We live in a gadget-filled era. Today’s world is one where humans happily co-exist with multiple devices, platforms, programs, and apps. People demand and expect technology that adapts to their lifestyle and gives them choices. Research shows that 94% of people are never parted from their smartphones, consumers are shopping on their tablets while watching television, and more email is read on a mobile device than on a desktop.
The clever marketer in this situation will be the one who accepts the shifting change and embraces the opportunity that multichannel marketing presents.
What multichannel marketing is
Multichannel marketing is nothing more than a chance for a marketer to reach customers through the best combination of tools available, both online and offline — e.g. mail order catalogs, email, mobile, retail stores, websites, etc.; using the right combination to elicit the desired response from the customer. Being where the customer is — and these days the customer is everywhere — is key, and multichannel marketing helps to achieve just that.
“Multichannel marketing is all about giving customers a choice. You cannot succeed if you take away that choice and force the customer to use only one channel because it’s ‘more convenient’ for you or because you don’t want to ‘repeat’ the communication,” Artem Doroshenko, GMS Head of Enterprise Relations Division.
It’s the customer who determines how, where, and when they want to buy; and the marketer scrambles to serve it up. And for this, they need a multichannel solution.
GMS Business Communications Suite
GMS Business Communications Suite ensures the delivery of messages across channels to the right audience at the right moment. Customisation and personalised approach are its cornerstones. GMS Business Communication Suite broadcasts messages through a combination of three primary channels Push, Viber, SMS to ensure delivery of message to the intended recipient.
New possibilities with multichannel marketing
Targeted messaging
Quite unlike earlier times, when one message was broadcast to all, messaging can now be targeted very specifically: from the content of the message to the recipient of the message, based on their specific interests. This is where customer data can help — to pinpointedly target customers via the right channels so that the customer is attentive, receptive and willing to act.
Highly-orchestrated campaigns
Gone are the days when customers would switch channels or devices to view your message. Marketers must constantly develop and coordinate micro-campaigns with highly-orchestrated touchpoints that span multiple channels, in such a way that propels customers to connect and take action.
Marketing response attribution
The vast choice of channels makes it difficult for marketers to know with a level of certainty just which channel, campaign, or sequence of touchpoints resulted in a conversion or sale. By being able to identify which channel triggered the response, marketers will be better able to assess the success of their marketing efforts and take this into account when creating future campaigns.
The learning
Multichannel marketing is an effective way to increase customer base, scale business, and eventually benefit from cost savings by using effective strategies. 72% of customers admit that they want to interact with a brand or a business with integrated marketing.
95% of marketers admit that they are fully aware of just how important multichannel is for targeting. Yet, 22% of them are yet to have a multichannel strategy in place. Make sure you don’t miss the bus.