Are you set up for omnichannel marketing? Hold on. Back up for a second. Let’s define what that even means first. 

Basically, “omnichannel” means a seamless marketing experience for your customers beginning from the first touchpoint and ending with a sale. Along the way, this includes many different channels — desktop, smartphone, your many social media accounts, and it could even include in-store, radio, and TV. 

You don’t necessarily have to be present on all these channels. The goal of omnichannel marketing is to provide a consistent experience on all the channels you decide to integrate. 

Compare this to a “multichannel experience.” In this case, you may be present on many channels. But the experience your customer has won’t be the same for each. This leads to confusion, frustration, and ultimately, lost sales. 

Most businesses today deliver a “multichannel experience.” It’s much more difficult to create a consistent experience across so many different channels. But, it’s a worthwhile endeavor. 

Why Is Omnichannel Marketing Important? 

Is omnichannel marketing really worth the effort? Every business has a blog, website, Facebook page, and maybe a couple other channels. Does it really make that much of a difference to have a consistent brand message across all? 

Yes, it does. Not only can you deliver a more effective brand message, but you can catch more customers at exactly the right time. And that leads to more sales. 

To top it off, COVID has forced many more customers into online shopping. This includes demographics such as baby boomers, who have traditionally resisted e-commerce. 

You just can’t ignore omnichannel marketing anymore. It must be the next approach you add. 

All of America’s largest corporations do it. Just look at Walgreens, Virgin, REI, Starbucks, Sephora, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Spotify, and Apple, for example. 

And remember, just like you read earlier, most businesses in general are not doing this. So it’s a nice competitive advantage too! 

How Do You Create an Omnichannel Experience? 

First, understand it’s not fast or easy. Put in its simplest form, you need to have consistent messaging, visuals, and positioning statements across all channels. 

At the same time, you don’t want to make everything exactly the same. This could trigger penalties from search engines. So, you want to be appreciably similar. 

Truly, the best thing you can do is to research and learn from some of the aforementioned corporations who already do it well. And make sure to only add on another channel after careful strategizing. 

Omnichannel marketing is changing the face of all retailers. And it will change yours too. So, what’re you waiting for? It’s time to create your strategy so you can reap the sales your competitors are missing out on! 

Need help creating an omnichannel retail experience? Contact Pollock Orora today, and we’ll help you make SOLVED happen.