Business has changed significantly over the past few decades. New and emerging trends and technologies have transformed how business is conducted, as well as what consumers perceive as convenient and worthwhile. Today, customers now have many different channels by which they can interact with brands; and the number of these channels continue to grow every year.
Delivering an omnichannel marketing strategy is now one of the key goals of every company. Organisations both large and small will prioritise such a strategy as the advantages it provides cannot be understated. However, The more channels that a brand engages with, the more complex and challenging it becomes to maintain said channels. Here are five key sticking points that companies might face when integrating multiple experience channels.
Lack of integration
“Mismatched segmentation across tools is a huge issue that silos customer data, creating an inconsistent and unreliable view of customer experiences. Platforms that don’t integrate well with existing CRMs, social media marketing tools or account-based solutions make it harder to grow business and move the needle,” said David Greenberg, senior vice president of marketing for Act-On Software.
Greenberg also mentions that tools for improving omnichannel experiences must also be both nimble and flexible so that they may help marketers address the complete customer lifecycle. “This is where brand devotion grows, not just in select touchpoints like lead generation. By improving marketing stack integration, we can better understand what resonates with customers and what doesn’t, improving how we communicate with them on relevant channels.”
With proper integration, businesses will be able to see growth as this would allow marketers to attract new customers while enhancing the relationship with existing customers at every touchpoint.
Lack of investment
More often than not, businesses underestimate the cost of maintaining an omnichannel experience. As such, they often do not commit the necessary investment needed for its success, according to Matt Erickson, marketing director for National Positions.
According to Erickson, some brands are too quick to give up when their early initial investments into omnichannel experiences yield low returns. They need to look at the entire digital marketing picture to understand the value of the investment. Without any follow-up or nurturing, it is no surprise that tackling such a venture would fail.
Erickson further explained: “If going omnichannel could convert 10 or 20 percent more via automated email responses, follow-ups, and proper tracking with notifications for your team would the investment be worthwhile? Marketing is a journey that you must follow your customers on to help them reach your front door- and then open it. And in the digital world, a single avenue will rarely get the job done.”
Incomplete tools
Moving from multi-channel experiences to omnichannel experiences demands retailers have a complete business and technical strategy for every channel, said Taylor McCarthy Hansen, podcast host for The Ecomm Manager. It’s difficult to align these strategies to enable customers to switch channels and devices seamlessly. Updating technologies and supply chains to fit with the new omnichannel experience is no easy task; and many business might not be up for the task. However, it is essential to do so as this sort of customer experience requires the appropriate technical infrastructure to function.
Lack of focus
There are still plenty of companies that offer customers an omnichannel experience but still offers very limited ways to buy products, said Yaniv Masjedi, chief marketing officer for Nextiva.
“Even reasonably large ecommerce sites will, as a rule, not have more than one way of buying their products,” Masjedi said. “When they are brand new it makes sense, there isn’t much money to invest in technology. Once they have grown though, it’s like they fear change and refuse to expand their customer experience.”
The key word here is adaptability. The business ecosystem is continuously changing, and such change is getting more and more rapid with every passing year. Adaptability is what breeds longevity. The true customer experience is not just about efficiency, it is about brand loyalty.
Wrong content ‘voice’
Most websites “talk at” the reader, according to Elliott B. Jaffa, a behavioural and marketing psychologist/consultant. Few know how to compose its content “conversationally” to ask the reader questions, suggest they take a quiz, or apply the fear-problem-solution-offer business model with the goal of getting the reader to take some form of action.
