5 Benefits Of Omnichannel Marketing For SMBs

According to Aberdeen, companies with a strong omnichannel customer engagement strategy manage to retain an average of 89% of their customers, compared to 33% of consumers for companies with a weak omnichannel customer engagement strategy.

Today, everyone talks about “omnichannel”, but what is it? Why is it beneficial for small businesses? How is it different from “multichannel” marketing?

Differences Between Single Channel, Multichannel And Omnichannel Marketing

1) Single Channel Marketing

This marketing channel involves buying through a single channel. A customer enters a physical store, evaluates different options with a salesperson, and then purchases the chosen item.

2) Multichannel Marketing

This type of marketing involves several channels, such as physical stores, ecommerce, websites, email, etc. where consumers can learn about a product or service. In a multi-channel approach, each channel essentially acts as its own silo. This approach is brand-centric.

3) Omnichannel Marketing

In an omnichannel approach, all communication channels work together to educate and empower the consumer instead of working in their own interest. That is, this approach is focused on the consumer.

Communication channels are designed to optimise the consumer experience based on consumer preferences rather than the brand’s preferred method of contact.

Three Types Of Communication Channels

1) Email Marketing

Some marketers believe that email marketing carries the most weight in an omnichannel strategy, as it can generate the highest ROI across different digital communication channels.

2) SMS Marketing

Using an SMS marketing strategy to drive email marketing is how you speak your customers’ language. Short, to the point messages with timely offers will have a higher open rate than emails.

3) Social Media Marketing

The benefit of social media such as WhatsApp for omnichannel strategy is best leveraged when you know what platform customers are on, integrate with email marketing, collect user data to make personalised offers, and manage community online properly.

Five Advantages Of Omnichannel That Every SMB Should Take Advantage Of:

1) High Customer Retention And Loyalty

Consumers will always buy from a brand they trust. Omnichannel marketing provides a consistent experience across different platforms. Each of them has a unique and personalised message for different consumers.

2) Smoother Customer Journey

Understanding how customers behave throughout the sales funnel will improve performance and reduce abandonment points in the customer journey.

3) Instant Revenue Growth

Increasing ROI (return on investment) is one of the most important measures in any marketing effort. With precise segmentation and personalisation, an omnichannel marketing strategy can be very successful. Higher customer engagement will lead to more conversions and higher ROI.

4) More Integrated Businesses

Omnichannel has a surprising advantage: instead of having different departments each working for their separate goals, here you have a system of multiple units collaborating together for one goal. Therefore, there will be an integrated planning of customer service, sales, marketing and inventory resources working towards a single goal.

5) Better Customer Perception

Thanks to omnichannel, customer data from different channels and systems can be collected and unified, such as cookies, devices, identifications, shopping carts, social networks, mailing lists, point of sale (POS) systems, referral programs, etc. You can also easily measure how each channel has contributed to the overall goal. In this way, you can find out what doesn’t work and fix it, and you can also find out what it is and take advantage of it.

In conclusion, omnichannel marketing offers companies new opportunities to improve the customer shopping experience and increase brand loyalty. Adopting an omnichannel strategy helps businesses acquire new customers and gain a competitive advantage no matter what industry you’re in.