Is Your Multichannel Marketing Strategy at Its Full Potential?

The importance of a multichannel marketing strategy cannot be overstated. From driving an 80% increase in store visits to a comparable 91% higher customer retention rate, this transformative approach has made its mark in the marketing scene. However, while 95% of marketers understand the power of multichannel marketing for targeting, 48% still identify developing an effective multichannel strategy as a significant challenge. For many of these marketers, some of the top struggles for an effective strategy fall under managing both data quality and quantity. A marketing campaign is nothing without its data, but when executing a multichannel plan for targeting, the process of gathering and analyzing data quickly becomes overwhelming. For marketers looking to enhance their online campaigns, here is some relevant information to keep in mind as you develop your next plan of action.

Synergy Across Channels

Part of a successful multichannel marketing strategy requires understanding the cross-channel synergy between platforms. For example, an Instagram post could drive traffic to a blog post, and that post could encourage viewers to subscribe to an email newsletter. The email could then advertise products that encourage sales on your website, and so on. By creating this customer journey that weaves between platforms, the multichannel campaign can perform more effectively than if each channel were used separately.

Cross-Channel Customer Behavior Analysis

Understanding the multichannel approach is only a fraction of the battle. Without data to measure the success or obstacles, marketers will lack a clear view of the best ways to engage with their target market across platforms.

Take Your Segmentation Across Channels

Gathering informative data on your multichannel marketing strategy goes a step further than segmenting your entire audience. To reap the benefits of this process, marketers must understand who their customers are on each platform that functions as a part of the overall campaign.

Social Media

For instance, users vary across social media platforms, with older generations leaning toward Facebook and LinkedIn while the younger ones are more on Instagram and TikTok.Because these sites host different types of audiences, marketers must also consider what posts do well on each one they plan to use. A silly skit might do well with younger consumers on TikTok, but it would be overtaken by the more informative posts that quickly gain traction on LinkedIn.

Email Marketing

Segmentation can also work with email campaigns, with audiences classified by their purchase history, email engagement, and other personal demographics that would influence their consumption. Marketers can send personalized emails to the different segments and include content from other channels they may like based on their behavioral patterns, further encouraging engagement with the brand.

Paid Search Ads

It’s already well-known that consumers value personalization, so paid ads are another opportunity to use segmentation. Ads can be targeted to consumers based on time, location, or other demographics. Behavioral data from other platforms can also inform paid ad strategies. Product-related content that does well on Instagram can be transferred to a paid search ad targeted at consumers that would fall within a similar segment.

Managing Data Quality and Quantity in Multichannel Marketing Campaigns

After choosing the channels for the multichannel campaign and segmenting audiences, the next challenge lies in managing both the quality and quantity of data. As mentioned previously this is a critical challenge for a substantial number of marketers. Digital marketing makes it so easy to gather data in this age that it’s almost a little too easy. Not all data is good and informative data, so marketers must do their due diligence when identifying and analyzing data from their campaigns.

Data Quality

When managing data quality across multiple channels, marketers must keep the following in mind:

• Data Cleanliness: Duplicates can easily appear in data records. Regularly monitor for duplicates, or use software, to ensure they are removed promptly. With too many duplicates present, data reports can be inaccurate and end up misinforming the next marketing campaign.
• Consistency Across Channels: Going back to the customer who signed up for the email newsletter, their records should show how they signed up when viewing the blog post. Keeping track of these journeys helps marketers understand which messages connect with customers and how to make the next multichannel campaign more effective.
• Validation Techniques: Unfortunately, bots are all too prevalent in the digital landscape, and they can easily skew data. To push against bots, implement validation techniques such as email verification or customer identity checks. With higher-quality data, your performance analysis will be much more reliable.

Data Quantity

When managing data quantity across multiple channels, here are a few tips to consider:

• Prioritize Key Metrics: While there are many available metrics, not all of them will be valuable to campaigns. Marketers must identify the metrics that will directly impact their goals. These can vary across companies and even across campaigns within the same company. The idea is that by focusing on these core metrics, there is less of a chance of data overload.
• Use Data Aggregation Tools: Even after choosing the key metrics to analyze, the amount of data remains overwhelming. Thankfully, tools such as customer data platforms (CDPs) and marketing automation software can aggregate data from different channels into a unified dashboard. Marketers can then view and analyze all necessary data in one place.
• Automate Reporting: Streaming the reporting process by automating key performance indicators (KPIs) to eliminate the need for sifting through large volumes of data manually. Automation can enhance the data tracking process and highlight the most critical insights, allowing marketers to focus on optimization.

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