Many companies have issues with change. This could be associated with the speed at which technology changes or a fear of making the wrong decision. But cross-channel marketing is one area where change is a given.
By Kyle Lacy, principle of marketing research and education for ExactTarget
I believe that the issue with change lies within the organisational structure, not the fear of a new strategy. When hasn’t a marketer enjoyed talking about the next innovative marketing channel?
Consumers expect brands to engage them on the channels they use most- email, mobile and social, while providing relevant, timely information. For some companies, their technology is grouped in silos and the strategy tends to be associated with the specific channel, like social media and mobile instead of the brand or company, causing disconnect.
Marketers must embrace the changing landscape to understand unique needs and preferences of the consumer. Given the new ear of the hyper connected and empowered consumers, consumers expect interaction and will rewards brands who create a conversation across the channels they use most. In fact, our customer demands it.
It is time to embrace cross-channel. Full stop.
“Marketers still need to shift their traditional campaign management strategy around executing campaigns to a customer and move toward a digital marketing, two-way engagement approach that acts as a mutually beneficial decision journey involved customer’s wants and needs,” wrote Gartner’s Adam Sarner in ExactTarget’s A Marketer’s Guide to Multichannel Campaign Management.
“This evolving customer-focused strategy harnesses digital techniques and channels that will increase engagement, response and conversion rates.”
ExactTarget’s research report, The Digital Kingdom, found that 93 percent of UK consumers are subscribers to email marketing programs.
We also found that over 80 percent of consumers use email at least daily but consumer usage across mobile and social continues to grow. While these numbers continue to increase, sophisticated marketers must send compelling, targeted messages across all channels.
According to Gartner, mass marketing campaigns have a 2% response rate and are on the decline. However, by 2015, digital strategies, such as social marketing, will influence at least 80% of consumers’ discretionary spending.
And that includes the mobility of the customer. “By 2014, 6.7 billion devices will be connected to the Internet. Mobile marketing in the U.S. reached $877.2 million in 2010, up 138% from the $368 million spent in 2009.”
This opens up a tremendous opportunity for companies to drive real business results using cross-channel interactive marketing.
In his report, Adam defines digital marketing in four segments including addressable branding, contextual marketing, social marketing, and transactional marketing. Let’s breakdown each of the segments:
• Addressable Branding – Increasing brand awareness and promoting brands through different channels, potentially a banner ad leading to a landing page or a podcast.
• Contextual Marketing – The specific strategy helps customers match their needs with a company’s offerings, allowing the customer to evaluate both before and after the purchase.
• Social Marketing –Use the brand community for shortened product development cycles or customer service issues to engage consumers and drive business results.
• Transactional Marketing – Determine strategy and tools to deliver to relevant content based on past user behavior.
The four segments of digital marketing help us define the key strategies and tools needed to reach the customer in every part of the buying process. It also helps drive an increase in buying based on remarketing and post-purchase data.
In order to stay ahead in the cross-channel environment marketers must keep a few things in mind when designing their cross-channel strategy:
• One-Size Fits All No Longer Fits– A one-size fits all approach to marketing communication is no longer enough to create effective cross-channel marketing. Marketers must define and provide meaningful messaging that speaks to the consumer on the channel and technology they use.
• Enhance the Consumer Experience – Effective marketing requires brands to engage customers based on their preferences in order to deliver distinct and memorable messages
• Evolve With the Customer – As consumers’ messaging habits evolve, so must marketers’ ability to connect across all interactive channels.
• Partner campaign management with digital marketing – Consider campaign management as a way to coordinate online and offline interactions.
• Interruption Marketing must Adapt – In the world of social, interruption marketing is the number one reason people unlike or unfollow brands. Interruption is note catered to the individual or the brand advocate.
• Content Reigns Supreme – When creating content for campaigns keep the channel, customer data, and individual consumers in mind. Bad content has the potential of reigning havoc on any marketing campaign whether mobile or social.
It is up to us to build a community that drives interaction that helps define the selling point of our service or product. Our brand advocates are our best sales people. They alone know what drives them to buy the product. Engaging consumers in the channels they use most is imperative to the success of any company for the next decade.
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