How to Grow Your Shop's Online Sales with Omnichannel Marketing

Sep 24, 2023

Omnichannel marketing (also called cross-channel marketing) concentrates on providing the exact, personalized customer experience across a variety of channels, which includes the in-store experience for those with bricks and mortar businesses.

Utilizing an omnichannel advertising method, your company can put ads on shelves at the request of customers for merchandise that is pertinent to their tastes as well as their purchasing habits, and cut down on business-tobusiness sales procedures. Making sure that prospective buyers are connected to relevant products and services makes conversions much more likely, and increases the efficacy of advertisements.

What are the main differences between omnichannel marketing as opposed to multichannel marketing?

It's likely that you're already making use of several channels for promoting your company. If you're still dependent on one channel, your first job is to create additional channels.

Multichannel marketing is different from an omnichannel model by the way that the channels you use are interconnected and collaborate to deliver the same seamless and consistent experience for all users, regardless of the level of the buying process.

Multichannel marketing is when each channel could be independently of the other. It is possible to have a separate marketing department that is devoted to each channel. It is possible to analyze the ROI of each one separately. Certain campaigns might be less linked, and each of them having distinct customers' journeys. Customers are able to engage with all of these channels and treated as if it's their first experience been in contact with your business.

The Omnichannel approach is combination and integration of marketing techniques across different channels that result in enhanced customer satisfaction.

If you've designed a successful omnichannel strategy, a customer who starts the buying process by way of a PPC ad, but doesn't choose to buy when they visit your website is more likely to be contacted through other channels, based on their first interaction and will enjoy a consistent user experience.

person working on a website layout on a whiteboard

This could include seeing ads on display or via social media relevant to the new customer, getting push notifications when visitors return to your site and targeted videos as well as in-store promotions which are pertinent to your the customers.

Many of us have witnessed examples of marketing that were omnichannel in the form of.

Suppose you click on the social media advert to sign-up for an offer on the website of the store through the pop-up. If you don't buy the item and you don't, you may receive an email with your abandoned cart that offers a discount or coupon, or view ads of the item across various digital channels.

If you decide to purchase something and make a purchase, you'll likely be sent an email that offers suggestions to purchase similar items and future sale announcements. You may even get mailers or catalogues with a message inviting shoppers to buy an item at the shop purchase, if the shop has bricks and mortar outlets.

This experience is multichannel. This could be a mixture of both offline and online marketing. It involves a number of ways of contacting.

Sounds complex? But the good news is that you don't have to invest a substantial amount of cash or a whole staff to devise a minimalist, yet effective strategy for omnichannel marketing to promote your shop.

The advantages of omnichannel marketing is for customers as well as business

An omnichannel strategy for marketing offers several advantages over multichannel advertising - for your business as well as for customers. These are the most important advantages:

It's also more economical.

Business owners can benefit from omnichannel marketing saves money because it's much more effective. Instead of creating different marketing strategies that incorporate direct mail, emails or social media PPC it is possible to create one campaign that you can implement it on your different digital and offline channels.

More than mere advertising campaign, you'll also be using automated marketing which responds according to the manner the customers who are currently or may be in the future respond to your marketing.

Instead of introducing new offerings, the omnichannel model seeks to make a range of options based on the situation.

Imagine two customers that get identical advertisements. One buys, and then your marketing automation offers customers a special first-time purchase promotion, hoping to being a frequent buyer.

A different person doesn't buy, however their actions suggest that they are arousing attention. The messages they receive from marketing campaigns try to persuade them to revisit and complete purchases.

You only have to create the tools for omnichannel marketing after the automated system has been set up to make use of the tools according to the stage a buyer is during their buying journey. It's not easy in the beginning, however, when the system is put into operating, an omnichannel plan will save you time.

It leads to better customer experience

If a client feels like they're being viewed as a stranger the tools used to streamline marketing will identify the place they are in the customer's journey. Omnichannel experiences are more timely and relevant, and meets the needs of the consumer.

It helps customers save time and allows them to make quicker decisions and reduces confusion.

customer service rep on the phone

This helps in providing better customer service.

If customers require assistance, an omnichannel system lets your support staff to get more information about every individual, meaning that they do not have to talk to them the same way as everyone else. They'll be able to accelerate faster and won't have to spend as many hours starting over as well as engage in an insightful and relevant dialogue.

What are the steps you can take to develop an omnichannel advertising plan

Following is a step-by-step procedure to create an omnichannel marketing strategy that isn't over your budget.

Integrate one channel at a time

There's no way to focus on all the aspects in one go, and thankfully, you don't need to. Omnichannel marketing aims to reach your clients with the same message that is able to be seen in many different places.

team working in an office

Begin with your most dominant channel and identify the first channel you want to connect to. When you begin adding more channels, you should acquire the right tools for automation of marketing to assist you as well as you and your customer relationship Management (CRM) software communicate with your various offline and online channels including the brick-and-mortar retail shop.

