Today’s marketeers must constantly adapt and adopt their customer engagements across numerous platforms and touch points within the ever evolving digital revolution. A recent survey carried out by Forrester found that marketeers who have adopted multi-channel marketing practises are benefitting from a higher return on marketing investment.
95% of marketers either implement or have plans to implement multi-channel marketing. The Forrester report also found that one of the largest obstacles for companies not implementing multi-channel marketing was due to a lack of knowledge and skills and or a dependence on external marketing service providers.
One of the key elements of a successful marketing strategy is in understanding customers and their expectations. The biggest challenge in meeting those expectations is through service delivery, this process is becoming more and more complex as omni channel customers expect a consistent service delivery through whatever channel they interact with. A summary of customer expectations can be viewed in our recent infographic here.
The Forrester survey also found the most effective methods employed to deliver a consistent multi channel experience is through integrated processes, intelligent use of technology and adoption of emerging technologies.
Of those found to be mature practitioners of multi -channel marketing, the key differentiator was in their approach. They are more likely to be adopters of technology with the marketing department working in close partnership with IT while also collaborating more with sales on setting goals and implementing programs. Non-integrated IT solutions are the norm, with email campaigns on one system, social media on another and in-store carried out by another team. This can create technology silos which are then likely to be implemented by organisational silos where customer data is organised within individual channels, thus creating a disjointed complex and inconsistent customer experience across a business.
Organisations have the challenge of integrating processes which can be supported by new and emerging technologies. Agile organisations who embrace change management when approaching their processes are best positioned to deliver an effective customer omni-channel strategy.
Source: The Multichannel Maturity Mandate, A Forrester Consulting Thought Leadership Paper Commissioned By Sitecore
Retail Insider, the website that aims to adhere to its strap-line of ‘Taking a look behind the obvious on the high street, online and in the City’ in conjunction with Web Loyalty recently published their Digital Retail Innovations 2015 report. Featuring a multitude of innovative technology products that are taking the retail industry by storm.
company. Ipsos Retail Performance offer solutions to measure, manage and improve shopper behaviour and the customer experience in store. Found in 47 global countries, monitoring over 3.1 billion store visits a year.