You may have come across the term “cross-channel marketing,” but what is it and how does it work?
Cross-channel marketing is a way of identifying potential customers, then exposing them to your product or service through multiple channels. For example, if a user is browsing for a product on a company’s website but does not purchase it, the business can use cross-channel marketing to remarket the product to the prospect through other media, which can include advertisements on another web page or through email campaigns. Increased conversion rates are the goal.
According to the 2016 State of Marketing Report published by Salesforce Research, successful marketers were nearly 35 times more likely to use cross channel marketing with their customers vs. under-performing sales organizations.
However, successfully employing cross-channel can be difficult.
Businesses need an integrated platform of marketing technology software and applications, referred to as a “martech stack,” so they can become familiar with their customers across a broad range of media. That will enable companies to touch those customers and potential customers early and often.
Once that is in place, using it effectively becomes the next step. One expert identified four main keys to success in cross channel marketing.
Visibility
The prime principle for cross channel marketing is being visible. Customers move frequently between devices and channels and do considerable shopping before making a purchase. In fact, Google statistics show that 90 percent of shopping consumers never stay on just one device when making a purchase.
Getting that visibility goes back to that integrated martech stack mentioned earlier. Businesses should include CRM, retargeting platforms and marketing automation solutions to track each interaction a customer is having with their brand across all devices and channels.
Measurement
Once a business has a sense of the customer interactions with their brand, it needs to measure the impact of its current marketing campaigns, including online and offline interactions as well as devices or channels.
Personalization
Personalization is key to making cross-channel marketing efforts speak to the customer’s wants and needs, but it’s no easy task. A survey conducted by Experian revealed the biggest challenges to personalization included not having immediate access to insights, not having enough data, and having too much inaccurate data.
Optimization
The most successful marketing campaigns depend on knowing what landing pages, services or products drive potential customers to make the next step. Businesses must know exactly which channels bring in the purchases, and why. Without that knowledge and correlation, a business is still using the shotgun approach.
In sum, visibility, measurement, optimization, personalization and the right technology will enable businesses to take full advantage of cross channel marketing.
If you need help developing and implementing a marketing strategy for your business, contact the Economic Development Collaborative-Ventura County. Conveniently located in Camarillo, California, we’re here to help!
Source: Forbes
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