Your marketing message will reach an appropriate group of people

Affecting your advertisements to the audiences that are most likely to buy the products you sell is crucial to developing a good Omnichannel Marketing strategy.

You must ensure that you're focusing on marketing at every stage of the journey of the consumer

The customer journey begins the moment a person first meets the company, it culminates with an ongoing relationship with your company. Here are the five steps that comprise the lifecycle of a consumer and most popular ways to reach customers at every stage using the omnichannel approach to marketing.

diagram of customer lifecycle

1. Reach

A shopper may be seeking a specific item or answer to a specific issue. This is the perfect opportunity to inform the buyer aware of your brand. Customers may be trying to evaluate products, read reviews or looking for information on whether a item is right to the needs of their customers.

2. Acquisition

Acquisition happens when someone visits your site, sign-up to your newsletter, communicates via your chatbot, contacts the business via email or phone, or visits the bricks and mortar shop. They haven't made a purchase yet, but they are looking your company out and collecting more details.

When you are in the stage of acquiring, you have the chance to collect data from clients and utilize it to provide the same experience across all channels to every segment of your customers.

MailPoet settings and dashboard

3. Conversion

If someone makes a purchase when shopping online or makes purchases at shops They've "converted" to becoming your customers. The seamless experience for customers can make them feel valued and known. This could include email, push notifications, or other opportunities to shop when you have a physical store.

4. Retention

Retention is not only a way to earn greater ROI, but also fostering loyalty to customers who keep returning increases the credibility of your business and the customers you have loyal to will become your greatest supporters through their comments and recommending their acquaintances and relatives about your brand and products.

At this step in the journey of a customer, it's important to use the growing data on your customers for enhancing your conversion processes. You can market to customers via follow-up emails that offer additional recommendations on products or offers that relate to previous purchases. It is also possible to send them a request for a review or feedback surveys or offer loyalty program and provide excellent customer support.

5. Loyalty

The satisfaction of customers leads to loyalty. But, don't just leave it to chance.

free shipping setting in

Determine which advertising platforms most closely match your omnichannel strategy

If you're working with an affordable budget, it's possible to pick the right platform for marketing when you create an omnichannel plan for marketing. Select low-cost advertising methods initially before you move on to greater-cost channels for advertising when your budget increases.

The aim is to provide various touchpoints on different channels in order to offer the same experience to customers.

Low-cost marketing strategies include:

Make use of the information that you gather from Google Analytics and other marketing tools to enhance your marketing efforts across all channels.

Magna-Tiles listings in Google Shopping

Google Shopping

Google ad for a blue t-shirt

Email marketing

MailPoet email builder

With services like MailPoet you can send welcome emails for new customers, suggestions of products to buy based on prior purchases, abandoned cart emails for those who abandoned items at the bottom of their baskets, and other multichannel marketing strategies.

Rewards program

 Cart page with a reminder to earn points

These customers can then get an omnichannel advertising campaign tailored to them regardless of the device they use and other channels. Imagine rewards members seeing an ad on display that informs the user the number of points they've earned as well as tips on how they can use the points. This is an example of an omnichannel experience.

Customer service

Every touchpoint with customers is a marketing opportunity. Instead of thinking of customer service as merely an issue of responding to concerns and questions, consider it an opportunity to build lasting followers.

Through an omnichannel approach in marketing client service staff will be able to see the history of a client's engagement and transactions and also previous interactions with your team. If you utilize all of this information, it can allow you to provide a seamless customer experience no matter which channel of customer support they employ whether it's chatbots, text messages or phone or email, or within an actual brick-and-mortar location.

CRM list of customers

Utilizing a customer relationship management (CRM) tool like Jetpack CRM will help to ensure that customer service is easy and smooth. Make an online portal for support and monitor your tickets' status and much more, using your online store. It's not necessary to log to a CRM website from a third party to manage your customer's accountsand support - it can be done completely from the WordPress administrator area.

Organic social media

It's not easy to get the attention of people who are interested in social media, especially with so many voices competing. However There are many options to advertising that is cost-free and highly successful. You can:

  • Create your own Facebook Group for your business
  • Keep active and engaged in all your social media channels
  • Create an AMA post on Reddit by using Reddit's "Ask me Anything" subreddit

The marketing methods which are costlier are:

If you're seeking to position your website above natural results in search, or to get quick traffic when you try to boost the search engine optimization of your site, paid search ads are the method to take. It's also crucial to ensure that the landing page for your business is responsive to smartphones and mobile devices which load fast and is a reflection of the contents of the ad's copy.

Utilizing remarketing software, paid search is a valuable source of information that you can use to implement your omnichannel marketing method.

mockup of an ad

Ads to display

Advertisements on social media

Engaging with people who use social media sites is an excellent way to get new clients since they are likely to share your advertisements with the people in their circle. You can market to people using demographics, perceptions, interests, customer preferences and by uploading an email addresses database of clients to develop a similar audience that has the same profile as your existing customers. You can also implement an omnichannel approach to marketing via social media when you've integrated these channels into your CRM.

shop pages on Facebook

Facebook allows you to connect your store's product catalog to Facebook as well as Instagram to create a seamless user experience. Additionally, you can purchase advertisements from your account's dashboard.

