Have you ever played a word association game? Someone says one word, and you tell them the first thing that pops into your mind. If we played with brand names for the following terms, this is how it may go.
Coffee = Starbucks
Phone = Apple
Tissue = Kleenex
Termite Control = ???
Realtor = ???
What do all these companies have in common? They have strong branding. When you think of a product or service, you think of their brand first out of all the industry brands.
Yet, this doesn’t just happen. Brands don’t rise to the top or fall to the bottom naturally. It happens through multi-channel brand marketing, and it helps facilitate trust and recognition with consumers. Let’s take a look at how your contractor company can help achieve the same feat locally.
What is multi-channel marketing?
Multi-channel marketing, also known as cross-channel marketing, uses multiple channels to reach customers. Here are some of the channels you may consider in a multi-channel marketing approach.
Retail storefronts
PPC ads (or other online advertising)
Website
Blogs
Direct mail
Email marketing
Mobile marketing
Mailers
Why does multi-channel marketing work?
Your potential customers could be anywhere, and you may not reach them all depending on which method of advertising you choose to use.
For example, while 90% of the US population uses the internet on an active basis, the methods and websites used vary greatly. If you only used one tactic to market your contractor company, you could miss a large percent of your customer base.
Part of the reason that multi-channel marketing works as well as it does is that it allows users to decide how they want to make contact with the brand. They can reach out in a way that they’re comfortable.
Today’s customers often choose multiple methods to engage brands. They want that illusion of choice – 59 percent of shoppers even say that some form of personalization will impact their shopping.
As such, having an increased number of marketing channels means you (as the marketer) adapt to remain accessible to your customer. Multi-channel marketing creates a consistent, personalized experience across channels.
While this is challenging, 73 percent of businesses claim that cross-channel marketing significantly impacted conversions. In short, this form of marketing could be a game-changer for your business.
What does multi-channel marketing look like in action?
If a consumer goes online to look for a product or service but doesn’t end up reaching out on the website, that doesn’t mean they won’t. Multi-channel marketing takes it one step further. Later that evening, the same shopper may browse a social networking site like Facebook and see an ad for the same contractor site they were on earlier.
This example demonstrates how multi-channel marketing can keep a shopper’s experience consistent regardless of the channel they decide to use. Businesses that use multi-channel marketing have a presence on multiple channels. In this case, it was a website and social media.
How can you reach customers through multiple channels?
Ready to replicate this strategy? Customers who use only a single channel to purchase a product or service tend to be older, while those in a younger age bracket use multiple channels to research a brand.
If a company builds a strong presence across multiple channels, it can appeal to a wide variety of audiences. Here are a few ways you can get started.
1. Understand which channels work well together
The greatest success of multi-channel marketing occurs when a cohesive strategy exists. You want all your channel campaigns to be integrated together to form a marketing ecosystem. One of the best ways to ensure this is to link channels that work well together.
2. Use social media
Companies that use social media to market products and services are more successful at multi-channel marketing. They offer relevant industry content and also provide customer service through these platforms.
You can leverage Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as a way to market your post-click landing pages. Stay in touch with your customers in a fast and easy way.
3. Track how customers shop
Some companies have released apps specifically geared toward their customer’s shopping experience. For example, Birchbox – a beauty eCommerce startup – used its app to track how customers shopped in-store. They would note how many times a customer visited the store and what products were purchased. They would then use this information to send personalized offers via email or other channels.
While this may not apply to your business, you can create an app for similar purposes. You can customize your customer’s experiences and track the services they purchase. Doing this will allow you to send personalized offers via other channels when you want to keep them coming back.
Advantages of multi-channel marketing
You can get more attention from your customers
You allow customers to use their favorite medium
You have more touchpoints with your customers
Your brand stays consistent
Disadvantages of multi-channel marketing
Your company might not have the budget required
It can be challenging to manage moving parts
Multiple channels increase the time and expenses spent on marketing
Final thoughts
Creating an effective multi-channel marketing strategy can be challenging. Yet, it’s all about providing your customers – who are entirely different – with a more personalized experience. Whether they’re older and use only one marketing channel or younger and use several to research your company, you’re appealing to every group.
This marketing strategy is cohesive and consistent. The disadvantages are that it’s difficult to get multiple channels up and running. It can be expensive and time-consuming. However, once you do it, you’ll never look back. Multi-channel marketing strategies allow you to be responsive to customer needs and to reach them where they are.