Omnichannel Experience: Getting Started

Our last blog introduced the next webinar in the Press Pause series that focuses on creating an integrated content and experience strategy for omnichannel. This webinar examines presents three pivotal reasons to press pause.

This post focuses on the first reason to press pause: Fit for Purpose.  This is all about making sure your strategy mirrors customer preferences and behaviors – before you launch any omnichannel initiative. Here are a few key takeaways that we’ll discuss on the webinar.

Multichannel ≠ Omnichannel

Omnichannel is often used interchangeably with the term multi-channel, because both involve using multiple channels to engage with customers. But there is a distinction. Multi-channel defines the channels used for interactions between the brand and the customer/consumer. Many people think about multi-channel in terms of campaigns used to deliver information and offers. Omnichannel, on the other hand, is a high-level strategy to ensure an organization’s brand is accessible across any and all channels, providing a less disjointed experience for all customers and prospects no matter the channel.

Build the Foundation

The most foundational aspect of omnichannel is taking a customer-first approach and tying content, experiences and actions on an individual basis along the path-to-purchase. You need to understand what the customer is doing and how and where they are interacting. Shoppers aren’t loyal to particular channels or companies anymore, with many buyers switching from mobile to tablet to storefront all while making the same purchase.

Achieving omnichannel excellence starts with small, foundational steps, including:

• Creating a single view of the customer across your channels to anticipate needs and preferences
• Building an omnichannel layer to personas and journeys to understand the hand-off between channels and devices
• Leveraging insights to build an integrated content and experience model for multiple buyers

Why is it important to get omnichannel right?

Omnichannel drives value. According to a study of 46,000 shoppers published in Harvard Business Review, “Within six months after an omnichannel shopping experience, customers had logged 23% more repeat shopping trips to the retailer’s stores and were more likely to recommend the brand to family and friends than those who used a single channel.”

The customer engagement ecosystem encompasses content and experiences across different channels like web, apps, messaging platforms, in-store, ecommerce, or chatbots. Omnichannel rock stars provide both inspiration and innovation insights. While B2B organizations lag B2C companies, particularly omnichannel retailers, these consumer-facing companies provide actionable lessons for B2B companies.

To learn more, join us on March 14 for a live webinar about Omnichannel: The New Value Driver. Register here.