Today’s consumers are extremely selective of which brands they should engage with. Everyone seeks the main purpose of service—the best customer experience.
More brands are turning to the omnichannel approach as this strategy has been proven to yield the best results.
But what exactly is omnichannel marketing? And how can marketers start building their own?
What is omnichannel marketing?
The advancement of new technology and the evolution of strategies in today’s marketing landscape paved the way for the rise of omnichannel approaches.
Omnichannel marketing is a strategy used to improve customer experience by driving service across all possible channels and touchpoints. This includes traditional and digital channels, as well as physical and online channels.
This marketing approach provides customers with an integrated buying experience. Each channel works together to create a personalized experience that can be done using a laptop or phone.
As businesses opt to switch to this marketing method, we’re here to give you some pointers on how you can start your omnichannel service.
How to start your omnichannel service
While implementing an omnichannel service might be tricky and laborious, when done properly it offers plenty of benefits. Here’s how you can start:
Determine the channels that your customers are using
First things first, determine what platforms and channels your customers are frequently using the most.
Switching to an omnichannel marketing strategy doesn’t mean you have to spend on all the channels available. It means you should prioritize investing in the channels that your customers use the most.
It can be Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Messenger. You can also set up a chatbot on your own website, or have a ticketing system manned by a live agent.
You can start by browsing more about your buyer persona to determine which channels are their favorites and what’s best for your omnichannel campaign.
Map your customers’ journey
As you build your omnichannel content strategy, your next step would be to map out your customer’s journey to get the full picture.
You can give them discount codes as well as product recommendations related to the items they browse the most. You can send this via email, and when a customer clicks on the discounted item, the link would automatically prompt them to your store.
In case they wouldn’t want to purchase right away, you can do a follow-up with retargeted ads. You can play with these ideas to come up with more creative ones for your potential buyers and existing clients.
Standardize your data
Your omnichannel platform should be comprehensive so it’s important to gather helpful information as you go.
Questions such as, “What channels do your customers visit the most?” “How many channels do they use before actually buying?” “What are their usual concerns about your products and services?” are important to determine their shopping experience.
This data collection will ensure that your customers would only get the best experience in every transaction. Have standardized data to monitor how your customers behave and let their behavior drive your decision-making as a business owner.
Use analytics
Concerning standardized data, analytics also plays a crucial role in journey management. Analytics includes customers’ journeys and intent, and how it is related to conversions to sales, and customers’ satisfaction.
With the use of analytics, service providers can design journeys likely to result in positive outcomes for customers and their businesses. Companies can also add software functionalities on their website or shop, like ‘shopping assistants’, to ease the journey for the customer.
Analytics helps to track customers’ behavior at various touchpoints and can indicate how service providers can improve their service for better sale opportunities.
Set up a support team
If you want to be effectively present to all of your clients, there are a lot of things to engage them with. You can foster SEO-driven articles, increase referrals, time spent, or promote interesting ads on your social media sites.
The thing is, even when you’ve established all these channels, you can’t run them without a dedicated support team. Your reps will be the first people that your clients would connect with. They must have the right customer service skills to assist them.
A good support team will also determine your customers’ buying journey, hence they are also a factor in your success.
The beginning of your omnichannel journey
From its root word “omni,” an omnichannel marketing strategy will allow you to be in all places at all times.
By being omnipresent on multiple and integrated channels that your customers are using, you will be able to give your customers a level of service that will set you apart from the rest of the brands out there.
Start the beginning of your brand’s omnichannel journey and create a roadmap to map your omnichannel customer service better as you go in pursuit of retaining customers in the long run.
