What does an omni-channel approach mean in digital marketing?

With new technology being developed, every second of every day, and the development of strategies in today’s digital marketing landscape brings a new wave of terminology with which digital marketers need to become acquainted. As we continue down these groundbreaking pathways, we’ll continue with seeing technology become increasingly crucial to our day-to-day living. The lines concerning what we do online – in relations to what we do in real life will begin – to blur more than it has already.

As individuals begin to change their behaviours, digital marketers, salespeople, as well as customer support reps, will be required to react. Rather than thinking of a separate desktop experience, a mobile experience, a tablet experience and an Apple Watch experience, it will be necessary to pursue one, holistic approach. This channel is an omni-channel experience that customers can make use of whenever they want.

Precisely what is Omni-Channel Marketing?

The phrase “omni-channel” may be a digital marketing buzzword; however it refers to a significant shift that is necessary in thinking:

• Digital marketers are now required to give customers and their target audience members a seamless experience no matter what channel or device they are using.

It is now possible for consumers to engage with a company in a physical store, online on a website or mobile app. Other customer touchpoints include catalogues and social media. Customers can access products as well as services by calling a business on the phone or by making use of an app on their mobile smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer. Each part of the consumer’s experience should be constant as well as complementary.

What is meant by ‘multi-channel marketing’?

The term ‘multichannel marketing’ is pretty self-explanatory. This phrase refers to digital marketing activities that occur across more than one channel. Even if you haven’t heard this term before, there’s a good chance that you are taking part in multichannel marketing.

Almost every organisation, down to the smallest business run by one person, practises multichannel marketing. For instance, say that you run a small craft business and you sell personalised paper goods from your home. If you have a shop on Etsy (an online presence), promote your store on social media (also online), and participate in art fairs (an offline presence) you are participating in multichannel marketing.

Essential differences between multichannel and omni-channel marketing

Multi- and omni-channel approaches to marketing are different in the sense that omnichannel marketing puts the customer at the heart of everything that is done to ensure an entirely consistent as well as unified experience at every touchpoint. This is as opposed to merely enabling that customer touchpoint.

To better describe the distinctiveness of multichannel as well as omnichannel marketing strategies, there are some key differences.

1. Channel vs Customer

The multichannel approach aims to communicate via the maximum possible amount of channels. Multichannel marketing is about throwing out the widest net to attract the most customer engagements. Companies utilising a multichannel strategy are taking on two or more channels to engage their consumers. The most popular of these channels are social media and email.

On the other hand, the omni-channel approach relates every channel to engage with customers as a whole to ensure that they have an excellent overall experience with the brand over each and every channel. The focus of this type of marketing is on building a stronger relationship between consumers as well as the brand.

2. Consistency vs Engagement

Omnichannel businesses are meticulous at ensuring their customers receive the same experience as well as messaging with each and every channel. A consistent brand image, as well as message, are responsible for ensuring a heightened sense of familiarity as well as a relationship with the brand.

Marketers who implement an omni-channel marketing strategy must make sure that all internal departments are on board and, also, are in tune with the messaging. For instance, PR, customer success, social media as well as sales teams must all be depicting this constant message to ensure the strategy implementation is effective.

3. Effort vs Effortless

Another priority of omni-channel marketing is understanding how to do away with effort from the customer experience. There is a trend toward considering the many channels, which are available to connect with consumers today, as just more options that need to be used. This is characteristic of more of a multichannel approach. Omni-channel marketing involves using data to understand where effort is in the customer experience and how to eliminate, as opposed to adding effort.

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