Omnichannel Touchpoints

Omnichannel marketing is when you connect with customers through their preferred channels, whether in a physical store, online, via text, or on social media. The prefix "omni" means "all," and "channel" refers to the various ways customers interact with a company (email, sms, app, web, social, pos, in person, etc). An omnichannel approach provides a smooth and consistent experience across all channels by linking all interactions. In contrast, a multichannel approach uses separate sales channels, leading to a disjointed customer experience. In both scenarios, a company uses multiple channels to reach its customers.

Multichannel is basically about being on those channels, while they often exist as totally separate silos. Because of lack of integration, cross-channel customer interactions aren’t captured, so data collected for analytics is often fragmented and incomplete. Also, a multichannel strategy is mainly focused on developing each individual channel separately, while an omnichannel strategy is geared towards exhaustively merging all the channels.

Omnichannel marketing recognizes that customers have different preferences; some seek more services, while others prefer low-touch, round-the-clock interactions. It is effective when companies offer seamlessly integrated channels that cater to these preferences and guide customers to efficient solutions.

Adopting an omichannel strategy means starting with the primary goal: omnichannel customer experience, ensuring that customers can start an interaction on one channel and easily continue it on another without losing information or encountering disruptions. Getting someone’s attention so they engage in the experience requires: omnichannel marketing, reaching customers through their chosen channels, providing tailored content and offers, and making sure marketing efforts work together effectively. A typical consumer goes through five steps: Awareness, Consideration, Purchase, Remembrance, and Engagement (loyalty).

Organizations need to identify five to seven key touchpoints, using the right marketing channels, to align with the consumer's journey. A minor error at any touchpoint can lead customers to abandon a company or share negative information on social media, causing further issues. A customer needs a plan for: omnichannel support, providing consistent and efficient help through different communication channels. Sustaining interest requires: omnichannel personalization, tailoring content, product recommendations, and communication to individual customer preferences and behaviors across all channels. Organizations seeking best channels might map the journey like this:

Outline Customer Personality: Identify 3 to 5 key personality traits of current and potential customers before launching a marketing campaign.

Assess Market Access: Develop a visual plan to engage target customers, ranking their influence, social networks, preferred brands, landing pages, calls-to-action, and interaction points. Standardize contacts and touchpoints in the shopping process.

Map Touch Points: Calculate traffic, leads, and customers from each channel during their journey. Add insights to understand sales, noting customer pain points and different profiles paying special attention to customer experience, context, content, and collaboration.

Identify Action Points: Use the map to determine where customers make key purchasing decisions. Investigate engagement points among returning customers to boost influence and ROI.

Compare Maps: Analyze maps for various customer traits to understand successful transitions, revealing how to leverage strengths and address weaknesses.

Use the worksheets below to consider multichannels used by your organization. Consider omnichannel marketing, support, and personalization efforts that you can employ to build effective and impactful campaigns at Spotlight.