What it Is and Why it Matters
In the past, customer communication and outreach were fairly straightforward. A business had an initiative, they developed a message around it, chose a channel and delivered that message to anyone in their target market that could be affected by that message. The desired end result? Action.
Today, we don’t communicate with anyone the same way. Technology has been a game-changer. So, it makes sense that the way we interact with businesses we frequent has changed as well. Personalization is in, and it’s only going to increase in both popularity and (hopefully) effectiveness.
This is because we engage with information differently today. Not all visitors to a website are visiting on a laptop, for example. Not everyone is surfing social media with the same intent. Almost no one is picking up a phone to call a business for information. The landscape has changed.
Today, a single visitor could interact with a business on social media (multiple channels, by the way), on a smartphone and on a desktop before making a purchasing decision or making an official contact.
Omnichannel marketing recognizes this shift and refers to the way businesses must adjust. The biggest takeaway is that a seamless experience and consistent messaging matters more than ever.
Customer Experiences – From the Start – are Mission Critical
While paid search reports and analytics tools give us more insight than we’ve ever had before in terms of how site visitors and social followers interact with our brands and our content, we are unable to understand the emotion behind a given action or to quantify why someone finds us and decides to move forward. Successful omnichannel marketing campaigns take this into account, by taking everything we may know about our target market, creating personas that are more than stagnant data on a page and creating experiences that meet the needs those individuals may have.
This means a few things for you and your business:
- Paid social ads are more than “random.”
Social ads are more powerful than ever before. While it may be tempting to jump in and give them a try without fully understanding how they work, it could hurt the very first opinion your potential customers make of your business or brand. Messaging, images, and every other part of the experiences designed to drive customers to your website are important; they’re not meant to be completed haphazardly.
- For websites, basic isn’t always best.
Yes, you want your website visitors to see what you have to offer and move forward, whether that means setting up a consultation, scheduling an appointment or making a purchase. But, websites have changed. If you’re still making modifications to a ten-year-old website, you might not be able to stand up against the competition.
- Not all customers are looking for the same thing.
Remember, personalization matters. Using tools that enable you to speak to your customers on a level that engages them and matches their needs as closely as possible could help you succeed in this area. Testing the performance of various messages could help you achieve success.
Overwhelmed? Don’t be. You don’t have to go at it alone.
The HIG team can help your business align messaging and customer experiences on various channels. We’d love to learn more about your specific needs. Contact us today to get started.