How to create a multi-channel
marketing strategy.
Data Analysis
To create a multi-channel marketing strategy, you will need to start with a data analysis.
If your business is already present on the web, study the data collected over time to understand how your current efforts are performing and how it can be improved.
If your company is just starting to build an online presence, then the approach is a little bit longer.
In fact, if there is no historical data available, you will have to rely on your experience and make some calculated guesses based on surveys and research.
Map Out The Customer Journey
Every customer goes through a journey with your company, from when they first hear about you to when they become customers and then, advocates for your company.
Your job is to map out this customer journey step-by-step and identify the different touch points that your customer will interact with you.
Identify Channels & Objectives
Next, you need to identify all the possible channels that you will use. When you do, decide the role each platform will play and what the objectives for each channel.
For example:
- Google Display Network is primarily for awareness.
- Search ads are primarily for conversion when the customer is making a final decision.
- Emails are for following up.
- Facebook is to keep your brand top-of-mind, etc.
Being able to do this lets you know exactly how each channel should work and flow together.
Attribution
After doing all this, you will also need to find the right attribution model to correctly evaluate the performance of the different marketing campaigns.
“A channel that seems to have poor performance, could prove to be fundamental because it may be users’ initial touchpoint with the company.”
For attribution, Google Analytics is the tool to use.
In Google Analytics, you can see the results obtained and also see which are the “paths” most followed by users to get to the conversion.
Offline Channels
A multi-channel marketing strategy does not only include those that are online marketing channels, but also offline media (TV, radio, newspapers, posters).
Being able to combine online and offline is of paramount importance, especially if your company also has physical stores.
Your goal is to be everywhere your customers could possibly be.
It certainly is not easy tracking results for offline campaigns, but there are numerous methods to measure the results of campaigns in the offline world.
These include:
- Discount codes
- QR code
- Questionnaires
- Call monitoring