Most digital agencies promote themselves as omnichannel marketing experts in their briefs and creative pitches. Omnichannel marketing and other similar terms are the current buzzwords in the marketing world. Some marketers are doubtful, and may think might think these concepts are short-lived, more of fads. But when approached right, you will understand that it is not so.
So, what is omnichannel marketing?
Well, according to Sara Skrmetti, Senior Director, Social in MediaMath it means aligning your technology, data, metrics and organizational structure around a single view of the customer across all media touchpoints. It encompasses several things:
- Incorporating data-driven strategies
- Using all new emerging channels
- Have DSPs for each channel
- Integrating in-store and online channels
- Cross-device marketing
If done correctly, it results in Customer-Centric Marketing, another exciting and modern concept.
The process allows a marketer to find and identify the most valuable customers, and such value should be derived from data about their interests and behaviors. Having this information enables you to deliver personalized advert experiences that can drive online and offline conversions.
Understanding that omnichannel also means reaching the customer at different touchpoints, by implementing this customer-centric marketing also permits understanding the incremental impact that each touch point delivers.
With all this information, a marketer can apply such findings to optimize campaigns and expand the customer base. The opportunity is huge.
All this sounds very good, but how much is reality and how much is theoretic wishful thinking? Well, Skrmetti shares their view of where we are today:
The Good
-
28.2% of UK and US marketers are successfully using customer data to create an omnichannel customer experience
-
More and more channels are becoming programmatically addressable -TV Audio, Digital
-
Growth in Asia and Latin America
-
57% of surveyed digital marketers will be focusing on cross-channel measurement and attribution next year
The Bad
- Advertisers are saying omnichannel, are using the term, but do not know how to get there.
- Marketers have no transparency or ability to integrate and data from within Walled Gardens.
- Marketing Departments do not set goals consistent with their business
In other entries, we have talked about the risk of measuring this in silos and not in an integral way which refers to the same concept of “walled gardens” used here. The main problem is not correlating the measurements from all channels. Breaking these walls can create enormous efficiencies which go beyond just analytics and metrics.
Conclusion
Organizational and technology needs to work across all channels, nevertheless, this requires additional effort. Specialists in in-store metrics or CRM may not be authorities in social media touchpoints or search analytics. They may not share data easily, nor conceive integrated executions with agility; similarly, technology platforms measure one or a few channels but not all. Connecting and correlating the numbers is still complicated, but needs to be done. Very soon we are likely to see existing platforms releasing more channels into their metrics. The same goes for other gardened walls in a budget, team structure, and other components of an omnichannel marketing strategy.
According to a study done by Forrester in 2016, commissioned by MediaMath, correctly implemented omnichannel marketing maximizes operational efficiency by increasing marketing productivity +30%, increased transparency, better reporting and strategic client service. This can improve overall campaign performance by 20%, and profitability could increase up to 80%.
