What Does Omni-Channel Marketing Mean to Customers?

When it comes to relationships, the magic formula is often meeting the right person at the right place at the right time. The same goes for the customer-brand connection. Marketers want to be customers’ ideal source of products and content (right person), serve them on their preferred devices (right place), and support them in their moments of need (right time).

It’s for this reason that the demand for cohesive, engaging brand stories are on the rise. Providing that seamless customer experience will bring you one step closer to being the right brand at every time and place for your customers, unlocking lasting loyalty.

But how can marketers create that connection with customers? This article, which draws on insights from Movable Ink and Braze, will unpack tactical tips to quickly and easily build an engaging brand presence at every touchpoint.

Mobile Marketing Lies at the Center of Customer Experiences

Globally, smartphone users check their phones nearly 60 times throughout the day. This makes mobile devices a key touchpoint in the omni-channel approach, from aiding in-person interactions to serving valuable app experiences.

Mobile Is the Critical Connection

Digital shopping and brick-and-mortar visits are no longer siloed. Most customers are now opting for a blend of the two, such as buy-online-pick-up-in-store (BOPIS) or buy-now-pay-later (BNPL), as well as using mobile wallets or collecting and redeeming their loyalty points with their phone. The options are endless, and customers want to use every one of them.

Here, Inkredible Retail supplements the mobile shopping process with key information for BOPIS customers that want their hands on products as soon as possible. By including the nearest location and store hours, last-minute shoppers are able to snag the items they need right when they need them, thanks to the power of mobile in-app messaging. To keep customers up to date inside and outside the app, Inkredible Retail also alerts customers via a rich push notification that displays a helpful map.

Mobile App Marketing

Mobile apps are now the central hub for customers to engage with a brand. More than any other digital channel, this is where marketers have free reign to create an immersive brand experience that educates and engages their customers. Tools like push notifications and in-app messaging not only assist in-person interactions, they uniquely enhance the entire digital ecosystem for a brand.

Customers can move seamlessly from computer to phone in a true omni-channel experience. In this example, Inkredible Retail is strategic in their use of direct clicks to minimize friction in the path-to-purchase. By linking directly from the clicked product in the email to the app’s cart, customers enjoy optimal convenience when shopping that makes purchasing a breeze. Deep linking strategies like this are highly successful, leading to 20% higher conversions and 34% more time spent on the app.

Personalization Is the Foundation

No matter the channel, customers want personalization. But as marketers know, current customers need much more than a first-name callout to engage. They need data-driven marketing that creates distinct experiences.

To achieve true personalization on the mobile channel, marketers need the right tools to power their current tech stacks: Strategic integrations, automation, and AI powered content personalization.

Partner Up Your Tools

Just as your marketing team needs to work together, your tools also need to integrate seamlessly. Anything less will grow into an increasingly challenging roadblock.

For effective customer engagement on any and every channel, consider opting for personalization-first tools that work better together.

Take this personalized example from Inkredible Media. By leveraging viewers’ first-party data—in this case, their previous watch histories—the brand powered a personalized media recommendation, helping customers who are often overwhelmed by the vast number of content choices. Inkredible Media loops in social proofing as an important add-on, with the content’s high viewer rating giving customers an added incentive to watch.

Win Back Time With Automation

Automation is the name of the game for customers and marketers alike. To consistently generate personalized, engaging content, marketers need all the help they can get to offload repetitive, manual tasks.

Here, Inkredible Electronics sends a triggered push notification to remind the customer about their abandoned cart. To add even more urgency to this triggered price-drop message, the brand displays how many items are left in stock and how many people have recently viewed the coveted item.

From content generation to data collection and activation, choosing tools that remove the manual work from marketing and allow for greater creativity. It’s an opportunity for campaigns that marketers love to send and customers love to receive.

Get Ahead of the Curve With AI-Powered Personalization

Tactics involving first- and zero-party data are the bedrock of marketing, but to continually captivate customers, marketers need to keep building on their omni-channel strategies. The next step in the road to personalization potential? AI powered personalization.

With AI-powered personalization, marketers not only reinforce the good things customers are already doing, they’re also empowered to send completely new content they know will delight customers. This not only keeps content fresh and interesting for customers, it ultimately encourages them to explore new items in various categories, clinching longtime loyalty.

Grow Your Omni-Channel Marketing

The results are in: Omni-channel marketing is what customers want, and with the right strategies and tools, marketers are equipped to deliver.

To see what your brand can add next to their omni-channel approach, check out the Movable Ink Partner Exchange, featuring Braze, to learn more.