Here we look at omnichannel marketing vs multichannel marketing, and the tools you need to build connected customer experiences at scale.
Why omnichannel customer engagement is critical
Every day your customers are hit with a deluge of ads and irrelevant messages – and their patience is wearing thin.
Impersonal messages annoy 54% of people, are ignored by 47%, and are the reason why more than 1 in 5 people switched brand allegiance during the COVID-19 lockdown.
These figures are from our 2020 customer engagement report, which reveals a huge disconnect between the type of communications consumers value and the reality of what they receive from companies today.
A staggering 74% of people are not getting personalized communications from brands, despite the fact that 49% of people are open to relevant communications on a weekly basis – and 31% are more likely to engage with businesses that understand their preferences.
We’ve been talking “right message, right channel, right time” for years now – so how are businesses still getting this wrong?
At the heart of the struggle to deliver personalized, contextual employment database interactions at scale is the mass shift to digital channels – something the pandemic has hugely accelerated.
Today we must meet our customers across a growing array of digital channels, navigating technical complexities and vast amounts of customer data to deliver valuable brand moments at every stage of the customer journey.
We know that:
Customers crave empathetic, human connections at every touchpoint.
Channel shifting and non-linear customer journeys are the new norm.
Customer behaviors and channel preferences continually evolve.
Different audience demographics and segments have vastly different expectations on what should be communicated – and on which channels.
Despite these considerations and nuances, many companies do not have an omnichannel customer engagement strategy, and still take a multichannel (or even single channel) approach.
The result is disjointed, depersonalized messaging that delivers a poor customer experience that harms customer acquisition, conversion, and retention.
Omnichannel marketing vs multichannel marketing
Omnichannel customer engagement is about building connected customer experiences at scale. This starts with understanding the relative strengths and weaknesses of omnichannel digital marketing versus multichannel marketing.
What is multichannel marketing?
In multichannel marketing, a brand uses multiple channels to engage customers, but without any integration between those channels:
Your company or product is at the center of communications.
You communicate over several different channels, but each channel communicates independently, with its own strategy and goals.
You use several different technology providers to communicate across different channels – one provider for SMS, another for email, and so on. This siloed approach means you’re unable to effectively track customer behaviors.
The messaging and experiences you deliver is inconsistent across channels.
You’re unable to support your customers with relevant, contextual messages as they shift across different digital channels.
What is omnichannel marketing automation?
Omnichannel marketing differs from multichannel marketing in several key ways:
Your customer is at the heart of your customer engagement strategy.
You communicate over several different channels, but channels are integrated, with a joint strategy that centers around the individual customer.
