When it comes to marketing, it’s not just about a post on Facebook or an ad on your local radio station. In today’s age of technology, you have to utilize multi-channel marketing. Meaning you need to market on multiple fronts simultaneously.
You cannot just attack one method of communicating with your customer and expect your business to skyrocket. You have to do it on multiple channels at once.
That’s where multi-channel marketing comes in.
What is multi-channel marketing?
Also called cross-channel marketing, multi-channel marketing is using multiple mediums to connect with your customers. It means you have multiple touchpoints with your customer.
Channels involved include websites, email, direct mail, text messages, social media, television, radio, brick and mortar stores, etc.
Through multi-channel marketing, you’re reaching the customers where they are instead of letting them seek you out.
Benefits of multi-channel marketing
Meeting your customers where they are, is a significant benefit. However, there are other benefits as well.
Multiple Touchpoints
One of them is multiple touchpoints. Through multi-channel marketing, you have the opportunity to make a more remarkable impression on the customer. You show up in their social media feed. They hear your radio commercial. They drive by your store on their way to work. With each touchpoint, you are making an impression. Make enough impressions, and they remember your name.
Brand Continuity
Multi-channel marketing also helps you establish brand continuity. Creating a consistent message across all marketing platforms is essential for the success of multi-channel marketing. So, when a business employs multi-channel marketing, it is holding itself accountable for brand continuity.
Downsides of multi-channel marketing
One of the key downsides of a multi-channel marketing plan is that it is challenging to create and maintain.
Multiple Moving Parts
You or your team will need to track and maintain all of those communication channels for one thing. That means you’ll need to know what’s happening on each channel and when it’s happening. If you make any significant changes to your marketing plan, somebody must make those changes across the board.
It’s a lot of moving parts to keep track of at once.
Time Crunch
Another side effect of managing all those channels is that it’s time-consuming. Multi-channel marketing is effective and worth the time, but do not go into it without knowing that you’ll be spending a lot of time on marketing.
Hallmarks of a successful multi-channel marketing campaign
While all campaigns will be different, you will find some similarities as well. You can do things, no matter what your marketing campaign is, to make sure that the odds of success are better.
Understand and Cater to Each Medium
First off, you’ll need to understand each channel of your campaign individually. You need to know that your website acts and serves a different purpose than your social media channels. Similarly, your email campaign is not going to be the same as your text message campaign.
You also need to cater to each of these different marketing mediums. Take advantage of links in a text message. Or use your social media to create a way for your customers to interact with your brand. Create a marketing strategy that will take advantage of the good aspects of each marketing medium.
Create an Experience
You also need to understand that it’s not just one channel that reflects your business, but all of the channels.
Your average customer is going to interact with your brand at multiple touchpoints. They will see your ad on television, find your website in a Google search, and like your post on Facebook. Each of these touchpoints says something about your brand. Together, they create the complete picture of your business.
Clear Customer Identity
All successful multi-channel marketing campaigns also have a clear idea of who their customer is. When you think about your customer, how does he or she look? Where does this person shop? Does he or she have kids? How old is this person? The list goes on and on.
A true multi-channel marketing strategy, and any marketing strategy for that matter, can only work if there is a clear idea of who your customer is.
Conclusion
While these ideas will get you started on your multi-channel marketing strategy, they are not set in stone. You will need to use the data that you gather about your customer to adapt and rework your marketing strategy as you go along.
While you have a clear idea of your customer and your brand, your strategy needs to be adaptable. When something changes in the economy, politics, or society, you need to make sure that your marketing strategy changes too.
If you are looking for some more tips, to improve the marketing for your business, check out more on the Intentionally Inspirational blog.
Written by Erika Towne