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    What Is An Omnichannel Strategy?

    Jon Rettinger - 2020-05-06T21:00:00.000Z

    An omnichannel retail strategy is a defined approach to marketing and sales that helps businesses offer their customers a seamless 360-degree shopping experience by unifying multiple channels - be it a mobile device, a desktop, in-store visits, or orders via phone.

    An omnichannel approach takes into account all of the retailing activities aimed at successfully selling products to consumers using multiple available channels simultaneously. It is ultimately aimed at creating the best customer experience.

    Why Is It Important For eCommerce?

    Unlike a multichannel approach, an omnichannel approach helps connect all of the available platforms seamlessly, thus benefiting businesses in multiple ways:

    • It allows retailers to provide a consistent and personalized customer experience.
    • It helps gather accurate data that helps curate offers to meet the customer’s preferences.
    • Multiple communication channels allow businesses to access varied information. In order to satisfy the customers' expectations and desires, businesses need to consider these data sources. Organizations using this approach can quickly and easily identify, measure, and analyze interactions with individual customers through distinct analytics.
    • Businesses can better understand their target audience and define personas for each type of buyer.
    • It is more efficient compared to multichannel and dedicated marketing strategies.

    Omnichannel Strategies For Ecommerce

    Knowing what it means and its benefits are only one part of the picture.

    Ecommerce businesses need to realize how to personalize a strategy so they can gain more traction across channels.

    One of the pivotal components of this strategy is technology.

    The next piece of the puzzle is using it seamlessly to build a wider reach and more conversions.

    Optimize Your Website For Mobile Phones

    Google has been insisting that all websites should be equally compatible with mobile devices. It ensures maximum experience for visitors to your site on mobile devices. This design often takes different screen sizes and loading times into account. 

    This method deals with web design, layout, page speed, and more. To ensure that visitors will not automatically leave due to inconvenience, you want to customize the platform for phones so the navigation elements, tap targets, and other important features are intuitive and easy to use.

    Analyze The Channels Your Customers Prefer To Use

    In the context of your business, not every tool, channel, or platform is relevant. Even if they were, you would not be able to benefit from all of them. To begin with, prioritize the key ones and connect them gradually for better results.

    When you know and use your current and potential customers' preferred platforms, they are likely to visit and buy more frequently. The only way of determining a channel’s effectiveness is by testing.

    Taking care of consumers by asking them where, when, how, and what they want improves not only their experience but also helps foster brand loyalty and satisfaction.

    Map Your Customer’s Journey

    The customer journey is the entire overview of experience undertaken by consumers while engaging with your business and brand.

    The customer journey documents the entire experience of becoming a client, rather than evaluating a part of a transaction or interaction.

    Create different maps for each market segment that is essential to you when designing a buyer journey chart. You may also build maps for new markets that you seek to enter and take time to consider the preferences of your target audience. 

    Keep Your Content Relevant

    One of the most important factors to staying connected with your audience is by promoting relevant content. You need to understand that each online platform caters to different needs.

    For instance, images and short videos work well on Facebook and Instagram. Influencer campaigns work best on platforms like YouTube and TikTok. Similarly, text-based content works best on websites and newsletters.

    You shouldn’t be repetitive with your content. Instead, make the most of the different channels to drive niche traffic. Well-placed content does the primary job of convincing the viewer to make a purchase from your store.

    Segment Your Audience

    It is important to segment consumers using relevant trigger-points and behavior-based data for lead generation. The data you obtain from these leads and customers can help you to create engaging content thT, in turn, will assist you in running highly-optimized targeted ads.

    Segmentation is also important for funneling customers and setting up better email lists. You can segment your target audience by gender, age, location, interests, loyalty, and more. There is no limitation to the number of segments you wish to create.

    Integrate Cross-Channel Customer Service

    In today’s fast-moving world, customers do nOt like waiting. In most cases, they need immediate responses to their queries. If you offer customers a single communication channel, it leads to delayed responses and poor customer satisfaction scores.

    Ensure that customers can reach you using different channels - be it social media, live chat, email, dedicated messaging apps, or phone. Additionally, educate your support staff to be professional and prompt with responses.

    Leverage On User-Generated Content (UGC)

    UGC is the content created by people, not brands. Pinterest and Instagram are two of the most recommended platforms for sharing user-generated content. As a brand, you should try and partner with influencers, bloggers, photographers, and other active users on social media to acquire and share relevant content. 

    Not only will this help you generate more backlinks, but it will also help you create steady engagement and brand loyalty.

    Offer Discounts & Promotions

    Offering discounts is a tried and tested way to boost sales. A well-placed offer drives traffic, which in turn increases conversions. Moreover, discounts also help businesses clear their stock quickly and efficiently. Seasonal promotions increase brand visibility, customer retention, and brand loyalty.

    Build A Unique Brand Identity

    Do not stick to monotonous content. There are thousands of similar articles pushed on the web every second. To stand out, you need to create a unique brand voice - one that resonates with your audience and helps buyers recognize your business across platforms.

    Use a mix of content, but make sure to keep consistent branding. Your brand’s NAP (name, address, phone number) should be consistent across channels. Define a unique theme, color palette, and logo for your brand so it is easy to recognize.

    Publish Dedicated Buying Guides

    Create buying guides for different products and organize them by categories to help buyers make an informed decision. Invest in building seasonal buying guides to retain older customers and engage new audiences. Besides, these long-form buying guides also help you gain better visibility in search results.

    Test As Much As You Can

    Test your campaigns, posts, and other content to figure out how they perform and what type of users interact with it. This will help you gain better insights into the non-performing and high-performing content. Use A/B split testing on emails, CTAs, and other paid campaigns. The more you test, the easier it gets to target the right audience.

    Invest In A Varied Set Of Marketing Tools

    Strategically invest in different marketing tools - both offline and online. This will help you track your campaign goals, evaluate on-going & previous campaign outcomes, and execute your campaigns effectively to create an omnichannel marketing strategy. Use a combination of email marketing, analytics, and scheduling tools.

    Bottom Line

    An omnichannel marketing strategy works for every business type. It helps you drive leads, sales, and engagement while allowing you to provide extraordinary and seamless customer experiences. Use the tips outlined in this post to define a strategy that meets your business goals and helps you achieve the desired results.