Since you don’t have your head in the sand, you know all about the importance of the omnichannel approach when marketing to today’s consumer. But while the omnichannel approach may seem intuitive — i.e., you know you have to market across platforms – executing a strategy that actually accomplishes the marketing goals you envision is not nearly so simple. Just the ongoing addition of channels, not to mention the overwhelming amount of data available, can wreak havoc on your omnichannel marketing program.
“The Five Biggest Mistakes in Omnichannel Marketing & How to Fix Them,” sponsored by Selligent, delivers specific, tactical insights on how to avoid the pitfalls that often lead to omnichannel failure. We’ll cover in detail how to fix these 5 omnichannel-killers:
1. Lack of defined goals
What’s your omnichannel program hoping to accomplish? Is it looking to drive revenue, increase social media engagement, or create brand awareness—or all of the above? Do you have different goals for different channels, depending on the relationship with the customer?
2. Not using the right metrics
Once you decide what your goals are, you have to decide what and how you are going to measure. The data deluge is great for giving marketers access to unprecedented volumes of info, but how do you determine which data actually provides relevant info (moves the conversation toward conversion),giving you the metrics about the channels that are right for your demographic, and which data is just noise?
3. An inconsistent message across channels
With a multitude of channels required to reach and engage your customers, how do you ensure your branding is consistent? How do you create content that is “consistent” for YouTube, Twitter, Snapchat, AR, VR, etc.?
4. Not knowing the channels your customers prefer; not mapping the right channel to the desired interaction
This goes to the core: A successful omnichannel strategy requires knowing your customers preferences for certain types of communication, and making sure you’re engaging with the right channel to reach the right cohort. Are you looking to capture the hearts and minds of the Millennials? Or perhaps your service is of more use to Baby Boomers?
5. Silos still in place
How do you create an environment where you’re collaborating across departments and functions to ensure you’re delivering on that omnichannel promise?
a. Are you organizationally set up to succeed? There needs to be coordination at the organizational and departmental level – ensuring everyone buys into overall strategy—putting customers first. For example, customer care/service needs to be in sync with marketing.
b. Data is a big part of it; you need access to data; there needs to be one repository for all data to make sure it is shared across departments.
c. Part of being organizationally set up to succeed is having the right technology.
