Blending Online and Offline Interactions – How to Truly “do” Omnichannel

Blending online and offline interactions, often referred to as an omnichannel approach, can enhance the overall customer experience and help your business reach a wider audience. But marketing often has trouble truly activating this approach. In fact, many marketing organizations confuse omnichannel and multichannel efforts. The key difference between the two is that omnichannel marketing takes a customer-centric approach using all available media channels  while multichannel takes a product-centric approach using more than one channel to promote products and services. So how do we truly “do” Omnichannel and why does it matter?

The reason omnichannel strategies matter is simply because it works. In a Harvard Business Review survey of 46,000 consumers, it was found that buyers are huge fans of omnichannel marketing because it allowed them to gain value from every touchpoint. Nearly 73% of respondents were identified as omnichannel customers – those that engaged multiple channels during their buying journey. Additionally, the survey research showed that omnichannel consumers were more loyal and had 23% repeat shopping experiences while also being more likely to promote the brand to others.

How Does Omnichannel Marketing Work?

Let’s walk through how an omnichannel marketing strategy might work for your organization: 

• A potential customer comes across your product or service while browsing their social media platforms. 
• They click on your ad and land on your website containing compelling information.
• They are interested, browse around several web pages, and start filling out the Contact Us form or adding your product to their cart, but abandon the interaction before the submit action.
• A few days later, they receive an email reminding them of the item in their cart or giving more information about your product/services that speaks to their need. Maybe you even offer a discount!
• The offer entices them, and they return to your website to complete the purchase or raise their hand to be contacted by sales. 
  • For retail interactions, perhaps they choose to pick up their item at your physical store. 
  • Meanwhile, the website suggests that the buyer download your mobile app so they will have real-time updates on their order status.
• Two weeks later, you advertise similar or complementary products or services via social media, push notifications in the digital app or in text messages. You also follow up with an email offer.  
• After another couple of weeks, the customer receive an email asking them to share their feedback or leave a review of their purchase experience.

In this scenario, omnichannel marketing is used effectively to transition between relevant channels to create a cohesive brand experience for the customer.

What Channels are Best for Omnichannel Marketing? 

You may be thinking, “That’s great, but where do I start?” When it comes to omnichannel marketing, most businesses typically use a combination of email, text messaging, push notifications, social media, in-app messaging, live chat, event attendance/sponsorship, and social media. On the digital side, the chart below from Accessily shows the marketing channels delivering the best return on investment (ROI) in 2023. 

The piece that is missing from this chart is the offline engagement component. Not only do you need to think about the cohesive branding, message and the “air cover” that digital marketing can provide, you also need to focus on the “boots on the ground.” Not every company has a brick and mortar presence where you can offer the ability to pick up purchases in a store. Hosting events, pop-ups in targeted regions, and workshops are ways that you can increase customer engagement with or without a physical store presence. And be sure to promote these events via your online channels such as your website and social media!

How do I Get Started With Omnichannel Marketing?

Omnichannel marketing depends on blending online and offline engagements into a cohesive buyer journey. The goal is to put yourself in the customer’s shoes, take a trip through your process from an unknown prospect to an engaged customer advocate, and identify any gaps you need to fill to create a seamless path. Here’s how to effectively merge these two types of interactions:

• • Know Your Audience
    • First, make sure you understand your audience’s preferences and habits. Capture behavioral attributes that let you know which customers largely engage in online interactions and which ones prefer in-person experiences. You should set your sights on creating a comprehensive customer profile including online behavior, purchase history, and offline interactions so that you can tailor your approach to each customer.
  • Ensure Brand Consistency
    • It is equally important to make sure that you maintain a consistent brand presence both online and offline. Humans like patterns. It is our way to find structure in the mass amounts of information we receive daily. Your goal should be to make sure that your customers immediately know who you are and what you do every time they encounter your brand. Your messaging, visuals, and values need to be the same across all channels to help ensure brand recognition and customer trust.
  • Leverage Technology 
    • It almost goes without saying that you need a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool to integrate online and offline customer data. Many businesses are also heavily investing in customer data platforms (CDPs) to aggregate even larger data sets, including predictive algorithms designed to indicate a customer’s propensity to buy. Coupling these tools with a marketing automation platform (MAP) will allow you to take the data you are tracking in your CRM and/or CDP and connect to highly targeted audiences with personalized messaging and content journeys designed to accelerate the buying cycle.
      
      Taking it a step further in the omnichannel direction, investigate if it is applicable to create a mobile app that connects the online and offline experiences. By offering features like in-app purchases, loyalty rewards, and store locators, you provide additional touch points, increased brand recognition, and more data back into your CRM/CDP to, in turn, retarget those users with additional promotional content.
  • Promote Everywhere
    • As you build out your marketing campaigns and messages, always be thinking “where else are my customers consuming content?” It can be as simple as promoting your offline content and presence through online channels (social media, banner ads, newsletters, etc.) while remembering to promote your online presence at any physical locations or in-person events. Use the data you have available to geo-target customers online with relevant offers or notifications when they are near your event or physical location. Do regional billboards make sense? Local radio ads? Third-party online promotions? Sponsorship of an industry newsletter or a print ad in an industry magazine?  Think outside the box to take full advantage of cross-channel and omnichannel marketing opportunities.
      
      And while we’re thinking of possibilities, if it makes sense for your business, you can offer online order & delivery, click-and-collect, or pick up in-store options to your customers. Give your customers a way to interact with you seamlessly through both online and offline methods. Similarly, allow your customers to book appointments or reserve items online before going to a physical location to improve their offline experience and reduce wait times.
      
      Lastly, tie up every experience with your company with a nice, neat bow. Ask for  feedback from your customers across all touchpoints. Continue the conversation with one more opportunity for your customers to engage with you. This can help you identify areas for improvement in both online and offline experiences.

• • • Use the analytics capabilities of your CRM/CDP, MAP and any BI (business intelligence) tools you have to carefully measure the impact of your online and offline strategies. Monitor how they influence each other and seek out patterns. If you and your team notice that promotion on one channel seems to be correlated to a positive or negative effect in another, test out the theory to determine what works best with your products or services and your audience.
      
      Additionally, remember that an omnichannel approach is not “set it and forget it.” In order for online and offline marketing to work together best, it is important that you stay agile and adapt your approach based on changing customer preferences and market trends. Don’t be afraid to try things out. With careful monitoring, you can quickly course-correct an underperforming tactic and switch it to a method that is proving successful.

Blending online and offline interactions is all about creating a holistic customer journey. It’s about meeting customers where they are and offering a seamless experience across all channels. By keeping your customers foremost in your mind as you develop promotions, offers, and informative content, you can hone in on providing convenience and personalization while strengthening your brand presence. 

Need help determining or executing your omnichannel strategy? We are here to help!

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