Video ads

With the advent of online-based platforms like YouTube as well as higher-quality and cost-effective equipment for video production and editing software, videos do not have to be priced expensive for small businesses.

If you intend to include videos as part of an multichannel marketing plan, you should ensure that you create videos that you can use in a wide variety of channels. Make clips available for blog, social media and page for products to get the most benefit from these marketing tools.

Although the most popular medium to promote on is YouTube, other options include:

  • Platforms for social video, such as TikTok and Snapchat
  • Live streaming of video services such as Twitch and Vimeo
  • Services for streaming video on demand such are Amazon Prime and Hulu

Based on your target audience and the products you sell, printing advertising may be a great option to improve your online marketing efforts to blend both your offline and online strategies for marketing. You could consider putting an advertisement in a magazine or mailing out a catalogue, sending postcards with special discounts, or utilizing door-to-door methods of marketing, such as door hangers and product samples.

magazines on a table

As with marketing using online channels, you're in a position to monitor the effectiveness on both in-store and offline campaigns. Omnichannel marketing depends on an ongoing supply of accurate customer information which is customized for each customer.

Here are the top tools to market that can be used offline for information collection, as well as to provide an omnichannel experience in stores:

  • QR codes containing trackser links. You can create unique tracking-compatible links that function with these QR codes. Include these codes on your marketing materials you print in addition, so when your customer decides to use it in your business, you'll have which printed piece inspired this client to go for a trip.
  • Special landing page links. As a QR alternative to QR codes, create custom landing pages with distinct links. You can also add the URL to printed ads. Be sure to keep these URLs short since customers have to input them manually.

Design and create ads that are suitable to be used across multiple platforms

Omnichannel marketing is about the sameness and effectiveness. Not only does crafting your videos, images and ads with many uses in mind to save money on creative assets, it also provides an unifying, consistent customer experience across different channels.

filming a video in a library

It is important to shoot images and videos that can be used on various marketing platforms. Different platforms employ different aspect ratios. So, it is necessary to record and edit your videos and photos considering this. Common aspect ratios include:

  • Horizontal 16:9
  • Square 1:1
  • Vertical 4:15 and 2:3
  • Full Portrait 9:16

Make your videos and photos at the highest resolution possible and then export them in lower resolutions.

Use and analyse your customer data

The monitoring of the performance of your multichannel marketing campaigns across all channels is critical. If an advertisement isn't performing, you could need to alter it before spending money on the marketing campaign. Reviewing your statistics will let you know which ads are performing and which ones aren't.

Google Analytics is probably the most thorough tool that can track the activities of your website. It allows you to examine your sources of traffic to find out what sites are visited and gain a better understanding about the effectiveness of display and search ad campaigns as well as get data on the demographics of your website's users.

In integrating the data into your CRM system, other marketing channels will be able to make use of it to provide an experience that is consistent for your clients.

 Analytics dashboard

Make sure your marketing team has the necessary tools for success

By implementing omnichannel marketing, your team can improve the effectiveness of their strategies by changing them according to the habits of your customers.

And if you employ sales personnel and they'll do a better job to engage every client with a different way if they have access to the specifics of their previous transactions, purchases such as emails, clicks shares, reviews and any additional information that results from an omnichannel experience.

Update your strategy for advertising based on your KPIs. (KPIs)

When you've evaluated the efficacy of your omnichannel marketing campaigns There are a variety of changes you can make to the strategy you're using. Most companies will choose to use ad campaigns with low CPAs as well as higher ROIs must be given additional advertising. campaigns that have large CPAs as well as lower ROIs should to be retired. Other measures of performance which are essential for the success of your company.

If you're running advertisements that aren't generating direct sales however they are often associated with higher organic search results or lead generation this could mean that your ads are very successful in connecting with buyers in the initial phases of the buyer's journey.

people working in an office

Try turning some ads that aren't performing off and on over a time period to test whether they have any effect on other indicators.

Concerning loyalty and programs to retain customers If you notice that the number of customers who are taking advantage of rewards points, or they don't utilize certain coupons, you can consider tweaking the deal or changing the amount of points required for redemption. If one aspect of your marketing strategy that is omnichannel underperforming doesn't mean that it can't be upgraded in order to increase profits for your business.

Keep an eye on your business's growth.

If you make the best decision when it comes to choosing your marketing software and platforms that are able to create sustainable and flexible innovative assets that are constantly evaluating and revising your multichannel advertising plan according to your performance You'll be able to see revenue grow.

As with all things that is worthwhile, marketing will require the time and effort to make improvements. By starting out with just the two or three channels you'll need for marketing, as you advance on the basis of information that you've collected from previous efforts You'll create an omnichannel strategy for the long term that brings revenue to your business.

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