Your ability to boost revenue depends on any number of factors that have nothing to do with persistent sales reps. Sales can rise or fall depending upon the quality of your customer service, products, packaging, and loyalty programs. And here’s something else: The same can be said for getting the attention of prospective customers in the first place. With people checking the internet, email marketing, social media, apps, and texts on numerous devices, it’s a challenging time to master marketing. You need a strategic plan that takes into consideration consumers’ increasingly complex habits. That’s why we developed multi-channel drip campaigns. Multi-channel marketing has been getting a lot of attention as one of the most effective ways to help marketers succeed in reaching consumers. But let’s back up for a second.
Why multi-channel marketing?
Depending on who you talk to, the answer could vary. But most experts agree that multi-channel marketing involves reaching out to customers through various methods, including regular mail, email, websites, social, billboards, TV, radio, texts — the platforms your targeted customers are engaging with. And that’s why multi-channel marketing works. To put it simply, you need to go wherever your prospective customers are hanging out to maximize your efforts, and that’s where multi-channel drip campaigns come in. Let’s look at some statistics and let the numbers do the talking:
- According to USC Annenburg, our time spent online is up by 9.4 hours, since 2000 (and these are mostly personal hours – not spent at work!).
- The same study states that a whopping 84% of Americans access the internet on their smartphones – up from 23% in 2010.
- The average American spends upwards of 5 hours a day on mobile, and is connected to the web via 3.6 devices.
- Almost 40% of Americans own all three devices – a smartphone, desktop and tablet.
These numbers are only going to go up, or fluctuate because other technology and wearables will become mainstream (like the current wave of smart TVs and voice-activated speakers). So it’s quite understandable how multi-channel marketing has emerged as a focal component of any effective marketing plan. To implement a successful multi-channel marketing campaign, you must first start with an integrated marketing strategy. It’s not enough to simply put various components of a marketing campaign into play without a cohesive plan. Consider this: According to a recent Forrester survey, nearly 90% of marketing decision-makers have defined multi-channel marketing as critical. And they pointed out that integrating multiple channels under a single integrated marketing strategy is the key to building a marketing powerhouse. Want to know the best part?
You can do this, and we’re going to show you how.
Source: Delivra Take a look at 5 essential components of an effective multi-channel marketing campaign Delivra can help your business with:
1. Develop a focus.
As with any marketing strategy, don’t neglect the basics. That means maintaining your focus on specific buyer personas; zeroing in on the characteristics that differentiate your brand, your products, and your service; and developing messaging that will resonate with your audience. Keep this in mind: If your product/service is designed to solve a problem, you need to develop the content that clearly outlines how it will do so for your prospects. Our dedicated account managers can help you determine how and when you will deliver that content. Again, take into consideration your audience’s habits before deciding on blogs, Twitter, texts, white papers, videos, etc. You can have all the right tools, but if you don’t deliver messages that are meaningful, engaging, and consistent, your results could fall flat. Which brings us to this:
2. Bring in the tools.
Just as engaging content is a critical component of your multi-channel marketing strategy, so are the platforms you use to implement it. With the data you gather through marketing automation, you have the ability to customize the components of your multi-channel marketing based on consumer behavior. And the more relevant and timely your messages, the more likely you will make a connection. Think about software platforms carefully, and here’s why: The right solution can eliminate some of the manual steps you need to take to develop a successful campaign. And some offer more robust options that are designed to produce campaigns that are more targeted. For example, our powerful multi-channel drip campaign can give you the ability to export contacts who have followed a specific workflow step into a drip campaign. With that guidance, you can target hyper-engaged prospects through a multi-channel marketing strategy that includes mailers, texts, and emails that are relevant to their needs and interests. Automation also allows you to customize campaigns to deliver messages during certain times of the day and days of the week — based on the optimal times to reach your audience. Source: Delivra
3. Be strategic.
A successful multi-channel marketing strategy requires delivering messages with the right mix of channels. But here’s the catch: What worked five years ago or even a year or two years ago may not be the best combination for your multi-channel marketing strategy this year. Consumer browsing and shopping habits have steadily veered toward mobile devices, for example. As of 2015, consumers performed more searches on mobile devices than on desktops, according to Google. It’s essential to have a responsive website design to take into account the navigation habits of consumers using smartphones. The way you write your content also should keep in mind the habits of smartphone browsers. Keep it short and sweet. Text messaging also is another important consideration for your strategy. According to recent statistics, about 95 percent of text messages are opened and read within minutes of receipt. By combining SMS, a text messaging component, with email, direct mail, and display retargeting, you can broaden your reach as well as increase the likelihood that your subscribers will view your message. Other benefits of SMS include the ability to send highly targeted and personalized messages that are short and to the point. Email is another one of the most powerful marketing automation tools a marketer can possess. Even though there’s been a major shift of focus to social media to engage with customers, generate leads, and address customer concerns, email remains the most reliable and cost-effective way to communicate with your audience. With the ability to segment your audience, you can send targeted messages to specific audiences based on their behaviors (triggers) and receptiveness to purchase — increasing the likelihood that they will respond to your CTAs.
4. Analyze your results.
As with any marketing campaign, understanding what’s working and what’s not working is essential. You need accurate insights to determine where to focus your efforts and resources. For obvious reasons, this can be challenging with multi-channel marketing. That’s where closed-loop analytics—available through companies like Delivra—can help. You can assess which channels were the most effective, whether independently or by influencing behavior on other channels.
5. Don’t stop evolving.
Human behavior is fluid. Marketers must evolve as consumers’ habits change, analyzing data and trends to keep in step.
Examples to emulate
Let’s look at a few killer examples of multi-channel drip campaigns that took a cue from changing times.
1. Topshop
Topshop took out all the stops for an integrated marketing campaign in-store. Their marketers connected the retail floor with the online community, using Instagram and iPad technology in-store to record responses and increase engagement. Source: Campaign Live Customers were encouraged to receive free hairstyle and makeovers in-store and create a digital “Wish You Were At Topshop” postcard, uploading a picture taken by iPad, onto Instagram. They were successful in creating a novel, exciting experience, increasing content, and driving engagement through the roof.
2. Marks & Spencer
Creating a similarly offline (but immersive) experience, Marks & Spencer introduced a sell-by-sample concept, where customers were able to see product offerings from the best and biggest flagship stores, even in the smaller stores. This was possible through product samples shown on large screen interactive apps, and not only allowed customers to play around virtually, but place orders. It essentially addressed the inconvenience of shoppers having to travel long distances to access the whole product offering. Increased early sales figures also showed a lingering halo effect of seeing the best of their products presented in such an engaging way in smaller stores.
3. Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport is one of the first airports in Europe to “get with the times” and offer 24x7 Twitter customer support using mobile barcodes at information points. They’ve been instrumental in pioneering many new and innovative initiatives to better their customer experience, like:
- Turning construction billboards into giant mobile barcodes for public information
- Integrating with location-based service, Qype, so customers can review their amenities and retailers at Duty Free on their mobiles, or from the comfort of their homes.
These initiatives obviously led to a ton of good press, not only in Europe but also internationally. With a robust multi-channel strategy and platform, you can quickly adapt in response to your subscribers — ensuring that you’re reaching them with the right message, at the right time and through the right channels. Delivra strives to accomplish this for marketers.
So, how do you get started?
Schedule a demo to see how our multi-channel drip campaigns can drastically change the way you engage with prospects and customers.
