOPIS improves their shopping experience and 34% preferring curbside pickup.

• Using social media to promote and facilitate purchases – Creating shoppable posts, customized Facebook or Instagram stores help consumers connect to the brand. In addition, social selling through video content provides consumers more context for their purchases. A 2022 Shopify study found that 50% percent of consumers noted that videos have helped them determine which product or brand to choose. 

With these trends at hand, companies that win are those that put the consumer at the center of the omnichannel customer experience.  Whether a consumer is engaging via an online platform, in a physical location, via social media networks, or by phone, creating an omnichannel marketing experience is vital.

Omnichannel marketing solutions have become prominent across industries as consumers become more empowered and creating a better end user experience has become important. Omnichannel strategies drive an 80% higher rate of incremental store visits. This strategy has also proven cross-channel consumer purchasing potential for younger, lesser-known companies with fledgling consumer bases, where it pays dividends to have the right systemic infrastructure and communications in place across less technology-forward sectors such as:

• Ecommerce – The most widely known strategies include the growing prominence of BOPIS and social selling, fueled by geo-location micro-community selling in both paid and organic social channels.
• Healthcare – The tools which healthcare customers can access their providers and have access to medical care continue to evolve through unified platforms that provide mobile touchpoints and telehealth solutions that allow the consumer to be wherever they are in which to receive quality medical care.
• Hospitality – Similar to eCommerce, PPC & social selling, SEO and direct email marketing has also become more prominent within the travel and hospitality industry, which has grown alongside the more traditional approaches such as OTAs, press and editorials.

Omnichannel marketing strategies allow companies to deliver a unified customer experience and meet their consumers where they are. At the heart of our digital growth agency capabilities is our ability to always put the target audience first, and to communicate across all facets, intricacies, hierarchies, and platforms that facilitate the consumer’s journey into a superior omnichannel experience. Today this is further attested by the outstanding record of award winning omnichannel marketing strategies which neta has built across sectors such as, eCommerce, Hospitality and Healthcare, creating digital experiences that foster engagement and increase ROI over the past 11+ years.